January 24th

Palestine papers: Now we know. Israel had a peace partner ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Jonathan Freedland - January 24, 2011 - 1:00am The classified documents show Palestinians willing to go to extreme lengths and Israel holding a firm line on any peace deal Who will be most damaged by this extraordinary glimpse into the reality of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process? Perhaps the first casualty will be Palestinian national pride, their collective sense of dignity in adversity badly wounded by the papers revealed today. » Read more

Palestinian Nonviolent Movement Continues Despite Crackdown ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Huffington Post by Mohammed Khatib - January 21, 2011 - 1:00am The January 1st death of Palestinian protester Jawaher Abu Rahmah from Israeli tear gas, and efforts to imprison people like us illustrate the Israeli government's intensifying crackdown on the unarmed Palestinian protest movement. Though threatened, this movement of Palestinian men, women and children, along with Israeli and international supporters, has grown too much to be easily stopped. » Read more

Reaction to the leaked Palestine papers ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Chris McGreal - January 24, 2011 - 1:00am Palestinian negotiators have angrily dismissed accounts as lies, fabrications and half truths As Palestinian negotiators named in the secret accounts of negotiations with Israel angrily dismissed them as lies, fabrications and half truths, there was an equally hostile backlash over their offer to let the Jewish state keep its settlements in occupied East Jerusalem and other concessions. » Read more

Best Mideast option: Muddle through ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Politico by Aaron David Miller - (Opinion) January 21, 2011 - 1:00am The Obama administration’s options on a major foreign policy issue, the Arab-Israeli peace process, range from bad to worse. Those options mirror the choices contained in a semi-mythic State Department memo, which lives on in the hearts of all of us who served the interests of the Republic there: option #1 go for the breakthrough; option #2 disengage, and the infamous option #3 – muddle through. » Read more

President Barack Obama’s efforts in the Middle East hit deep freeze ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Politico by Ben Smith - January 24, 2011 - 1:00am For two years, the Obama White House has tried to give Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the benefit of the doubt as a prospective peace partner — viewing him as a leader who shared U.S. goals but faced tough domestic political constraints that Washington felt obliged to help counter. That’s over. » Read more

The Palestine Papers - Risks for peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Jazeera Arabic by Robert Grenier - January 24, 2011 - 1:00am The overwhelming conclusion one draws from this record is that the process for a two-state solution is essentially over. » Read more

How leaked Palestinian documents will affect Abbas, peace process ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Joshua Mitnick - January 24, 2011 - 1:00am A trove of secret documents obtained by Al Jazeera shows that Palestinian negotiators offered far-reaching concessions on borders and Jerusalem in 2008, but that their Israeli counterparts balked. » Read more

Israeli intolerance shows up on Internet, in Knesset, on the street ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Edmund Sanders - January 23, 2011 - 1:00am The intent of the anonymous Internet video was unambiguous: "This person should be killed — and soon," read a message underneath a photo of Israel's deputy state prosecutor, Shai Nitzan. His alleged offense? "Betraying" his Jewish roots by opening a criminal inquiry into racist threats and hate speech expressed on two Israel-based Facebook pages with statements in Hebrew such as "Death to Arabs." It was the latest, and most overtly violent, sign of what many here are calling a wave of intolerance toward people of different races, religions, orientations and viewpoints. » Read more

Palestinian leaders deny offering major concessions to Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Edmund Sanders - January 23, 2011 - 1:00am Palestinian leaders Sunday rejected a report by Al Jazeera television network that they had agreed in 2008 to cede most of disputed East Jerusalem and to make other major concessions in an unsuccessful bid to win statehood. Citing documents that it called the "Palestine Papers," the Arab television outlet quoted minutes from a Jan. 15, 2008, meeting involving then-U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ahmed Korei. » Read more

Word of Palestinian Concession in 2008 Roils Mideast Debate ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Ethan Bronner - January 23, 2011 - 1:00am Despite longstanding protests against the construction of Jewish developments in contested areas, Palestinian negotiators agreed to cede large tracts of Jerusalem to Israel during peace negotiations in recent years, according to a set of documents Al Jazeera says it has obtained. The materials suggest that the chief Palestinian negotiator at the time, Ahmed Qurei, “proposed that Israel annexes all settlements in Jerusalem,” except for the Jewish district known as Har Homa. » Read more