Sources: No compromise on settlements
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
September 15, 2010 - 12:00am

American mediators may step in and offer a solution to the settlements issue, an informed source told Ma'an on Wednesday. Citing what the source called precedents in the talks in both Washington and Egypt, the source said that on a growing number of occasions mediators had intervened during crisis points, and offered median solutions to the issues at hand.

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Clinton warmly endorses Netanyahu, Abbas
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Arshad Mohammed - September 15, 2010 - 12:00am

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warmly endorsed Israeli and Palestinian leaders on Wednesday ahead of negotiations to try to break a deadlock over Jewish settlement building in the occupied West Bank. "This is the time, and these are the leaders," Clinton said before she was to see Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who resumed direct peace talks two weeks ago after a 20-month hiatus.

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The freeze as a test
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
(Editorial) September 15, 2010 - 12:00am

Direct negotiations on a final-status agreement opened yesterday at Sharm al-Sheikh, in the shadow of the ongoing dispute over a freeze on settlement construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

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Where has the hypocrisy gone?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amira Hass - (Opinion) September 15, 2010 - 12:00am

In the late 1970s or early 1980s, Professor Asa Kasher spoke at a conference of some kind about the differences between Labor Party governments and Likud governments. The Labor governments were hypocritical, and there is something positive about hypocrisy, Kasher said. At least the hypocrite knows there is a binding system of values, and that he is not acting according to them. As a result, he disguises his actions.

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PA knows must keep talking even if freeze ends
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Khaled Abu Toameh - (Analysis) September 15, 2010 - 12:00am

Despite the Palestinian Authority’s tough talk on the issue of settlement construction in the past few days, Palestinian sources in Ramallah believe PA leaders will soon have to climb down from their high tree. Even as the direct talks were under way in Sharm e-Sheikh on Tuesday, several PA officials continued to issue threats that failure to extend the moratorium on settlement construction later this month would lead to the “collapse” of the US-sponsored negotiations.

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East Jerusalem housing plans cast new shadow over Israel-Palestinian peace talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Nir Hasson<br /> - September 14, 2010 - 12:00am

In a move that could strike a blow at already fragile peace talks, Jerusalem city planners will in the coming weeks discuss a scheme to build over a thousand housing units beyond the Green Line, Haaretz learned on Tuesday. At a U.S.-mediated summit in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, aides to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said talks were being conducted in a "good atmosphere".

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PM, Clinton and Abbas discuss freeze in Sharm e-Sheikh
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Herb Keinon<br /> - September 14, 2010 - 12:00am

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Tuesday sat down with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Sharm e-Sheikh, Egypt to tackle the most immediate dispute between the two sides: a soon-to-expire curb on new construction for Israeli settlements in the West Bank. No press conference was held prior to the beginning of the meeting. A determination to make the peace talks work was expressed by Israeli officials accompanying Netanyahu on Tuesday to the second round of direct peace talks with Abbas.

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Encountering Peace: Two rights don’t make a wrong
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Gershon Baskin<br /> - (Opinion) September 14, 2010 - 12:00am

Yes, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is right – why should Israel continue the settlement freeze; after all, everyone knows Gilo will never be Palestinian. Ramot Eshkol will not be part of the Palestinian capital of al-Kuds, nor will Pisgat Ze’ev? Palestinians should understand that there are certain facts that will not be undone. The Jewish Quarter of the Old City and the Western Wall will remain under Israeli sovereignty in any peace agreement; without this, there can be no peace and certainly the Palestinians should realize this by now.

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U.S. Jewish right muted ahead of possible extension of settlement freeze
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
by Ron Kampeas - (Analysis) September 14, 2010 - 12:00am

Don't expect a familiar American echo now that West Bank settlers are gearing up to fight the possible extension of Israel’s settlement freeze. Activists on the left and right in Israel usually get their allies in the American Jewish community to fight for the cause of the day with congressional lobbying and protests to Israeli and American officials.

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Risky business of making peace in the Middle East
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
by Osama Al-Sharif<br /> - September 14, 2010 - 12:00am

The risky business of forging peace between Israel and the Palestinians through a negotiated settlement has resumed after almost three years of forced interruption. But few on either side are hopeful. The one-year process of direct negotiations under United States auspices aimed at concluding a final status agreement and the birth of a Palestinian state has its critics, and sceptics, on both sides of the divide and beyond. In fact few believe that this latest round of talks will lead to an historic deal. The chasm is simply too wide.

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