US 'mindful' of Palestinian stance on settlements
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
August 24, 2010 - 12:00am

The US said it remained "mindful" of the Palestinian position on an end to settlement construction, a State Department spokesman said Monday. US State Department spokesman Philip Crowley told reporters that Israel's temporary moratorium, which expires three weeks after talks launch, would be up for discussion when leaders meet on 2 September. "We’re very mindful of the importance the issue is within the negotiation. That’s why we want to get in the negotiation. None of these issues can be resolved outside of this negotiation," Crowley said.

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Mideast peace talks: Are Israel, Palestine just going through the motions?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
by Matthew Rusling - August 24, 2010 - 12:00am

Friday's announcement of a new round of Middle East peace talks has stirred skepticism over whether the negotiations will amount to any meaningful progress. Moreover, some experts said both the Israelis and Palestinians are simply going through the motions in a bid to placate Washington. "In effect you have both sides just doing this to please the United States," said Michele Dunne, senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Neither side believes that a negotiated solution can result from the talks, nor are they prepared to make major concessions, she said.

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US, Israel seek 'creative' solution for settlements
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
August 24, 2010 - 12:00am

Israeli officials confirmed Monday that the government is in quiet talks with the United States in search of a "creative" solution that will allow at least some limited construction to take place after Israel's 10-month moratorium ends on Sept. 26. "Many options are being discussed. It's not that simple," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor. In Washington, a US official confirmed the dialogue with Israel and said no decisions have been taken.

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Coalition rhetoric heats up as W. Bank freeze nears end
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Rebecca Anna Stoil - August 24, 2010 - 12:00am

A month before the end of the West Bank new-construction moratorium and on the eve of direct peace talks in Washington, tensions rose Monday among government ministers regarding building in settlements on the day that the freeze expires. “Building will continue as usual, as normal,” promised National Infrastructures Minister Uzi Landau (Israel Beiteinu) during a midday interview on Radio Kol Chai. “Everyone will build as he wants to and needs to.”

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When America Forsakes its Palestinian Ally
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Bilal Hassen - August 24, 2010 - 12:00am

US planning, European pressure, Arab complacency, and fragility of the Palestinian negotiator; these are the four factors that have made the racist right-wing government, led by Benjamin Netanyahu, seem as if it is the victorious power that can impose everything it wants in the farce of the Palestinian-Israeli negotiations.

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US official: We want full peace deal in 1 year
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Roni Sofer - August 24, 2010 - 12:00am

A partial peace deal between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, even if achieved within a year, will not satisfy Washington, a US official said Tuesday. The American official told reporters in Jerusalem that the upcoming peace summit in Washington aims to strike a full peace agreement between the parties. The official rejected the possibility of "only" a partial or interim peace deal within the timeframe set for the peace talks.

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Discrimination from within and without
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Bassem Eid - (Opinion) August 24, 2010 - 12:00am

Nathan Brown, a professor of political science and international affairs at George Washington University, wrote a timely report last month entitled “Are the Palestinians Building A State?” His paper discussed the Palestinian Authority under Salam Fayyad and his claims to be building the institutional apparatus necessary for a Palestinian state. The report acknowledged that he is “unmistakably doing so in an authoritarian context.”

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Mideast peace talks to look forward to?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by David Makovsky - August 24, 2010 - 12:00am

The announcement Friday that Middle East peace talks would be launched Sept. 2 was not exactly met with an outpouring of enthusiasm. Yet progress on security and other issues suggests there is reason to believe peace talks can produce results.

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Israelis, Palestinians feud ahead of direct talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
August 23, 2010 - 12:00am

Israeli and Palestinian leaders sparred on Monday over Jewish settlements and Israeli calls for security guarantees before the launch of Quartet-sponsored direct peace talks in Washington next week. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement he would demand any Palestinian state established under a peace deal be demilitarised. But he said he was not laying down any terms for the talks set to convene on Sept. 2.

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Negotiations lack clear terms of reference
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Ghassan Khatib - August 23, 2010 - 12:00am

The recent US-led efforts to resume direct talks, that ended with the two sides agreeing to renew direct negotiations, reminded many observers of US efforts to establish a peace process and Palestinian-Israeli negotiations in the early 1990s, then described as "constructive ambiguity".

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