Long the glue of Gaza, clans say Hamas is undermining tribal justice ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Erin Cunningham - January 22, 2010 - 1:00am The residents of Gaza have a name for the period of tribal lawlessness that plagued their impoverished territory between Israel’s withdrawal in 2005 and the Hamas takeover of 2007. Marred by rampant tit-for-tat murders, kidnappings, theft, and checkpoints run by armed clans, Gazans call these years ayam al-fowda, or the “days of chaos.” Those days are gone, however, after 2-1/2 years of strong Hamas rule successfully disarmed the territory’s rival clans – made up of just one or sometimes several extended families – and restored order again to Gaza’s streets. » Read more

The Liebarak of Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News by Uri Avnery - (Opinion) January 25, 2010 - 1:00am The business is registered in the name of Benjamin Netanyahu. But the reality is different. Netanyahu has never been more than a slick patent medicine salesman. That is a type that appears frequently in American Westerns and sells an elixir that is good for everything: From the flu to lunacy. The main weapon of the vendor is his tongue: His stream of words builds castles in the air, blows up glistening bubbles and silences all doubts. » Read more

With Mideast peace talks stalled, activists fear a new intifada ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Joshua Mitnick - January 22, 2010 - 1:00am US peace envoy George Mitchell met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday to try to break a diplomatic impasse that some say could give rise to a new Palestinian uprising, or intifada. After a nearly year-long vacuum in negotiations, Palestinian and Israeli peace activists say that Israel has escalated arrests of protesters to prevent wide-scale demonstrations. » Read more

Building a Different Middle East ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Nation by Joel Beinin - (Opinion) January 15, 2010 - 1:00am Like every other woman in her village Umm Hasan wears a headscarf. Her husband and other male relatives are not on the scene. But this is not an obstacle to her animated interactions with the sixteen Israelis and foreigners she has never previously met but welcomes into her home. Among the visitors are a German and a Serb who are making a film about Palestinian hip-hop. Everyone has come to participate in the weekly demonstration against the separation barrier organized by the local Popular Committee. » Read more

U.S. appears to lower expectations in Middle East ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Edmund Sanders - January 23, 2010 - 1:00am As U.S. envoy George J. Mitchell wrapped up his Mideast trip Friday with little to show for his efforts to kick-start peace talks, the Obama administration was signaling a growing pessimism that Israelis and Palestinians would return to negotiations any time soon. In his first visit since November, Mitchell met separately with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. But officials on both sides said little progress was made toward restarting talks that collapsed a year ago. » Read more

Israeli's Livni says reports of her political demise are premature ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Edmund Sanders, Batsheva Sobelman - January 25, 2010 - 1:00am Many people expected Tzipi Livni to become Israel's first female prime minister since Golda Meir. After her high-profile stint as foreign minister, the centrist Kadima party she heads won more votes than any other in elections last year. International leaders praised her as a new-style Israeli politician who could finally make peace with the Palestinians. Yet things aren't working out that way for Livni. Rather than making history, the 51-year-old is fighting for her political life. » Read more

The perils of certainty ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ibishblog by Hussein Ibish - (Opinion) January 23, 2010 - 1:00am Among the most dangerous aspects of the political culture surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on both sides are glib assertions of inevitable victory and the uninterrogated assumptions that inevitably lie behind them. It's an obvious point, but was brought home to me with some force yesterday when a friend pointed out the following passage from a particularly foolish Arab-American blog: » Read more

Netanyahu Says Some Settlements to Stay in Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Isabel Kershner - January 24, 2010 - 1:00am JERUSALEM — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said Sunday that several Jewish settlement blocs in the West Bank would always remain part of Israel, a comment that upset the Palestinians even as the Obama administration’s Middle East envoy was trying to coax them back into peace talks. The prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, helped plant a tree in a West Bank settlement near Jerusalem on Sunday. Mr. Netanyahu spoke about the Etzion bloc on Sunday. » Read more