February 6th

When Talk of War Transcends Idle Chatter
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Ethan Bronner - February 5, 2012 - 1:00am

JERUSALEM — Israelis like to say that when it comes to military and security operations, those who know don’t talk, and those who talk don’t know. But the intense and increasingly public debate about whether to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities is challenging that piece of conventional wisdom. The standard view has been that successful attacks rely on secrecy and surprise, so the more talk there is about an operation, the less likely it will occur.

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Final member of Damascus-based Hamas politburo leaves Syria
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Deutsche Presse Agentur (DPA)
February 5, 2012 - 1:00am

A senior member of the Hamas movement politburo, Imad el-Alami, previously based in Syria, returned to the Gaza Strip on Sunday. Hamas sources said he was the last remaining member of the movement's Damascus-based politburo to leave Syria. Hamas decided to leave Syria in order not to be seen as endorsing the regime of President Bashar Assad in his bloody crackdown against his own people.

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Israeli premier to visit US to address lobby
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
February 5, 2012 - 1:00am

JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office says he will visit the U.S. next month for the annual conference of AIPAC, the pro-Israel lobby. A statement by Netanyahu's office Sunday said the prime minister would speak at the conference. It was not immediately clear if Netanyahu would meet U.S. President Obama during his visit. The visit comes at a time of deadlock in Israel-Palestinian talks and growing international concern that Israel could soon launch an attack on Iran's nuclear program.

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Israel 'denied residency to thousands of Palestinians'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
February 6, 2012 - 1:00am

BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) -- Israeli policies have arbitrarily denied thousands of Palestinians the right to live in or travel to and from the West Bank and Gaza, an international rights group said Sunday. “Israel’s control over the population registry has significantly reduced the registered Palestinian population in the West Bank and Gaza, probably by hundreds of thousands of people,” the report by Human Rights Watch said.

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Abbas to head unity government as factions sign agreement
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
February 6, 2012 - 1:00am

BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) -- President Abbas and Hamas chief Khalid Mashaal penned an agreement in Qatar on Monday which will see the Fatah leader head a unity government. The agreement stipulates that the current President will head an interim government to prepare for parliamentary and presidential elections. It also included agreements on reforming the Palestinian National Council and activating the PLO for the next elections, Palestine TV said.

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February 3rd

Tunisia as a Model
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Uri Savir - (Opinion) February 2, 2012 - 1:00am

In early 1994, I visited Tunisia. I was sent there by then-prime minister Yitzhak Rabin and then-foreign minister Shimon Peres to pay condolences to Yasser Arafat and the PLO leadership in the aftermath of the horrendous Hebron massacre committed by Baruch Goldstein. It was obviously not an easy trip, but an occasion for me to get acquainted for the first time with the PLO leader, and to encounter a new Arab country. It is with the latter that this article will deal.

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U.S. Jews should put themselves before Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Anshel Pfeffer - (Opinion) February 3, 2012 - 1:00am

The second-richest Jew in the world is once again in the spotlight. Sheldon Adelson and his wife Miri have together donated $10 million to Winning Our Future, the political action committee supporting Newt Gingrich's campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, and the pundits are asking how one man and his wife can be allowed to sway an election with the weight of their money.

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NEWS: UNSG Ban has shoes and rocks thrown at him in Gaza, as he says time is running out for negotiations. A viral photo of an Israeli soldier abusing a Palestinian is allegedly debunked. Two Palestinians are injured in an Israeli attack on Gaza. Israel clarifies its new subsidies won't apply to settlements after all. Pres. Abbas says Israel's "goodwill" gestures are not enough to resume talks. Israel's Shin Bet chief says Iran is targeting Israeli sites in retaliation for the assassination of its nuclear scientists. Palestinians return a lost Israeli soldier to Israel's custody. The Quartet is to working on a package of incentives for Palestinians to continue with negotiations. Gaza renews furniture exports. A new study suggests Jewish American support is tilting towards the Republican Party, but Democrats dismiss these claims. COMMENTARY: Yoel Marcus says PM Netanyahu is here to stay. Yossi Sarid decries indoctrination of Israelis about Hebron. Anshel Pfeffer says Jewish Americans should put their own interests, and that of their country, ahead of that of Israel. Uri Savir says Israel should regard Tunisia as a model for post-dictatorship Arab democracies. US Congressman Allen West says the US-Israel relationship is unique and precious. J.J. Goldberg looks at the backers of an Islamlophobic film used by the NYPD. Bilal Hassen says Israeli-Palestinian negotiations are impossible. George Hishmeh says Israel is deliberately trying to sabotage the two-state solution. Sarah Wildman says time is quickly running out for the two-state solution.

Israel Adds to its Crimes
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
by George S. Hishmeh - (Opinion) February 3, 2012 - 1:00am

Ten years ago about 50 Israeli soldiers, including some officers, refused to serve in the Occupied Territories, roughly the size about 22 per cent of the original state, Palestine, which until mid-1948 was a mandate under British rule.

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Palestinian-Israeli negotiations are impossible
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Bilal Hassan - (Analysis) February 2, 2012 - 1:00am

At present, there are no Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, as the conditions laid down by Israel would render them doomed to failure before they even start. Yet the Palestinian side has no alternative plan to the negotiation theme, which means that the issue will remain pending and frozen unless some change happens on the ground and alters the balance of power.

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