Middle East News: World Press Roundup

Israeli and Palestinian leaders express optimism after the resumption of direct talks. Drive-by shooting attacks show Hamas is still able to operate in the West Bank. Daoud Kuttab says Palestinian independence is inevitable. Palestinian leaders angrily reject Iranian criticism of negotiations, and have asked the US to intervene on the settlement issue. Todd Gitlin and Liel Leibovitz say both sides must acknowledge each other's attachment to the land. The CSM says Palestinian and Israeli leaders must work together to block extremists. Palestinian officials say they are trying to reach a peace agreement and Israeli officials say one is possible within a year. FM Lieberman pushes for new settlement construction. Shaul Arieli says settlement construction hurts Israel. Egypt says $50 billion will be needed to pay for Middle East peace. Bradley Burston says religious extremists are enemies of humanity. The IMF says loosened Israeli restrictions have prompted Palestinian economic growth. Avi Shlaim says American intervention in negotiations is critical. The US temporarily restricts diplomats from traveling in the West Bank. Israeli authorities are accused of discriminating against Arabs in Jerusalem. Adel Al Toraifi says Palestinian state building is of paramount importance. Hussein Ibish looks at arguments for including Hamas in negotiations and its likely consequences.

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Mideast Leaders Hopeful After Opening of Talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Ethan Bronner - (Analysis) September 5, 2010 - 12:00am JERUSALEM — Palestinian  and Israeli leaders expressed satisfaction and hope on Sunday in their first public utterances after the opening round of Middle East peace talks in Washington last week. » Read more

Hamas attacks show group is still strong in West Bank ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Janine Zacharia - September 3, 2010 - 12:00am Deadly drive-by shootings by Hamas gunmen this week proved that the Palestinian militant group can still operate in the West Bank when its leadership demands, despite a sustained crackdown by Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Hamas has pledged to follow up on the attacks, which appeared timed to the re-launch in Washington of direct peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. » Read more

Even if peace talks fail, Palestine's independence is inevitable ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Daoud Kuttab - (Opinion) September 7, 2010 - 12:00am RAMALLAH, WEST BANK A Palestinian state is coming -- it's just not clear whether it will result from the current peace talks. It is easy to be pessimistic, or even apathetic, about the latest round of Palestinian-Israeli peace talks. History is a witness to the lack of Palestinian accomplishments in incremental negotiations. All successful efforts to date have stemmed from secret talks made public only once a package agreement was reached. » Read more

Palestinian Authority upset over Ahmadinejad's criticism of Mideast peace talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Maher Abukhater - (Blog) September 5, 2010 - 12:00am WEST BANK For a long time, statements by Iranian leaders about the Palestinian conflict have upset the Palestinian Authority and drew harsh criticism. This was evident again on Saturday, as the Palestinian Authority reacted to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's criticism of its participation in last week's Washington meeting with Israel to reopen peace talks. Ahmadinejad lambasted Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas for meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He said Abbas was a hostage of Israel and that the talks were doomed. » Read more

Abbas asks US to intervene in dispute with Israel over settlement restrictions ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Mohammed Daraghmeh - September 7, 2010 - 12:00am Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said he has asked the U.S. to settle a dispute with Israel over settlement expansion that is threatening to derail Mideast peace talks. Israel's 10-month partial freeze on new construction in West Bank settlements ends Sept. 26, and Israeli officials have indicated they will not extend the freeze as is. Abbas has said he'll quit peace talks with Israel unless the restrictions remain in place. Abbas said late Monday that he has asked the U.S. "to intervene in the settlement issue." » Read more

Middle East peace talks, and the problem of land ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Todd Gitlin, Liel Leibowitz - (Opinion) September 5, 2010 - 12:00am The latest round of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, which began this week in Washington, leaves even the most loquacious Middle East experts without much to say. No bold offers have emerged from either side, and President Obama has yet to show the blend of grit, gregariousness and ingenuity that made Bill Clinton an effective mediator. All we can expect with certainty are more bouts of brinksmanship. » Read more

Israeli-Palestinian talks: How to keep saboteurs at bay ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Clayton Jones - (Blog) September 3, 2010 - 12:00am In coming weeks, if all goes well, the spotlight in the Middle East will be on direct talks that started Thursday between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA). The two sides promise to meet every two weeks. But beware. Sabotage of the talks began even before they were launched in Washington. The likely aim? The derailing of any peace deal that creates a Palestinian state, a result known as the two-state solution. » Read more

Top Abbas aide: We're trying to reach deal ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency by Nasser Laham - September 7, 2010 - 12:00am If there is one man on the Palestinian side capable of assessing the prospects of these new direct talks between Israel and the PLO, it is President Mahmoud Abbas' top aide and spokesman. Known as "the black box" due to his vantage point as presidential spokesman for the administrations of both Abbas and former president Yasser Arafat, Nabil Abu Rudaineh has shadowed the Ramallah leadership for more than a decade. » Read more

