Time examines PA concerns about events in Egypt. Aaron David Miller looks at Israeli anxieties. Palestinians rally in Ramallah, but PA security forces are accused of suppressing demonstrations. Pres. Abbas meets with Jordan's King Abdullah. Contractors say the PA owes them money. The UK says a peace agreement is essential to curbing Iranian influence. A former Israeli official says talks with Syria in 2008 were very close. Palestinians welcome the Quartet's role. A Hamas militant escapes prison in Egypt and returns to Gaza. Israeli authorities in occupied East Jerusalem go forward with plans that will lead to more Palestinian evictions. Pres. Peres says unrest in Egypt shows how urgently peace with the Palestinians is needed. Jessica Brandt says both Israeli and Palestinian leaders need to do more to prepare their peoples for peace. Israel rejects an Egyptian request to increase its forces in Sinai. Uri Avnery looks at implications of a new Egypt for Israel.

Huckabee of Judea
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Glenn Kessler - February 7, 2011 - 1:00am

"There are vast amounts of territory that are in the hands of Muslims, in the hands of Arabs. Maybe the international community can come together and accommodate" the Palestinians

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Hamas militant escapes from Egypt prison, arrives in Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
February 7, 2011 - 1:00am

Islamic Hamas movement, which rules the Gaza Strip, announced on Saturday that one of its militants managed to escape from an Egyptian prison and arrived at his home in Gaza. The movement said in a leaflet emailed to reporters that Ayman Noofal, who has been in an Egyptian prison for three years had managed to flee and had arrived at his home in Gaza on Saturday evening. "Ayman Noofal kissed the soil of Gaza after being kidnapped in the Egyptian prisons for three years," said Hamas statement.

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Jerusalem council set to approve Jewish housing in Arab neighborhood
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Nir Hasson - February 7, 2011 - 1:00am

Several Palestinian families in East Jerusalem's Sheikh Jarrah will be evicted to pave way for two new buildings meant to comprise 13 apartments. The Jerusalem Municipal Committee for Planning and Building is expected to approve Monday the construction of two buildings that will include 13 apartments for Jewish residents in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem.

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Palestinians welcome Mideast Quartet's role in peace process
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
February 6, 2011 - 1:00am

The Palestinian leadership on Sunday welcomed the Quartet of Middle East negotiators to engage in reviving Palestinian-Israeli peace talks. The Quartet's call for separate discussions between its members and the concerned parties in the Middle East "is an unprecedented development that cannot be bypassed," said Saeb Erekat, the top Palestinian negotiator. The Quartet, which comprises the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia, made the call following its meeting in Munich, Germany, on Saturday.

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Peres: Israeli-Palestinian peace urgent in light of Egypt crisis
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - February 6, 2011 - 1:00am

President tells 11th annual Herzliya conference that the sluggish pace of the peace process means that the conflict is being 'exploited to the detriment of all sides'. President Shimon Peres urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday to move quickly toward a solution in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process in light of the crisis that has wracked Egypt over the last two weeks.

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Ex-official: Direct Israel-Syria talks were close
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Amy Teibel - February 6, 2011 - 1:00am

A high-ranking official in the previous Israeli government said Sunday that Israel and Syria were close to resuming direct peace talks in late 2008, and that the Syrians signaled readiness to ease past demands for a full Israeli withdrawal from captured lands. Turkish-mediated talks between the two sides were to have progressed to direct talks in December 2008. But Israel launched a war against Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip that month, and the talks were derailed, said the former official in the government of Ehud Olmert.

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Palestinian security suppressing West Bank fervor over Egypt protests
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amira Hass - February 7, 2011 - 1:00am

The European-trained Palestinian Special Police Force has become a leading security apparatus in the West Bank.

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UK to Israel: help us curb Iran with Palestine deal
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Dan Williams - February 6, 2011 - 1:00am

Israel could bolster the international campaign to head off Iran's nuclear programme by pursuing peace with the Palestinians, Britain said on Sunday.

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Palestinian contractors say owed millions by PA
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
February 7, 2011 - 1:00am

In the course of its state-building program, the Palestinian Authority has accumulated millions of dollars in debts owed to contractors, the union of Palestinian contractors said Sunday, urging officials to pay companies what they are owed. "The union demands that the Palestinian government pays contractors in return for the projects they executed for the government. Huge debts have been accumulated since November 2010, and some contractors have overdrawn their bank accounts," said Adel Auda, union chief in the West Bank.

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