Credit to Obama for sticking with the Middle East. But it's gone very wrong
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Jonathan Freedland - (Opinion) October 26, 2010 - 12:00am

The august ranks of those who form the conventional wisdom in American politics are as one: Barack Obama's Democrats are going to take a hammering in next Tuesday's midterm elections. One of the few elements of the Obama record not blamed is also, paradoxically, one of those areas that need to change on 3 November. It is the administration's handling of the peace process between Israelis and Palestinians.

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Feature: War on olives in the West Bank
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
by Nidal Ishtayeh - October 26, 2010 - 12:00am

NABLUS, West Bank, Oct. 25 (Xinhua) -- Abdel Karim Hussein, 38, was "shocked" after getting a permission from the Israeli army to reach his farm adjacent to the Alon Moreh Jewish settlement east of the West Bank city of Nablus, to harvest his olive trees. Hussein said the fence of the settlement occupies parts of his 325-dunum (325,000 square meters) farm. "Reaching the farm is a journey of torment, because I can only reach my land twice a year after coordination with the Israeli-Palestinian security liaison office." But getting the permission is far from getting a happy ending.

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Settlers confirm work has begun on up to 600 homes
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman
by Karin Laub - October 25, 2010 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM — A senior settler official says that work has begun on up to 600 new homes in West Bank settlements since Israel lifted its curb on such construction Sept. 26, mirroring recent findings by The Associated Press and the Israeli watchdog Peace Now.

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Why Israeli settlement construction must stop
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Nabeel Shaath - (Opinion) October 25, 2010 - 12:00am

Ramallah, West Bank — After more than two decades of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, we are at a turning point in the history of the region. As a Palestinian negotiator for over 20 years, I see that tough decisions have to be made. The stakes are too high – not just for the Palestinian people, but for the entire region’s stability.

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Palestinians, Jews race to plant West Bank
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman
by Diaa Hadid - October 25, 2010 - 12:00am

BURQA, WEST BANK — Olive tree by olive tree, Palestinian farmers and Jewish settlers are competing over the rocky hills of the West Bank, planting more of the gnarled evergreens to strengthen their hold on the land. Now in harvest season, the battle gets rough, with orchards robbed, vandalized and burned. This year, the stakes have been raised: Palestinians have planted double the number of trees as in past seasons, and Jewish settlers have responded by boosting their own olive production.

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Abu Libdeh: Rawabi can absorb settlement workers
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
October 24, 2010 - 12:00am

RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- PA National Economy Minister Hassan Abu Libdeh said Saturday that the first planned Palestinian city in Ramallah could be "a real opportunity to absorb Palestinian workers employed in settlements," a statement read. The Rawabi City project, he said, could provide between 8,000 to 10,000 jobs during the construction period and up to 3,000 jobs in the city itself once complete.

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Peace with Palestinians would help US on Iran-Peres
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
October 22, 2010 - 12:00am

Israel needs good ties with the United States to survive and must be more understanding of U.S. demands over securing peace with the Palestinians, Israeli President Shimon Peres said in remarks aired on Friday. Peres, Israel's elder statesman, said an end to the Palestinian conflict would improve the United States' own security position in the Middle East and help isolate Iran.

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New bag of tricks?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by George S. Hishmeh - (Opinion) October 22, 2010 - 12:00am

While all the world was watching, silently, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu managed to sabotage the US-sponsored “peace talks” with the Palestinians, led by Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority. Most governments and many international organisations, particularly the United Nations, seemed handcuffed, but the right-wing Israeli government has still lost significant support at home and abroad for its extremist views and shortsightedness.

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Clinton: Two-state solution still possible for Israel, Palestinians
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Natasha Mozgovaya - October 21, 2010 - 12:00am

United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday that Israelis and Palestinians have not abandoned peace negotiations and that a two-state solution was still possible. Clinton. Clinton spoke at an annual gala of the American Taskforce for Palestine at in Washington, DC. "We remain convinced that if they persevere with negotiations, the parties can agree on an outcome that ends the conflict; reconciles the Palestinian goal of an independent and viable state based on the 1967 lines, with agreed swaps."

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Clinton: Talks the only way to move forward toward peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
October 21, 2010 - 12:00am

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday said that a deal that would save peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians could still be worked out, however there exists no "magic formula" for breaking the impasse in negotiations, Reuters reported. Clinton, speaking at a banquet hosted by the American Task Force on Palestine, said that both Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas were still committed to a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

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