In blame game, arrow tilts to Abbas
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Politico
by Ben Smith - September 27, 2010 - 12:00am

Israelis and Palestinians have yet to achieve any substantive progress in the nascent peace talks that resulted from President Barack Obama’s high-profile push for negotiations, but a subtle shift in the political balance between the two antagonists seems clear: Israel is now winning the blame game. The blame game always proceeds on a parallel, subterranean track to actual negotiations, the cynical mirror of the process’s insistent optimism. Some prominent figures on both sides barely disguise their assumption that peace talks will fail, as they almost always do.

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Construction in West Bank settlements resumes
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Joel Greenberg - September 27, 2010 - 12:00am

KARMEI TZUR, WEST BANK - The rumble of a bulldozer preparing the ground for new homes started early Monday morning at this Jewish settlement in the southern West Bank, and residents said it was music to their ears after a 10-month building freeze. "We're very happy," said Erez Naim, who lives near the building site. "For 10 months we were asleep. Now suddenly things are coming back to life."

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West Bank settlement construction resumes
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
September 27, 2010 - 12:00am

NABLUS (Ma’an) -- Israelis resumed construction across several illegal West Bank settlements on Monday, following the expiration of Israel's 10-month partial moratorium at midnight. Israel's Channel 2 said construction would be resumed in at least eight illegal West Bank settlements, including Kiryat Arba in Hebron.

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Peace might upend wealth of Israelis
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Jonathan Cook - September 27, 2010 - 12:00am

With the resumption of settlement construction in the West Bank yesterday, Israel’s powerful settler movement hopes that it has scuttled peace talks with the Palestinians, too. It would be misleading, however, to assume that the major obstacle to the success of talks is the right-wing political ideology the settler movement represents. Equally important are deeply entrenched economic interests shared across Israeli society.

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Asharq Al-Awsat Talks to Israeli Deputy PM Dan Meridor
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Nazar Majli - (Interview) September 27, 2010 - 12:00am

Tel Aviv, Asharq Al-Awsat- Israeli Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Intelligence Dan Meridor has appealled to Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas (Abu-Mazin) not to withdraw from the direct negotiations because of the issue of settlement construction activity. In An exclusive interview with Asharq Al-Awsat Meridor said that the negotiations are over something that is more important than the settlement activities; they are over the establishment of a Palestinian State that will provide the Palestinian people with stability and put an end to their suffering.

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Top Likud minister: Obama knows settlements are part of Jewish homeland
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Jonathan Lis - September 26, 2010 - 12:00am

A holiday toast at the home of Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz (Likud) on Sunday evening turned quickly from a festive gathering into a triumphant celebration to mark the end of Israel's temporary freeze on construction in the West Bank. Thousands of activists from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's faction crowded the lawn outside Katz's estate in Moshav Kfar Achim, where their host declared that Israel should never accede to international pressure when it comes to exhibiting their right to settle in the Jewish homeland.

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Abbas vows to continue with talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Jazeera English
September 26, 2010 - 12:00am

Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, has said Palestinians would not immediately walk away from peace talks with Israel even if it does not extend a 10-month limited settlement moratorium due to expire on Sunday at midnight. Abbas's comments on Sunday came as diplomatic efforts intensified to try to get Israel to extend the partial freeze on construction by Jewish settlers in the West Bank.

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U.S. Scrambling to Save Talks on Middle East
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Ethan Bronner, Mark Landler - September 26, 2010 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM — Israel allowed a politically charged freeze on Jewish settlement building in the West Bank to expire on Sunday, but the Palestinians did not carry out a threat to quit peace negotiations, setting the stage for further frantic efforts to keep the talks alive. For President Obama, who had publicly called on Israel to extend the freeze, the Israeli decision was another setback in what has been a tortuous effort to help resolve one of the world’s most intractable conflicts.

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Israeli settlers rev bulldozers as settlement freeze nears end
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Joshua Mitnick - September 26, 2010 - 12:00am

Tel Aviv — With Israel and Palestinian negotiators deadlocked over settlement expansion just hours before the expiration of a 10-month Israeli settlement freeze, Jewish settlers vowed to renew building during symbolic celebrations in the West Bank.

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As Israel settlement freeze ends, one-year peace plan begins
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Joshua Mitnick - September 26, 2010 - 12:00am

Tel Aviv — If negotiators can overcome today’s deadline to resolve a dispute on Israeli settlement expansion and keep peace talks alive, the date of September 2011 will begin to loom as the target for reaching an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement.

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