ATFP Original Translation: Saeed and a Happy New Year! ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Ayyam by Hassan Khader - (Opinion) January 12, 2010 - 1:00am The following is a quote from a Reuters article published in the London daily Al-Quds Al-Arabi on November 30: » Read more

Settlements obstacle to peace, says Kingdom ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News (Editorial) January 12, 2010 - 1:00am RIYADH: The Council of Ministers on Monday denounced the Israeli move to construct more Jewish settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, saying it would obstruct efforts to restart the Middle East peace process. The Cabinet meeting, chaired by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, commended the European stand, which rejects Israel’s illegitimate settlement policy. » Read more

Fresh attempt ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times by Hassan Barari - (Analysis) January 12, 2010 - 1:00am Unlike the early attempt to resume the peace process that began a year ago with much fanfare and no results, this time the Obama administration is gearing up for yet another effort to relaunch the long-awaited peace process between Israelis and Palestinians. » Read more

Hamas cannot stop rockets into Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Erin Cunningham - (Analysis) January 12, 2010 - 1:00am GAZA CITY // While Israel and the Palestinian leadership in Ramallah trade heated accusations over who is to blame for stalled US-led peace talks, Hamas’s inability to thwart fresh rocket attacks into Israel by other Gaza-based militant groups might also give Israel cause to delay steps to create a Palestinian state. Rebuffing comments made last week by the US peace envoy, George Mitchell, suggesting Israel was to blame for failed peace negotiations, Israeli officials instead claimed that continued rocket fire from the Hamas-run Gaza Strip aimed to provoke Israel. » Read more

With Palestinians painted into a corner, peace talks hinge on US guidance ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Omar Karmi - (Analysis) January 12, 2010 - 1:00am RAMALLAH // With pressure mounting on the Palestinians to return to negotiations with Israel even without a full settlement construction freeze in occupied territory, the onus has very much shifted on to US diplomatic efforts to ensure that talks are renewed. Mahmoud Abbas, the chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, continues to resist the pressure, which is now coming from Arab countries as well as Washington, insisting that Israel must completely end construction work in settlements before he will return to talks. » Read more

Can West Bank improvements hold in 2010? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) by Leslie Susser - (Analysis) January 11, 2010 - 1:00am JERUSALEM (JTA) – In Israel and the West Bank, 2009 was the year that ended without a bang -- and people were grateful for it. For the first time in a decade, Israel experienced a year without a suicide bombing. According to official Israeli figures, five Israelis were killed in incidents in or with attackers originating from the West Bank (In all, 15 Israelis were killed in 2009 by terrorism, including nine during the Israel-Hamas war last January). By comparison, 17 Israelis were killed by West Bank terrorism in 2008 and 429 in 2002, at the height of the second Palestinian intifada. » Read more

Critical Currents: Disproving skepticism ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Naomi Chazan - (Opinion) January 10, 2010 - 1:00am Yet another process is brewing. George Mitchell's visit to the region is designed to iron out the provisions for the resumption of Israeli-Palestinian discussions on all outstanding issues - starting with borders - within a two-year time frame. Should an understanding be reached on the terms of reference, and this is still a big question mark, then this will be the last chance for a two-state solution by agreement. » Read more

The new Sparta ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Eitan Haber - (Opinion) January 12, 2010 - 1:00am The first instinctive Israeli response to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s declaration that the whole of Israel needs to be surrounded by a fence is as follows: Oy vey, that’s the last thing we need. Such response would be completely understandable. Every Israeli child, and even every Jewish child anywhere in the world, has been born with images of fences. These are the fences of the death camps in World War II. » Read more

Time for Netanyahu to show Obama he wants peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Yoel Marcus - (Opinion) January 12, 2010 - 1:00am We can deny it all we like, but if it looks like a threat and sounds like a threat, then it's a threat. U.S. special envoy George Mitchell, who is coming to Israel next week, suggested in an interview with the U.S. public television network PBS that Washington might withhold loan guarantees to Israel. » Read more

Netanyahu: Israel will never share Jerusalem with Palestinians ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Barak Ravid - (Analysis) January 12, 2010 - 1:00am Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared on Tuesday that Israel would never cede control of united Jerusalem nor retreat to the 1967 borders, according to a bureau statement. The statement came after Egypt's foreign minister said in Cairo last week that Netanyahu was ready to discuss making "Arab Jerusalem" the capital of a Palestinian state. Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority could abandon its demand for a freeze on construction in East Jerusalem in exchange for an easing of the siege on Gaza and a halt to Israeli assassinations in the West Bank. » Read more