January 12th

EU Report: Israel Policy in West Bank Endangers Two-State Solution
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amira Hass - January 12, 2012 - 1:00am

The European Union will direct its activities towards supporting the West Bank’s Palestinian population, a report by the European Heads of Mission in Jerusalem and Ramallah said on Thursday, over what the survey said was Israeli efforts to muscle out Palestinians from Area C.

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Clinton Asks Abbas to Extend Quartet’s Deadline for Talks Resumption: Palestinian Official
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
January 12, 2012 - 1:00am

RAMALLAH -- U.S. State Secretary Hillary Clinton asked Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to extend the deadline of Jan. 26 set by the Quartet to resume peace negotiations, a Fatah official said Thursday. "Clinton asked Abbas last night not to stop the Jordanian-hosted talks after the Quartet's deadline," member of Fatah Central Committee Azzam Al-Ahmad told reporters in Ramallah. Al-Ahmad added that Clinton has pledged that her country would continue to exert more efforts in order to achieve peace between Palestinians and Israelis in 2012.

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Reconciliation Committee to Start Work Immediately
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
January 12, 2012 - 1:00am

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- The committee tasked with implementing the reconciliation agreement between Hamas and Fatah has finalized all administrative preparations and will begin work immediately, committee head Rabah Mhannah said Wednesday. Speaking to reporters after a committee meeting in Gaza City, Mhannah said members were allocated aspects of the agreement to work on.

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Israel’s Identity Crisis: Why it Could be as Detrimental as Palestinian Conflict
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Joshua Mitnick - January 11, 2012 - 1:00am

Tel Aviv: When Tanya Rosenblit boarded the No. 451 bus to Jerusalem last month, she knew that the predominantly ultra-Orthodox passengers would keep their distance from her because of their adherence to strict rules of gender segregation. In the Ultra-Orthodox enclave of Bnei Brak, buses where passengers sit separated by gender are common. Last month the refusal of a secular woman to go to the rear of the bus touched off a national outcry about growing religious extremism. But when one of them demanded she move to the rear, Ms. Rosenblit held her ground.

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Was Israel Behind Iran Nuclear Scientist’s Assassination?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Joshua Mitnick - January 12, 2012 - 1:00am

Tel Aviv: Israel has emerged as a key suspect in the assassination of an Iranian nuclear scientist in Tehran yesterday, thought to be the latest strike in a covert war that has targeted technicians, military plants, and computer systems at the heart of Islamic Republic’s uranium enrichment program.

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Hamas Sentences Palestinian to Death
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
January 11, 2012 - 1:00am

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — A Hamas official in Gaza says the militant group has sentenced a local Palestinian to death for collaborating with Israel. The official said the man was sentenced Wednesday to death by firing squad at a military court in Gaza. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to speak with reporters. Palestinians who collaborate with Israeli intelligence are widely loathed within Palestinian society.

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Hamas Leader to Visit Iran, Qatar in New Trip
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
January 12, 2012 - 1:00am

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — An adviser to Hamas' prime minister says the leader will visit Iran, Qatar and other Muslim countries at the end of the month. Yusef Rizka says the militant group's Ismail Haniyeh will embark on his second official international trip outside the Gaza Strip. He returned this week from a tour of Egypt, Sudan, Turkey and Tunisia. It was the first time Haniyeh had left Gaza since Hamas seized control of the territory from the rival Fatah movement in 2007.

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Israel Upholds Limits on Palestinian Spouses
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
January 12, 2012 - 1:00am

JERUSALEM — Israel's Supreme Court upheld late Wednesday a controversial law that bans most Palestinians who marry Israelis from living inside the Jewish state. In a 6-5 ruling, the court agreed that Palestinians who gain Israeli citizenship through marriage pose a security threat. The law is believed to have prevented thousands of Palestinians from living with their spouses. Parliament passed the law in 2003, at the height of the second Palestinian uprising, a time when militants from the West Bank frequently entered Israel to carry out deadly attacks.

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PA Shares Israel's Nuclear Iran Fears
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Chronicle
by Stephen Pollard - January 12, 2012 - 1:00am

The Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority, Salam Fayyad, has attacked the behaviour of Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and said that he shares Western - and Israeli - concerns with the Iranians' nuclear project. Speaking in his Ramallah headquarters, Prime Minister Fayyad said that the Palestinians were "greatly harmed" by the Iranian leader's conduct. President Ahmadinejad, he said, should stop acting as a supposed spokesman for the Palestinians. The Iranian president was concerned only with increasing Iranian influence in the region.

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January 11th

NEWS: Palestinian leaders express outrage at reports of sky rocketing Israeli settlement construction in occupied East Jerusalem. Peace Now says there was a 20% increase in settlement construction in 2011. Palestinian drivers protest Israeli-only roads in the occupied West Bank. Palestinians accuse Israeli settlers of vandalizing another West Bank mosque. Egyptian activists say they will try to prevent Israeli pilgrims from visiting the tomb of a venerated Rabbi. Hamas leader Haniyyeh arrives back in Gaza. Some of Israel's new settlement plans break commitments made to the United States. Yisrael Beiteinu proposes new Israeli legislation restricting Knesset membership to military veterans, a move that would effectively eliminate Arab representation. Israel adopts a harsh new law aimed mainly at African migrants. Occupation forces arrest 10 Palestinians in the West Bank. COMMENTARY: Zvi Bar'el says the Israeli military has a long history of sharing information with extremist settlers. Donniel Hartman says Israel needs to ask itself if it is ready for peace. Sari Bashi says Gaza is still occupied by Israel no matter what anyone claims. Tony Karon says Palestinians should learn lessons from the ANC. The Jordan Times denounces FM Lieberman's proposal to expel Arab villages from Israel. The Gulf News says Israel needs to rein in such extreme comments. Yariv Oppenheimer has 2012 could be a year of dynamic resurgence of the Israeli peace camp. Imad Al-Frangi says changes in the Arab world are being led by Islamists, and this will benefit Hamas. Dan Rothem asks whether Jews should be allowed to live in a future Palestinian state. David Makovsky says there will be no diplomatic breakthrough during a US election year.

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