US meets with Israeli, Palestinian negotiators
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
January 14, 2011 - 1:00am

US Middle East envoy George Mitchell met separately on Thursday with Israeli and Palestinian envoys as part of Washington's bid to revive peace negotiations, the State Department said. State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said Mitchell met first with Palestinian envoy Saeb Erakat and then with Israel's Yitzhak Molcho. Direct talks began on September 2, but stalled three weeks later with the end of an Israeli moratorium on settlement building. The Palestinians refuse to talk while Israel continues building.

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Obama forming Mideast 'task force'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Yitzhak Benhorin - January 14, 2011 - 1:00am

As chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's emissary Yitzhak Molcho continue their separate talks in Washington with US special envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell, the Obama administration is looking for new ideas to jumpstart the peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians. The POLITICO website reported Thursday that the Obama administration is seeking new ideas from diplomats and former administration officials familiar with the Mideast conflict and on how to advance the peace process.

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Arabs must end the ambiguity and hypocrisy when facing terrorism
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
by Ziad Asali - (Opinion) January 14, 2011 - 1:00am

The recent bomb attacks against Christian communities in Egypt and Iraq have been roundly condemned by most political and religious leaders, commentators and public opinion in the Arab world. They have also been met with an outpouring of passionate condemnation by ordinary people who have taken to the streets to express anger and demand justice. People have sensed the danger to their whole society inherent in such atrocities.

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Abbas: U.S. not working hard enough for Palestinian state
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
January 13, 2011 - 1:00am

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday accused the United States of lagging in its commitment to seeing the establishment of a Palestinian state. Abbas told Al-Jazeera that the Palestinians would agree to return to peace talks with Israel only if the United States agreed to recognize a state within 1967 borders and adhere to security accords reached during the Bush administration. Fielding criticism to the same regard in Doha, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told reporters that the U.S. was determined to work toward achieving a separate state for the Palestinians.

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Mideast threats that can't be ignored
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Jackson Diehl - (Opinion) January 13, 2011 - 1:00am

Barack Obama has been fortunate in the Middle East so far. Yes, his attempt to revive the Israeli-Palestinian peace process has been a high-profile failure. But Israel, the Palestinians and the region as a whole have enjoyed a remarkable stretch of relative tranquility and stability during the past two years.

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White House seeks new ideas about Mideast peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Politico
by Laura Rozen - January 13, 2011 - 1:00am

With U.S. Middle East peace efforts at an impasse, the Obama administration has sought new ideas from outside experts on how to advance the peace process. One task force has been convened by Sandy Berger and Stephen Hadley, former national security advisers to Presidents Clinton and George W. Bush, respectively, to offer recommendations on the Middle East peace process to the National Security Council.

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Exiting the Mideast labyrinth
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by Joschka Fischer - January 12, 2011 - 1:00am

Two years have passed since Barack Obama was elected president of the United States. Much to his credit - and in contrast to his immediate predecessor - Obama tried, from his first day in office, to work towards a resolution of the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.

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Colony freeze a must for peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
by George S. Hishmeh - January 12, 2011 - 1:00am

Hillary Rodham Clinton was quick to rebuke Israel for its demolition of part of the historic Shepherd Hotel in occupied Arab East Jerusalem where Jewish colonists are hoping to build 20 housing units.

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Clinton: Women can be force for Mideast peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Matthew Lee - (Opinion) January 12, 2011 - 1:00am

Women can be a major power in convincing Mideast leaders to agree to a comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace deal, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Wednesday as she urged regional leaders to embrace the rising expectations of their skyrocketing youth populations. At a town hall meeting with civic leaders in the capital of Oman, Clinton said calls from women on both sides of the conflict in Northern Ireland had contributed to a resolution and suggested that a meeting of minds between Arab and Israeli women could provide a similar impetus for peace.

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Palestinian envoy to visit Washington to revive peace talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
January 11, 2011 - 1:00am

Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat announced Tuesday that he will visit Washington to discuss reviving peace talks with U.S. officials. Erekat stressed that he will not meet the Israeli envoy who will also arrive in Washington this week. The bilateral discussions which involve Erekat and U.S. State Department officials will "look into how to get out of the current impasse which resulted from Israel's rejection to halt settlement construction," Erekat told Xinhua.

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