Clinton slams Israeli demolition of historic hotel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press by Matthew Lee - January 9, 2011 - 1:00am Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is strongly criticizing Israel for the demolition of a vacant but historic hotel in an Arab neighborhood of east Jerusalem, saying that the move undermines U.S. efforts to restart stalled peace talks. » Read more

Palestinians say they'll go to UN for recognition ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press by Mohammed Daraghmeh - January 10, 2011 - 1:00am The Palestinian foreign minister says he will seek United Nations recognition for a Palestinian state in September and is currently lobbying for votes worldwide. The move is part of the Palestinians' so-called Plan B of pursuing an alternative to a negotiated peace deal while talks with Israel remain stalled. Riad Malki's announcement Sunday followed Chile's recognition of Palestine, making it the fifth South American country to do so recently. » Read more

Israel envoy to discuss reviving peace talks in U.S. ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Ori Lewis - (Blog) January 8, 2011 - 1:00am An envoy of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will travel to Washington next week to discuss ways to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, a statement from Netanyahu's office said on Saturday. "(Netanyahu's representative) Yitzhak Molcho and a Palestinian representative will travel to Washington next week with the aim of advancing the diplomatic process," the statement said. When asked, a spokesman for Netanyahu declined to comment whether Molcho would meet his Palestinian counterpart. » Read more

Hamas urges militant groups to stop attacking Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Nidal al-Mughrabi - (Blog) January 9, 2011 - 1:00am Hamas said on Sunday it has begun talks with other militant factions in the Gaza Strip to urge them to stop firing rockets at Israel, attacks that have raised Palestinian fears of a new Israeli offensive. The talks are a signal that Hamas hopes to avert any large-scale Israeli military operation in the enclave similar to a three-week campaign that ended in January 2009 and in which 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis were killed. » Read more

Clinton 'concerned' about Jerusalem demolition ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency (Blog) January 10, 2011 - 1:00am US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called the Sunday demolition of a Palestinian hotel in Jerusalem a "disturbing development undermines peace efforts to achieve the two state-solution." In a statement issued the evening following the demolition, Clinton said the demolition of The Shepherd Hotel by Israeli settlement builder Irving Moskowitz "contradicts the logic of a reasonable and necessary agreement between the parties on the status of Jerusalem." » Read more

PA: Israel demolishing chance for peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency by Hossam Ezzedine - January 10, 2011 - 1:00am Palestinian officials on Sunday slammed Israel's demolition of an East Jerusalem hotel to make way for settler homes, accusing Israel of destroying any chance of peace. Palestinians reacted furiously to the demolition of part of the Shepherd Hotel, which sits on a piece of land in occupied East Jerusalem where developers plan to build a complex of 20 luxury apartments for Jewish settlers. "By doing this, Israel has destroyed all the US efforts and ended any possibility of a return to negotiations," Nabil Abu Rudeina, a spokesman for President Mahmoud Abbas, said in a statement. » Read more

Airstrikes hit two sites in Gaza, none injured ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency (Blog) January 10, 2011 - 1:00am Shortly before midnight on Sunday night Israeli warplanes launched three missile strikes at areas said to be training grounds for Hamas’ military wing the Al-Qassam Brigades. The strikes, which caused no injuries according to medics in Gaza, hit east of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, and in the northern Strip near Gaza City. The first hit landed in the south at 11:40 p.m. A second hit in the same area fell approximately 30 minutes later, and a third hit targeted an open area west of Gaza City shortly after 1a.m. » Read more

WEST BANK: Fall of Jerusalem hotel brings down hopes for revival of peace process ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Maher Abukhater - (Blog) January 9, 2011 - 1:00am As the Israeli bulldozers began to demolish Shepherd Hotel in the Palestinian Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem on Sunday in order to build a new Jewish settlement in its place, Palestinians warned that not only the hotel has fallen, but also the entire peace process and U.S. efforts to revive it. Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, strongly reacted to the hotel demolition. Its fall, he said, “has brought down with it all U.S. efforts (to revive the peace process) and ended any possibility to return to negotiations.” » Read more

Palestinian-American fights to buy Jerusalem housing project ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Maher Abukhater - January 10, 2011 - 1:00am A wealthy Palestinian-American businessman is fighting to take over a troubled real estate firm that builds Jewish-only housing units in Arab-dominated East Jerusalem, but right-wing Jewish groups have vowed to kill the deal. Bashar Masri, a West Bank native who holds American citizenship, has offered to buy debt-burdened Digal Investment and Holdings Ltd., which has been building the 400-unit Nof Zion housing project overlooking the Old City. » Read more

Israeli Demolition Begins in East Jerusalem Project ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Isabel Kershner - January 9, 2011 - 1:00am Israeli bulldozers demolished part of a landmark building in a predominantly Arab neighborhood of East Jerusalem on Sunday to make way for a Jewish housing project, prompting condemnation from Palestinian officials and symbolic claims to the site from both sides. Plans for development at the landmark, the Shepherd Hotel, have been in the works since the 1980s. But Jerusalem officials did not give the final go-ahead for the project until March, at the height of tensions between Israel and the Obama administration over construction in contested East Jerusalem. » Read more