January 24th

Abbas says Jazeera leaks on Israel talks confused ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters January 24, 2011 - 1:00am Leaked documents detailing peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians deliberately confuse the positions of either side, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Monday. The documents, obtained by Al Jazeera television channel, indicate that Palestinian negotiators offered Israel much bigger concessions than previously revealed. "What is intended is a mix-up. I have seen them yesterday present things as Palestinian but they were Israeli... This is therefore intentional," Abbas said in Cairo. He said the peace talks were carried out in an open manner.

Abed Rabbo blasts Emir of Qatar ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency January 24, 2011 - 1:00am PLO executive committee member Yasser Abed Rabbo on Monday blasted the Emir of Qatar over documents leaked by the Doha-based Al-Jazeera TV network covering a decade of Israel-Palestinian negotiations. According to documents released Sunday, chief PLO negotiator Saeb Erakat offered Israel huge concessions, including "the biggest Yerushalayim [Jerusalem] in history" during 2008 negotiations. » Read more

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