Obama to Palestinians: Seeking statehood in UN a 'mistake'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
May 25, 2011 - 12:00am

US President Barack Obama said on Wednesday that a resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was "more urgent than ever." And while expressing confidence that a two-state solution was achievable, the US president made it clear that seeking Palestinian statehood in the United Nations would be "a mistake." Speaking alongside UK Prime Minister David Cameron at a press conference in London after the two met privately, Obama stated that the Palestinians must understand "they have obligations as well." RELATED: Cameron, Obama claim unity in support of Israeli security

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What do the Mideast speeches tell us?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
by Rami Khouri - (Opinion) May 25, 2011 - 12:00am

So what can we conclude after the past week’s jamboree of speeches on the Middle East by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Barack Obama?

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Ratting the Cage: Obama's albatross
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Larry Derfner - (Opinion) May 25, 2011 - 12:00am

With that Salute to Judea and Samaria he just staged in Washington, our wise and fearless leader just screwed American policy in the Middle East, turned Israel into an albatross around the neck of the president of the United States, made Western Europe ashamed to be associated with us, waved a red flag at the Palestinians and the entire Muslim world, and I don’t know what else. Way to go, Bibi.

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Obama's 'Jewish state' reference jars Palestinians
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Josef Federman - May 23, 2011 - 12:00am

U.S.-Israel tension over Barack Obama's endorsement of Israel's pre-1967 borders is obscuring a flip side of the Middle East coin: The past days' speeches by the U.S. president contained difficult challenges for the Palestinians as well.

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Obama's speeches lay basis for peace process: PLO official
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
May 23, 2011 - 12:00am

U.S. President Barack Obama's recent speeches have laid the basis for starting a serious peace process between the Palestinians and Israel, an official of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) said Monday. Yasser Abed Rabbo of the PLO added that it is possible for the Palestinians to resume negotiations with Israel in line with Obama 's vision that the borders between Israel and the future Palestinian state should be the pre-1967 lines with mutually agreed land swaps. However, Abed Rabbo stressed that Israel must accept Obama's calls first.

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Palestinians at Odds Over Obama Peace Policy
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line
by David Miller - May 23, 2011 - 12:00am

Palestinians were left confused and divided over U.S. President Barack Obama after he made two major policy addresses on Israel, the Palestinians and the peace process in the space of four days. The Obama speeches – one at the State Department largely devoted to broader Middle East issues an a second in front of the pro-Israel American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) left a trail of confusion for policy analysts and political figures, especially over the U.S. leader’s meaning when he called for negotiation a future Palestinian state to be based on “1967 lines.”

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Hamas: Obama will not force Israel recognition
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
May 22, 2011 - 12:00am

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri on Sunday slammed Barack Obama's speech to the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee, saying the US president's call on the party to recognize Israel would go unanswered. In Washington, Obama addressed the powerful pro-Israel lobby group and elaborated on statements made Thursday in his Mideast policy speech, urging calls to democracy and reform across the region.

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Obama makes a blunt push for Middle East peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Christi Parsons, Paul Richter, Edmund Sanders - May 20, 2011 - 12:00am

President Obama plunged back into efforts to restart Middle East peace talks, pressuring both sides with a set of U.S. principles that appeared to catch Israeli leaders off guard and is likely to set up a tense meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday.

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A substantial shift toward the Palestinian position
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Robert Satloff - May 20, 2011 - 12:00am

US President Obama did a great service in sketching out a new paradigm for American engagement with the Middle East in his State Department "winds of change" speech this afternoon, in which he raised the goal of reform and democracy to a top-tier US interest. Nevertheless, after critiquing Arab regimes that have used the Arab-Israeli conflict to distract their peoples from the important business of reform, he undermined the potency and effect of his own message by unveiling a new -- and controversial -- set of principles guiding US efforts to promote Israeli-Palestinian peace.

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Obama misses another chance to lead for peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
(Editorial) May 20, 2011 - 12:00am

At times, it seemed that Barack Obama thought that the Middle East did not include Israel or the Occupied Territories. "The United States opposes the use of violence and repression against the people of the region," the US president said last night. But there was not a word about 17 Palestinians killed earlier this week by Israeli security forces. "We support a set of universal rights," Mr Obama said." Whether you live in Baghdad or Damascus; Sanaa or Tehran." If Gaza or Ramallah had been mentioned, more explanation would have been needed.

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