Barely months into talks, will the freeze freeze a peace deal?
Media Mention of ATFP In Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) - September 22, 2010 - 12:00am

When the fat lady sings on Sept. 26, it may only be an intermission. That’s the word from an array of Mideast experts across the political spectrum. They are predicting that the seeming intractability between Israel and the Palestinians over whether Israel extends a settlement moratorium beyond its end date will not scuttle the peace talks. Instead, the observers say, the sides are likely employing the brinksmanship that has come to characterize Middle East peacemaking.

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Meeting again with Jewish leaders, Abbas broaches substance
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
by Ron Kampeas - September 22, 2010 - 12:00am

For Mahmoud Abbas and U.S. Jewish leaders, their second date featured a little more substance and a little less flirtation. And this time the Palestinian Authority president brought a wing man. Abbas and his prime minister, Salam Fayyad, met separately Tuesday evening with Jewish leaders in New York -- a sign of understanding on the Palestinian side of the importance of Jewish sensibilities, in Israel and the Diaspora, to advancing the peace process.

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Hopes and fears as settlement freeze due to expire
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News
by Yolande Knell - September 22, 2010 - 12:00am

His landlord has long wanted him to leave the property nearby where he currently lives with his six children. He has been waiting to begin work since November. "Most of all I have hope. This Sunday we start to build the house," he declares. "It will take only four months." Mr Erdan lives in Shilo, a Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank, half-way between Ramallah and Nablus. He got his construction permit from the Israeli defence ministry a day before the Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, imposed a 10-month partial moratorium on new residential buildings.

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Jerusalem flare-up after Israeli kills Palestinian
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Dan Williams - September 22, 2010 - 12:00am

An Israeli security guard killed a Palestinian in an Arab neighbourhood of Jerusalem on Wednesday, triggering clashes between police and rioters, including in the compound of the al-Aqsa mosque. Police said they entered the plaza to push back Palestinians who had thrown rocks at the nearby Jewish prayer site, the Western Wall. The Palestinians withdrew into the mosque, Islam's third-holiest shrine, and there were no immediate reports of casualties or further confrontations, a spokesman said.

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Settlement boycott to target Israeli chain store
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
September 22, 2010 - 12:00am

The Palestinian Authority Ministry of National Economy, charged with implementing the boycott of settlement-made goods, announced Tuesday it will be launching a boycott campaign against an Israeli chain of superstores, a statement read. The ministry said the Rami Levi Shivok Hashikma chain, which has "spread like cancer" following the opening of new stores in Ramallah, Hebron and Bethlehem.

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Be a man, freeze the settlements
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Aluf Benn - (Opinion) September 22, 2010 - 12:00am

Leaders are tested by their ability to spot opportunities and leverage them for their own benefit. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu now has such an opportunity. He must convene the cabinet on Sunday and inform it that the freeze on settlement construction will be extended by three months, during which he will conduct intensive negotiations with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on the future border between Israel and Palestine.

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Netanyahu’s subtle, insidious, unworkable demand
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from NOW Lebanon
by Hussein Ibish - (Opinion) September 21, 2010 - 12:00am

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has recently been reiterating the demand he has focused on since regaining power that Palestinians and other Arabs recognize Israel as not only a “Jewish state” but specifically as “the nation-state of the Jewish people.” This demand has been flatly rejected not only by the Palestinian leadership, but more recently by the Arab League.

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Quartet to urge Israel to keep settlement freeze
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Andrew Quinn - (Analysis) September 21, 2010 - 12:00am

NEW YORK, Sept 20 (Reuters) - The Quartet of Middle East peace mediators will on Tuesday call on Israel to extend its settlement moratorium, saying the freeze has had a positive impact as the two sides seek a peace deal within the next year, according to a draft statement seen by Reuters.

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Netanyahu’s subtle, insidious, unworkable demand
In Print by Hussein Ibish - NOW Lebanon (Opinion) - September 21, 2010 - 12:00am

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has recently been reiterating the demand he has focused on since regaining power that Palestinians and other Arabs recognize Israel as not only a “Jewish state” but specifically as “the nation-state of the Jewish people.” This demand has been flatly rejected not only by the Palestinian leadership, but more recently by the Arab League.

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U.S. concerned peace talks will soon collapse over settlement construction
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - September 21, 2010 - 12:00am

The United States is concerned that the negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians could collapse in the coming days over the dead end in the talks on the settlement building freeze. America's ambassador to Israel, James Cunningham, on Monday told European Union envoys in a briefing that the Obama administration's worry stems from the fact that both sides are holding steadfast to their positions.

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