Report: Abbas drops demand for settlement freeze under US pressure
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
September 29, 2009 - 12:00am

Two key Israeli officials are headed to Washington on Wednesday for continued talks leading up to renewed peace negotiations with the Palestinian Authority. An aide to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's attorney Yitzhak Molcho, and Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak's chief of staff, Michael Herzog will attend the talks with US Middle East envoy George Mitchell and senior White House officials, according to the newspaper Haaretz.

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Israel envoys head to U.S. for talks on relaunching peace talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - September 29, 2009 - 12:00am

Israel and the U.S. will continue their talks in Washington on Wednesday on bridging the open issues between Israel and the Palestinian Authority that are delaying the relaunching of peace negotiations. Formulating the framework for the negotiations and the "terms of reference," or the opening conditions, are the focus of the talks in Washington. At the same time the sides will continue negotiating the terms of the settlement construction freeze.

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Settlers: a Jewish minority in Palestine?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Common Ground News Service
by Bill Glucroft - September 29, 2009 - 12:00am

If we are to believe the pundits and partisans, relations between Israel and the United States have never been worse. US President Barack Obama’s administration appears to be taking the toughest tone of any in recent memory. Obama’s Cairo speech didn’t help, leaving an already vulnerable-feeling Israel with the sense that it was getting thrown under the bus.

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Mount Hebron: Leftists bring Palestinians water
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Olga Gouresky - September 28, 2009 - 12:00am

Activists of several left-wing organizations transferred water to Palestinians in the South Mount Hebron area on Saturday. They also tried clearing ways in order to access the Palestinian villages. One of the activists, Yaakov Manor, told Ynet about the area's water problem. "We left from several places on two buses and private vehicles. In South Mount Hebron there are villages in which some of the residents live in caves or temporary buildings."

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Yearning for the Golan Heights: why Syria wants it back
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Julien Barnes-Dacey - September 28, 2009 - 12:00am

The US demonstrated its commitment to reengage Syria as a partner for Middle East peace Monday, advancing a process that some Arab countries had declared dead in recent weeks. At Washington's invitation – the first one extended to a high-ranking Syrian official in five years – Deputy Foreign Minister Fayssal Mekdad came to town to meet US officials.

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Absurd Negotiations
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Bilal Hassen - (Opinion) September 28, 2009 - 12:00am

US President Barak Obama has himself declared that the attempt he made for launching Palestinian-Israeli negotiations based on halting settlement construction has ended. Netanyahu challenged him, declaring that he will not freeze settlement construction. Afterward, the US president invited Netanyahu for a meeting at the White House. He even announced on behalf of the superpower that success had been made on which we can build.

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Real reform in Israel is a distant prospect
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Ben White - September 27, 2009 - 12:00am

Once again, issues like the settlement "freeze" are dominating the official peace process, ignoring not only core questions like Israel's "matrix of control", but also the status of Palestinian citizens of Israel. While the increasingly overt racism of Knesset members has got its fair share of headlines, other important developments have escaped scrutiny outside the region.

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Clinton urges Arabs to normalize ties with Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
September 26, 2009 - 12:00am

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Saturday urged Arab nations to take steps toward normalizing relations with Israel and supporting the Palestinians in an effort to help restart stalled Mideast peace talks. Clinton made the case with senior officials from Oman, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. The session followed President Barack Obama's talks this past week with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

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Palestinians rule out talks until total settlement freeze
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Financial Times
by Harvey Morris - September 25, 2009 - 12:00am

The Palestinian leadership yesterday ruled out a future meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister, unless he met demands for a total freeze on Jewish settlements, in a setback for President Barack Obama's troubled efforts to relaunch peace negotiations. Riyad al-Maliki, the Palestinian Authority foreign minister, told reporters: "No one is talking about a new meeting" between Mr Netanyahu and Mahmoud Abbas, the PA president.

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Think Again: Palestine
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy
by Zahi Khouri - (Opinion) September 25, 2009 - 12:00am

"Economic Peace Is Possible." No. Neither sustainable economic development nor peace is possible without political freedom.

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