Quartet supports Obama efforts, asks that settlement construction halt
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
September 25, 2009 - 12:00am

The Middle East Quartet urged Israel to “freeze all settlement activity, including natural growth; and to refrain from provocative actions in East Jerusalem” in a joint statement Thursday. The statement asked the Palestinian Authority to “continue to make every effort to improve law and order, to fight violent extremism, and to end incitement,” and fully backed the tenuous re-start of talks initiated by US President Barack Obama.

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In the shadow of an Israeli settlement
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News
by Martin Asser - September 25, 2009 - 12:00am

They are called the Seven Villages, situated north-west of Jerusalem where the West Bank hills fall away towards the Mediterranean. Though their inhabitants live within the Palestinian Authority's Jerusalem governorate, few get to visit Jerusalem - though the city was "like a mother to us" one man said. While Israelis in nearby Givat Ze'ev settlement bloc zip to Jerusalem by car in minutes, the Palestinian villagers need permission from Israel's military authorities.

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Excessive American Kindness
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat
by Hassan Haidar - (Opinion) September 25, 2009 - 12:00am

The first conclusion one can draw from the tripartite summit which brought together Obama, Netanyahu and Abbas in New York, as well as from the US President’s speech before the United Nations General Assembly, is that US diplomacy, which promoted a climate of optimism during the past few months and expressed its desire to play an active and positive role in resuming peace negotiations on balanced bases, was quick to abandon such a role with the emergence of the first difficulties, and has retreated to a position of spectator of an imbalanced “arm wrestling match” which, if it were to begin, wo

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Souvenir photo at the UN
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by Rami Khouri - (Opinion) September 25, 2009 - 12:00am

No concrete results were expected from the September 22 meeting held at the United Nations by US President Barack Obama, Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. This marks the end of phase 1 of Obama’s intriguing foray into Arab-Israeli peacemaking.

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U.S. officials: Middle East talks on track
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Politico
by Laura Rozen, Ben Smith - September 25, 2009 - 12:00am

Reacting to the tepid response to this week's attempt by President Obama to jumpstart negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, two senior U.S. officials made the case Thursday that critics are obsessing over marginal obstacles while the sides move slowly but surely toward the negotiating table.

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Abbas: Partial halt on settlement activity is not a freeze
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Avi Issacharoff - September 24, 2009 - 12:00am

Just days after meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Barack Obama in New York, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Thursday that he saw no common ground on which to renew peace negotiations. In an interview with the Al-Hayyat daily, Abbas called the Netanyahu government "a real problem." The Palestinian leader added that he could not agree to Israel's compromise for a partial settlement freeze, which he said inherently implied continued construction. Advertisement

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US official: Settlements preventing normalization
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Yitzhak Benhorin - September 24, 2009 - 12:00am

A US official held a meeting with Jewish leaders Wednesday and told them that Israel's failure to achieve normalization with Arab countries was largely due to its approval of 450 more housing units in West Bank settlements. He said the Israeli government had known that the Arab nations may recoil at the announcement, but had approved the construction anyway.

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Abbas says Israel must keep 2008 word
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Ali Waked - September 23, 2009 - 12:00am

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Tuesday that Israel must honor agreements on borders and Jerusalem which he says its government made in 2008 talks with the Palestinians if stalled peace negotiations are to resume. Speaking after talks with US President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Abbas also repeated Palestinian insistence that Israel halt settlement building in the territories, including east Jerusalem.

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A Middle East Handshake
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
(Editorial) September 23, 2009 - 12:00am

The Summit President Obama convened Tuesday with Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas fell well short of the administration's hopes. Mr. Obama had wanted to announce agreement on the opening of talks on the creation of a Palestinian state, with a deadline of two years. He wanted to outline agreements on how those negotiations would proceed and some of the principles that would underpin them.

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Obama calls for Mid-East urgency
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News
September 23, 2009 - 12:00am

Mr Obama spoke after hosting the first meeting between leaders from both sides since he took office. US Middle-East envoy George Mitchell later said the US did not see any issue as a precondition for talks. The US has been pressuring Israel to comply with Palestinian demands for all building in settlements in the occupied West Bank to end before talks restart. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas shook hands in front of the cameras during what was their first encounter since Mr Netanyahu came to office in March.

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