February 3rd

Abbas says not to run for re-election
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
February 3, 2011 - 1:00am

Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas announced on Wednesday that he doesn't intend to run in any upcoming presidential elections, a senior Palestinian official said. The Palestinian leadership is seriously studying to prepare for holding new parliamentary and presidential elections, the official said on condition of anonymity. "President Abbas is expected to call for holding the elections soon, but he hasn't setup a date yet," the official said, in the aftermath of a meeting of Abbas Fatah movement's revolutionary council held in Ramallah.

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Hamas rejects local elections under division
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
by Wang Guanqun - February 2, 2011 - 1:00am

Islamic Hamas movement on Wednesday said it boycotts any local elections as long as split in the Palestinian territories remains in place. A statement by Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, rejected the West Bank-based government's announcement that municipal elections would be held in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Moreover, the statement described the government, led by Salam Fayyad, as "illegal," adding that the elections "will be null and their results unrecognized if they were held without agreement and under the split."

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More detentions in Ramallah at rally for Egypt
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
February 3, 2011 - 1:00am

Palestinian Authority police beat back protesters with clubs and detained at least two at what witnesses described as a spontaneous rally and show of support for the Egyptian people as chaos hit Cairo streets. "I was sick and tired of sitting at home and doing nothing," one Ramallah resident said, explaining that she had seen on the social networking site Facebook that friends were attending a peaceful protest at 9 p.m. in the city center.

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The Lifta that never will be
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Esther Zandberg - February 3, 2011 - 1:00am

The first Arab residents have begun to enter their new homes in the village of Lifta at the western approach to Jerusalem. Many of them are descendants of Palestinian families who lived there until the eve of the Israeli War of Independence in 1948. When they left the village, it remained abandoned for decades and its ruins became a symbol of the destruction of the Palestinian community in Israel.

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Fatah official calls for revolt in Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
February 3, 2011 - 1:00am

Major General Tawfiq At-Tirawi, former director of the PA general intelligence and Fatah Central Committee member called Wednesday in a statement for the people of Gaza to rise up in revolt against the Hamas government. The people of Gaza, he said, should take their cue from Egypt and call for the end of the "dictatorship that restricts their freedoms." At-Tirawi's statement is widely believed to be a response to the new group on the social networking site Facebook, Preparation for the Dignity Revolution, which calls for a mass rally in Gaza City on 11 February.

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Why Palestinians remain so quiet as Egyptians loudly rail against Mubarak
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Daniella Cheslow - February 2, 2011 - 1:00am

Cries for President Hosni Mubarak's ouster in Egypt are being echoed in Jordan with antigovernment protests and a "day of rage" planned for Syria this Friday. But in the Palestinian territories, it's the silence that is most notable. Part of that quiet is due to a rare common effort from the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the West Bank and Hamas in the Gaza Strip to suppress vocal support for Egyptian protesters. Both sides dispersed solidarity demonstrations that were planned for last Sunday and Monday.

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Uneasy lies the head
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Asher Susser - February 3, 2011 - 1:00am

In the early 1960s, when Jordan's King Hussein was embattled by Nasser's regime in Egypt that was bent on the export of its revolutionary fervor, the young king published an autobiography entitled "Uneasy Lies the Head". Taking his cue from Shakespeare's King Henry IV ("Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown"), Hussein's characterization of his predicament could equally apply today to his son and heir, King Abdullah II. Egypt is once again the source of inspiration for revolutionary fervor.

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Uneasy lies the head
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Asher Susser - February 3, 2011 - 1:00am

In the early 1960s, when Jordan's King Hussein was embattled by Nasser's regime in Egypt that was bent on the export of its revolutionary fervor, the young king published an autobiography entitled "Uneasy Lies the Head". Taking his cue from Shakespeare's King Henry IV ("Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown"), Hussein's characterization of his predicament could equally apply today to his son and heir, King Abdullah II. Egypt is once again the source of inspiration for revolutionary fervor.

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February 2nd

Thomas Friedman says events in Egypt make Israeli-Palestinian peace more urgent than ever. Yossi Klein Halevi says Israelis fear a Muslim Brotherhood take-over of Egypt. Michael Weiss criticizes the Guardian’s handling of the “Palestine papers.” Palestinians are not allowed to rally on Egypt anywhere as Hamas brakes up a pro-Egyptian protesters rally in Gaza. The PA says it intends to hold local elections soon. Palestinians urge the Quartet to back statehood. Mike Huckabee says there should be no Palestinian state. The Arab League postpones a conference on Jerusalem due to unrest in Arab states. Israel urges the West to ensure that any new Egyptian government honors the peace treaty. Hamas is worried unrest will spill over into Gaza. Muslim leaders visit Auschwitz. The Knesset decides to investigate NGOs. An Israeli soldier criticizes his country’s occupation policies. American supporters of Israel face a dilemma on Egyptian protests. Guyana and Suriname are the latest South American states to recognize Palestine in its 1967 borders.

Israel urges West: Make sure new Egypt regime honors peace deal
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - February 2, 2011 - 1:00am

Prime Minister wants international community to make clear that new leadership must meet a series of conditions similar to those posed by Hamas in order to gain recognition of legitimacy. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has asked U.S. President Barack Obama and a number of other Western leaders in recent days to make it clear to any new Egyptian regime that it must abide fully by the peace agreement with Israel.

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