January 6th

Netanyahu to meet Mubarak in Sharm ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency January 6, 2011 - 1:00am Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu heads Thursday to Egypt for talks with President Hosni Mubarak on ways to break the impasse in peace negotiations with the Palestinians, his office said. The two leaders will meet in the Red Sea resort of Sharm Ash-Sheikh for talks that will also focus on threats facing the region. "On the agenda for the talks is the advancement of the political process, regional issues and other subjects of interest to the two countries," a statement from Netanyahu's office said. » Read more

Palestinian official urges US to oblige Israel to accept Palestinian state ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua January 2, 2011 - 1:00am A senior Palestinian official on Monday urged the United States to oblige Israel to accept an independent Palestinian state to end the ongoing conflicts. "The United States should carry out its pledges to find a fair solution to the Palestinian cause and achieve peace and stability in the region," said Tayeb Abdel Rahim, chief secretary of the Palestinian presidency, when addressing on behalf of Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas a rally held in Ramallah to mark the 46 anniversary of the establishment of Fatah movement. » Read more

Violence on Gaza border continues ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency January 6, 2011 - 1:00am Three mortar shells were said to have been fired toward an Israeli military base along the Gaza border on Thursday morning, an armed group affiliated with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine said. The Jihad Jibril Brigades said the mortars targeted the Kissufim military zone northeast Al-Qararra near Khan Younis. An Israeli military spokeswoman said she had reports of a projectile landing at approximately 7:30 a.m. in the Negev regional council area, north of the Gaza Strip, but said she was not aware of any attacks in the area of Kissufim. » Read more

Report: Netanyahu ordered Shin Bet to investigate senior aides ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz January 6, 2011 - 1:00am Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the Shin Bet security service a few months ago to investigate senior members of his bureau suspected of passing sensitive information to the media, Army Radio reported on Thursday. Netanyahu's suspicions were aimed at some of his closest aides and he thus made a personal request to the Shin Bet and to Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein to look into the matter, according to the report. » Read more

Jordan: Swift action needed for peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP) January 5, 2011 - 1:00am Jordan's King Abdullah II on Wednesday urged "swift action" to help push forward the stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, warning against wasting more time, a palace statement said. "Efforts for having serious and effective peace talks should continue, based on a two-state solution, which is the only way to achieve regional stability and security," the statement quoted the king as telling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the telephone. "The deadlocked peace process threatens the entire region." » Read more

A Third Way to Palestine ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Affairs by Robert Danin - (Opinion) January 1, 2011 - 1:00am This past September, as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sat down in Washington to dine with U.S. President Barack Obama, a barely noticed event took place in Ramallah. With little fanfare, the 13th Palestinian Authority (PA) government, headed by Salam Fayyad, issued its one-year countdown to independence. This brief and understated document is likely to prove far more significant for the future of Palestine than the White House dinner and reflects nothing short of a revolutionary new approach to Palestinian statehood. » Read more

Arab states work to finalize anti-settlement draft ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post January 6, 2011 - 1:00am A group of Arab states launched negotiations on a resolution against Israeli building in West Bank settlements and aimed to finish a final draft in the near future, chief Palestinian UN delegate, Riyad Mansour was quoted as saying by Reuters on Wednesday. "We are beginning the process of text negotiations, and we hope that we can finish this exercise as soon as possible ... to pave the way for action by the Security Council," Mansour said. » Read more

Knesset approves investigation of Israeli human rights groups ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Harriet Sherwood - January 5, 2011 - 1:00am The funding of Israeli human and civil rights groups is to be investigated amid claims they are acting against the country's interests, members of the Israeli parliament decided today – a move described by opponents as "McCarthyite". A bill brought by members of the rightwing Yisrael Beiteinu party, whose leader is the controversial foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, proposed a parliamentary commission of inquiry into groups monitoring the activities of the Israeli military in the occupied West Bank. » Read more

Protest Death Spurs Scrutiny of Israeli Tactics ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Danielle Cheslow - January 5, 2011 - 1:00am The Israeli army’s alleged killing of Jawaher Abu Rahmah, the unarmed woman who reportedly died from tear gas inhalation during a protest of Israel’s West Bank separation barrier, is putting the army’s tactics at such demonstrations under greater scrutiny, along with its moral credibility. At the same time, the army is attacking the protesters’ credibility. It is challenging accounts from Abu Rahmah’s family members and other protesters, from medical personnel at the scene and from contemporaneous press and Twitter accounts all reporting on Abu Rahmah’s fatal encounter. » Read more

Wanted: Adult Supervision ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy by Aaron David Miller - (Opinion) January 5, 2011 - 1:00am Call me a foreign-policy geezer, a traditionalist from back in the day. But when it comes to conducting the affairs of the country abroad, particularly toward the seemingly endless, seemingly intractable Arab-Israeli peace process, one historically proven bureaucratic model trumps all others: the willful president empowering the strong secretary of state who, in turn, runs everything. » Read more