February 7th

Why are peace talks secret?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Jessica Brandt - (Opinion) February 7, 2011 - 1:00am

Op-ed: Israel, PA must do better job of preparing public opinion for necessary concessions The recently released Palestine Papers make for juicy reading, but they aren’t really news. They tell us what any close observer of the conflict already knows: that an agreement will require both sides to ease their grip on long-held taboos and come to compromise that meets the long term national interests of both peoples.

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Abbas, Abdullah meet as region remains in turmoil
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
February 7, 2011 - 1:00am

President Mahmoud Abbss sat with Jordan's King Abdullah on Sunday, the PA government press agency WAFA reported, saying the two discussed the latest political developments in the region. The two met as Jordan's Islamists refused to join a new government, days after Abdullah sacked the old cabinet and appointed a new prime minister, and the International Quartet warned that instability in Egypt could derail the peace process.

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Protesters rally in Ramallah in solidarity with Egyptians
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
February 7, 2011 - 1:00am

Protesters rallied in Ramallah on Saturday in solidarity with the Egyptian people's uprising against their government. Residents, students and civil society representatives raised Egyptian flags and posters calling on the Egyptian president to resign. Protesters held banners including "From Ramallah to Tahrir Square, the people want change," and "Down with oppressive regimes." Palestinian lawmaker Hanan Ashrawi attended the rally, as did Mamdouh Al-Ikir, the commissioner general of the Independent Commission for Human Rights.

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Why Israel fears a free Egypt
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Aaron David Miller - (Editorial) February 6, 2011 - 1:00am

Having dealt with the Israelis for the better part of 40 years, I have learned never to dismiss or trivialize their foundational fears. As both former prime minister Yitzhak Rabin and current premier Binyamin Netanyahu reminded me on different occasions, Israelis don't live in some leafy Washington suburb, but in a much tougher neighborhood. And today, it is impossible to overstate the angst, even hysteria, that Israelis are feeling about their neighborhood as they watch what is unfolding in the streets of Cairo.

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Israel says no to more Egyptian troops in Sinai
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Yaakov Katz - February 7, 2011 - 1:00am

Senior army official: We don’t want it to seem as if the peace treaty is meaningless, particularly when there could be a regime change in Cairo. Fearing a complete breakdown of the peace treaty with Cairo, the government last week refused a second Egyptian request to allow it to deploy more military forces in Sinai, The Jerusalem Post has learned.

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Revolt in Egypt, impact on Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
by Uri Avnery - February 6, 2011 - 1:00am

WE are in the middle of a geological event. An earthquake of epoch-making dimensions is changing the landscape of our region. People are afraid of change. Israelis are no exception. While in neighboring Egypt earth-shattering events were taking place, Israel was absorbed with a scandal in the army high command. But what is happening now in Egypt will change our lives. As usual, nobody foresaw it. The much-feted Mossad was taken by surprise, as was the CIA. Yet there should have been no surprise at all — except about the incredible force of the eruption.

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Why the Palestinian Authority Is Worried About Egypt
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Time
by Karl Vick - February 5, 2011 - 1:00am

On the Israeli-occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Authority (PA) headed by Mahmoud Abbas may not qualify as a sovereign government. But it is moderate and U.S.-backed, and has been behaving of late like one of the region's brittle and freshly vulnerable autocratic regimes.

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February 4th

The CSM looks at implications of Egyptian unrest for Hamas. PM Fayyad says the Israeli occupation is a source of regional instability. Rights groups say the PA is blocking freedom of expression. A donor conference for Palestine is scheduled for June. Palestinians wrangle over local elections. PM Netanyahu says he will offer "gestures" to the Palestinians. Israel blocks access to Jerusalem. Gideon Levy says Israel now sees how much of an asset its treaty with Egypt is. Chaos in Egypt complicates calculations by the Quartet. Palestinians in a border town face divided identities. The BBC looks at extremist Jewish settlers. The JTA profiles Israeli activist Uri Avnery. The Forward profiles J Street. George Hishmeh looks at implications for Israel of unrest in Egypt. Oraib al-Rantawi stresses the importance to Jordan of Palestinian-Israeli peace.

Between the hammer and the anvil
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Oraib Al-Rantawi - February 3, 2011 - 1:00am

Over the last decade, Jordan's policies have centered on a single assumption: that the creation of a viable Palestinian state is a major pillar of Jordan's security and stability. Even more so, it is vital to Jordan's existence and identity. Based on this assumption, Jordan stood firm behind the peace process and was a strong supporter of the two-state solution. In that light, Jordan supported the Arab Peace Initiative and US President George W. Bush's vision for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian dispute. Equally, Jordan called for the implementation of the roadmap and signed agreements.

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Intriguing alliance
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by George S. Hishmeh - February 4, 2011 - 1:00am

The surprising determined refusal of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who has been in office for nearly 30 years, to step down immediately has probably stunned many worldwide, and especially the hundreds of thousands of his ever-increasing opponents who have been demonstrating for days against his regime in Egypt’s main cities. Equally alarming were Mubarak’s brief televised remarks, broadcast late Tuesday night, that he would not seek reelection but promises an orderly transition before his term expires in September.

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