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Fatah Official: Palestine Seeks Arab Support for Halt to Israel Talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency February 10, 2012 - 1:00am BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Fatah Central Committee member Mahmoud Al-Aloul said Friday that Palestinian leaders will seek Arab support for their decision not to return to direct negotiations with Israel, after exploratory talks ended last month without agreement. PLO officials are set to brief the Arab League follow-up committee on Sunday, after Palestinian and Israeli envoys met for a series of talks in Jordan before an international Quartet deadline of Jan. 26 to submit proposals on borders and security issues. |
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Words matter: A new language for peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by John V. Whitbeck - (Opinion) February 8, 2012 - 1:00am The words people use, often unconsciously, can have a critical impact. Dangerously misleading terminology remains a major obstacle to Israeli-Palestinian peace. The current initiative by Palestine to upgrade its status at the United Nations from “observer entity” to member state or, temporarily failing that, “observer state” is commonly referred to, by both supporters and opponents of this initiative, as an effort to “achieve statehood” or “recognition of statehood” through the United Nations. It is nothing of the sort. |
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The Mainstreaming of Hamas Continues as Palestinian Unity Gains Steam
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Time by Karl Vick - (Analysis) February 6, 2012 - 1:00am One of the least-noticed consequences of the Arab Spring might be called the “mainstreaming of Hamas.” The chief of the Palestinian party and militia, which the West knows chiefly for its suicide attacks on Israel, has declared repeatedly that it has decided to set aside violent resistance and, in the spirit of the Arab Spring, concentrate on demonstrations and other nonviolent methods. |
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Special from Israel: Officials mull path forward after historic Palestinian reconciliation
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Egyptian Independent by Roger Hercz - (Opinion) February 9, 2012 - 1:00am Jaffa -- Mahmoud al-Zahar, the co-founder of Hamas, was clearly satisfied as he spoke to Israeli TV following the historic Palestinian reconciliation pact signing last week. “Your intelligence organizations are not so impressive after all,” he told Channel 10 News. Israeli leaders were certainly caught off guard when news broke that Fatah and Hamas had reached a deal to mend ties, four years after a schism erupted between the two Palestinian factions and Hamas security forcibly ousted Fatah personnel from the Gaza Strip. Al-Zahar was rubbing Israel’s lack of anticipation in its face. |
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The Palestinians Regain their Decision
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat by Elias Harfoush - (Opinion) February 9, 2012 - 1:00am The Palestinian reconciliation agreement between Fatah and Hamas should be placed in its right context, i.e. in the context of the transformations witnessed in the Arab region. |
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Palestinian Unity May Turn to Reality
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by J.J. Goldberg - (Opinion) February 9, 2012 - 1:00am To understand the new unity agreement between the two Palestinian factions, Fatah and Hamas, it helps to recall the story of the village beggar and his cake. It happened once that the village beggar asked the rabbi for a ruble to buy some food. An hour later the rabbi saw the beggar in the market, eating a slice of cake. Incensed, the rabbi rushed to rebuke him: “When I give you a ruble you should eat a meal, not cake!” “Excuse me,” the beggar replied. “Yesterday I had no money, so I couldn’t eat cake. Today I have money, but I shouldn’t eat cake. Tell me, rabbi, when can I eat cake?” |
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Banging the war drums
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Douglas Bloomfield - (Opinion) February 8, 2012 - 1:00am The Obama administration has taken some unusual steps to discourage an Israeli strike on Iranian nuclear facilities in the coming months. After diplomatic, intelligence and military leaders failed to get the message across in private, they went public. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, through columnist David Ignatius, said his biggest worry is the strong likelihood of an Israeli attack before summer. |
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Is Netanyahu pretending?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Eitan Haber - (Opinion) February 8, 2012 - 1:00am Benjamin Netanyahu was the big winner of the recent Likud primaries. However, he too realizes that the party that sent him to the Prime Minister’s Office is slipping through his fingers. Likud is distancing from him. However, some politicians will respond to the above with a chuckle. For years they have been saying that Netanyahu has not changed at all, and that Likud is not distancing from him at all. Bibi is just like Moshe Feiglin, with a softer veneer, they say. The primaries’ results will force Netanyahu to rip the mask off his face. |
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Israel overcome by paranoia
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Alex Fishman - (Opinion) February 8, 2012 - 1:00am At first glance, one is shocked. The images one recalls of the pastoral desert border between Israel and Egypt have been erased. The landscape is cut by a grey, towering metal fence. At the top of it one sees not only barbed wire, but also sharp knives. Alongside this menacing fence lies more barbed wire, affixed to the earth, with a patrol road nearby. |