Rattling the Cage: Any more doubts about Bibi?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Larry Derfner - (Opinion) October 13, 2010 - 12:00am

Until this week, the question posed by “neutral observers” about Binyamin Netanyahu was whether he was going to follow the examples of Menachem Begin and Ariel Sharon, or that of Yitzhak Shamir. Would he transform himself into a peacemaker like Begin and Sharon by uprooting settlements and relinquishing occupied territory, or would he be an immovable object like Shamir, aiming only to keep things “quiet” so he could build more settlements and close the door on Palestinian statehood?

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US nudges Palestinians to answer Israeli proposal
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
October 12, 2010 - 12:00am

The United States nudged the Palestinian Authority to make a counter-offer to Israel's proposal for a new freeze on building in Jewish settlements if the Palestinians recognized Israel as a Jewish state. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday said if the Palestinian leadership recognized Israel "as the homeland of the Jewish people," he was ready to ask his government to extend a freeze on West Bank settlement building. The Palestinians immediately rejected the proposal, which they have long opposed.

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U.S. giving away too much, too early in Mideast peace talks, some say
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Paul Richter - October 7, 2010 - 12:00am

Reporting from Washington Only a month into a new round of peace talks, the Obama administration is drawing criticism from allies and veteran diplomats that it is giving away too much just to keep negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians from collapsing. Administration officials have offered an assortment of inducements to persuade Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to extend a freeze on Jewish construction in the West Bank for two months. Palestinian officials have threatened to break off the talks unless Israel extends the freeze that expired Sept. 26.

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US seeks ways to support Fayyad plan
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
October 7, 2010 - 12:00am

WASHINGTON (Ma'an) -- As American-led efforts to push forward peace talks continue, officials made clear on Wednesday that continued support for the Palestinian Authority was on the agenda. Meetings between US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Middle East Quartet Envoy Tony Blair were used both as a platform for updates on the peace-talk push, but also to review "how to increase support for the Palestinian Authority and the ongoing institutional efforts."

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U.S. Believes Arab States Won’t Scuttle Mideast Talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Ethan Bronner, Mark Landler - October 7, 2010 - 12:00am

The Obama administration believes it has persuaded Arab states not to scuttle the fledgling Middle East peace negotiations, officials said Thursday, despite the Israeli government’s refusal to freeze Jewish settlements and a vow by the Palestinians to walk away if Israel did not. With the Arab League’s meeting on Friday expected to deliver a pivotal decision on the future of the talks, the United States has appealed to Jordan and other Arab nations to stop short of pushing the Palestinians to break off the negotiations.

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U.S. Believes Arab States Won’t Scuttle Mideast Talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Ethan Bronner, Mark Landler - October 7, 2010 - 12:00am

The Obama administration believes it has persuaded Arab states not to scuttle the fledgling Middle East peace negotiations, officials said Thursday, despite the Israeli government’s refusal to freeze Jewish settlements and a vow by the Palestinians to walk away if Israel did not. With the Arab League’s meeting on Friday expected to deliver a pivotal decision on the future of the talks, the United States has appealed to Jordan and other Arab nations to stop short of pushing the Palestinians to break off the negotiations.

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ATFP Senior Fellow Joins APN Spokesman at Peace Event at The Washington Center
Press Release - Contact Information: Hussein Ibish - October 6, 2010 - 12:00am

ATFP Senior Fellow Joins APN Spokesman at Peace Event at The Washington Center On Sept. 20, ATFP Senior Fellow Hussein Ibish joined Ori Nir, the spokesman for Americans for Peace Now, at an event hosted by the Washington Center for Internships and Academic Seminars entitled “The Two-State Solution to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Why it is a Win-Win for Israelis, Palestinians and the United States.” More than 200 students, interns and others listened to the two explaining why all responsible parties have a vested interest in a two-state peace agreement.


Risks and Advantages in U.S. Effort in Mideast
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Mark Landler - October 5, 2010 - 12:00am

When President Obama reopened face-to-face talks between the Israelis and Palestinians last month, he pledged that his administration would hold their hands but warned, “The United States cannot impose an agreement, and we cannot want it more than the parties themselves.” With the negotiations deadlocked over the issue of Jewish settlements, several veterans of Middle East peacemaking said Mr. Obama’s warning had come true — only weeks after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, agreed to sit down.

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Obama faces humiliation over Middle East talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Simon Tisdall - (Opinion) October 4, 2010 - 12:00am

Barack Obama has barely a week to save the Middle East peace process from collapse, only months after he relaunched it amid optimistic predictions that a solution would be reached within a year. The consequences of failure will be serious for the US president; for the region and the wider world, they are potentially disastrous.

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Defining 'Jewish state': For many, term has different meanings
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Glenn Kessler - October 2, 2010 - 12:00am

Nine years ago, then-Secretary of State Colin L. Powell delivered a speech on the Middle East in which he briefly called on Palestinians to recognize Israel as a "Jewish state." Powell doesn't recall how the phrase ended up in his speech, but David Ivry, then the Israeli ambassador to the United States, says he persuaded an aide to Powell to slip it in.

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