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Daybreak: A De Facto Freeze

Plus Rauf speaks up, and more in the news

by
Marc Tracy
September 08, 2010

• Palestinian President Abbas will reportedy continue peace talks after the settlement moratorium ends as long as there is no more actual building in contested areas. [Haaretz]

• Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf confirms that his Park51 Islamic center is meant for peaceful purposes and pledges it will get built. [NYT]

• President Obama told a group of American rabbis that he was “stunned” at how well the direct talks went and noted that Israel is “negotiating from a place of strength because the U.S. is absolutely committed to Israel’s security.” [Laura Rozen]

• Thomas Friedman proposes that the parties dust off the 2002 Saudi peace proposal (which, coincidentally, the Saudis initially revealed in a Friedman column!). [NYT]

• Interesting profile of an American (and, naturally, Jewish) psychologist from Georgetown whose Center for Mind-Body Medicine helps trauma victims in Gaza, among other global hotspots. [NYT]

• It turns out that “rape-by-deception” case, in which an Arab was accused of passing himself off as a Jew, is really more of a just plain rape case. [JTA]

Marc Tracy is a staff writer at The New Republic, and was previously a staff writer at Tablet. He tweets @marcatracy.