Honesty and hypocrisy in facing terrorism
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Huffington Post
by Ziad Asali, Hussein Ibish - (Blog) January 3, 2011 - 1:00am

The murderous 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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Israeli forces kill a Palestinian man at a checkpoint and a woman at a protest in the West Bank, which produces protest in Tel Aviv. Pres. Abbas calls for new peace talks with international engagement, and says a deal could be reached in two months and he will reach out to Jewish Israelis. The Palestine National Orchestra makes its debut. Ramallah is booming. Refugee camps in Lebanon are producing less militancy. Israel warns rocket attacks could provoke a new war in Gaza. Abbas says he's not afraid of wikileaks. Hamas says the PA detained 3,000 of its members last year. A Labor minister says it may bolt the Israeli government. Hamas stages a mock Israeli attack to commemorate the Gaza war. PM Netanyahu says he agreed to a settlement freeze moratorium but the US reneged. Palestinians and other Arabs seek to bring the settlement issue before the UN Security Council. Simon Tisdall says Palestinians should declare independence. The Forward Says FM Lieberman is making it extremely hard to support Israel.

The Lieberman Question
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
(Editorial) December 29, 2010 - 1:00am

What are Diaspora Jews to make of Avigdor Lieberman? In his latest outburst before 170 of Israel’s senior diplomats, the pugnacious, rebellious foreign minister called the Palestinian Authority illegitimate, the Turkish prime minister a liar, and ridiculed the central policy of his own government.

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Now it is Palestine's turn to create facts on the ground
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Simon Tisdall - (Opinion) January 3, 2011 - 1:00am

As unfulfilled hopes of peace in the Middle East in 2010 fade from memory, the spectre of war in 2011 looms large. The collapse of Barack Obama's attempt to broker direct negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians has created a dangerous vacuum. Men of violence vie to fill it.

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Abbas backs UN attack on Israeli settlements
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent
by Donald MacIntyre - January 1, 2011 - 1:00am

The Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, has voiced his personal backing for the first time for a draft UN resolution condemning Israeli West Bank settlements, which he said had been worded in an effort to attract US support. The Ramallah-based Palestinian leadership is promoting the UN resolution as part of a diplomatic effort to secure international declarations of support in the absence of progress towards direct negotiations with Israel.

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Abbas: Israeli-Palestinian peace could be reached in two months
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
January 2, 2011 - 1:00am

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Sunday that he believed Israel and the Palestinians could reach a deal within two months, if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was willing to take a new approach in the peace process. The Palestinian president reiterated that the time had come for decisions, rather than talks, and said that Jerusalem must be the non-negotiable capital of the Palestinian state. Abbas did add, however, that the Palestinians would not make a unilateral declaration of statehood.

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Protester death shows IDF may be using most dangerous type of tear gas
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Avi Issacharoff, Anshel Pfeffer - January 3, 2011 - 1:00am

Questions are surfacing about Israel's use of tear-gas grenades, as security officials investigate the recent death of a protester at the weekly demonstration near the separation fence at the West Bank village of Bil'in. A 36-year-old woman, Jawaher Abu Rahmah, died on Saturday morning. Protester Bil'in The medical report filed in the Ramallah hospital where Abu Rahmah was taken shows that her death was caused by respiratory failure resulting from the inhalation of tear gas. Haaretz obtained the medical report on Sunday from Jawaher's brother, Ahmed Abu Rahmah.

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Netanyahu: Israel agreed to new settlement freeze, but U.S. retracted offer
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Jonathan Lis - January 3, 2011 - 1:00am

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that he had agreed to the U.S. suggestion of a three-month extension to the West Bank settlement freeze, but the Americans were the ones who retracted the offer. "The United States asked us to consider extending the freeze by three months, and the truth is that we were prepared to do so," Netanyahu said while speaking before the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.

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Hundreds in Tel Aviv protest death of Palestinian woman by tear gas
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
January 2, 2011 - 1:00am

Hundreds gathered in front of the Israeli Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv on Saturday night to protest the death of a Palestinian woman who died the day before during a demonstration against a security barrier in the West Bank village of Bil'in. Several protesters in Tel Aviv were detained by police, among them a former Israeli lawmaker, when the rally got out of hand. The Israeli police claimed that Moussy Raz, a former member of the left-wing Meretz party, was arrested after striking a police officer, the local media reported.

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Hamas stages Israeli attack to recall Gaza war
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
December 30, 2010 - 1:00am

Hamas rulers have staged a mock attack by Israel to commemorate Israel's 2008 Gaza offensive. The re-enactment included loud booms, clouds of smoke, fake blood and rubble. Only the rubble was real. About 40 actors put on the show Thursday at an apartment tower heavily damaged in the war. Booms inside the building were followed by plumes of smoke and children's screams. Medics rushed to evacuate children covered in red paint. A car burned nearby. About 200 people watched.

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