Israel PM sees deal possible in year, spokesman ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Allyn Fisher-Ilan - September 6, 2010 - 12:00am Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told visiting U.S. congressmen he thinks it could be possible to reach a peace deal with the Palestinians in a year despite huge differences, his spokesman said. Netanyahu told the visiting delegation that he "believes it possible, through such direct and contiguous negotiations, held without breaks or delays, to achieve a peace agreement within a year", spokesman Nir Hefez said on Monday. » Read more

Israeli FM pushes for new settlement construction ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman by Matti Friedman - September 6, 2010 - 12:00am Israel's hard-line foreign minister said Monday that his party will try to block any extension of Israel's settlement slowdown, a move that could derail the recently launched Mideast peace negotiations. Avigdor Lieberman said the Israeli government must keep its promise to voters that the 10-month slowdown, declared last November under U.S. pressure in order to draw the Palestinians to the negotiating table, will end as scheduled at the end of the month. » Read more

A condition for peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Shaul Arieli - (Opinion) September 7, 2010 - 12:00am In light of the Palestinians' acceptance of a land swap, the battle over the construction freeze in the settlements is not a struggle for their very existence, since most of them and their residents will be annexed to Israel in any agreement. The battle over the construction freeze is a battle for perception in Israel and abroad - between Greater Israel on the one hand and two states for two peoples on the other. So this battle is important for the existence of the diplomatic process. » Read more

Egypt: Peace will 'cost' world $50B ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Roee Nahmias - September 7, 2010 - 12:00am Peace with a hefty price? Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said Tuesday that a future peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority will "cost" the world between $40 and $50 billion. Speaking with Cairo's official news agency, Aboul Gheit said the amount will allow the fledgling Palestinian state to sustain itself, and offer the Palestinians some compensation for lands and services lost. In reference to the settlement freeze, which is scheduled to end on September 26, Aboul Gheit said that the subject will be "the first test to Israel earnest in the process." » Read more

A Special Place in Hell / Real men don't talk Mideast peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Bradley Burston - (Blog) September 6, 2010 - 12:00am There was something wrong with the air here the day President Obama hosted Mahmoud Abbas and Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House. There was a bottom-heavy grip to the heat, the air almost too thick to breathe, as though it had to be forced down, like medicine. In other places, this freight in the weather is the kind which announces a monsoon, or an earthquake. Not here. Here it was murder that was in the air. It just hadn't happened yet. » Read more

IMF: Israel Keeps Palestinian Economy Booming ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line by Benjamin Joffe-Walt - September 5, 2010 - 12:00am Israel’s decision to relax controls on movement in the Palestinian Territories has allowed the Palestinian economy to continue to boom in 2010, with growth rates of 14 percent in the Gaza Strip and 11 percent in the West Bank, the International Monetary Fund has said. » Read more

This time in Washington, honest brokerage is not going to be enough ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Avi Shlaim - (Opinion) September 7, 2010 - 12:00am The pope, according to a no doubt apocryphal story, maintains that there are two possible solutions to the Arab-Israeli conflict – the realistic and the miraculous. The realistic solution involves divine intervention; the miraculous solution involves a voluntary agreement between the parties themselves. The American-sponsored peace talks that got under way in Washington last week may be viewed in this light. It will take nothing less than a miracle to produce a peaceful settlement of the century-old conflict between Jews and Arabs over the Holy Land. » Read more

U.S. banning its diplomats from West Bank travel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) September 6, 2010 - 12:00am The United States temporarily banned its diplomats from traveling to the West Bank and Jerusalem's Old City because of shooting attacks. "Due to heightened tensions and increased security presence after the Aug. 31 and Sept. 1 attacks in the West Bank, the U.S. Consulate General in Jerusalem has prohibited all Consulate personnel from personal travel to the West Bank" through Monday, said a statement from the U.S. Consulate in Jerusalem, which handles the West Bank. » Read more

Israeli police accused of targeting Jerusalem's Arab residents ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent by Catrina Stewart - September 6, 2010 - 12:00am A leading civil-rights group has accused Israeli police of systematic discrimination against the Arab residents of East Jerusalem as growing numbers of hardline religious Jews take up residence in Palestinian areas. A report from the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (Acri) found that violent confrontations between Jewish residents and their Palestinian neighbours had risen rapidly, but that Israeli police have largely ignored Palestinian complaints. » Read more

Sadat's Shadow ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat by Adel Al Toraifi - (Opinion) September 7, 2010 - 12:00am For more than two decades, the United States has tried to conclude a peace agreement between the PLO and Israel. In the beginning there were the 1993 Oslo accords, which was a difficult breakthrough. However, this was the agreement that allowed the opportunity to form much-needed state institutions on the Palestinian territories. Yet this did not happen both as a result of the influence of religious parties on both sides, and as a result of dozens of suicide attacks carried out by the Hamas and Islamic Jihad movements, which disrupted all guarantees of security and reconciliation. » Read more

Legitimize Hamas and kiss the PLO goodbye ATFP World Press Roundup Article from NOW Lebanon by Hussein Ibish - (Opinion) September 6, 2010 - 12:00am With the resumption of direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, numerous voices in the United States have been urging the inclusion of Hamas in international diplomacy, a focus on Palestinian unity, or some formal American outreach to the Palestinian Islamist group. » Read more

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