The Palestine papers help Abbas in the diplomatic jiujitsu ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Aluf Benn - January 25, 2011 - 1:00am The Palestine papers reveal that Israel has – or had – a partner for a negotiated two-state solution. They reveal that our previous government, led by Ehud Olmert as prime minister and Tzipi Livni as foreign minister, discussed a detailed partition plan involving serious give and take with its Palestinian interlocutors. Alas, the Palestine papers also reveal the lack of political will to conclude the deal, shown by the wide gaps over substantive positions, and both sides' leaning towards fruitless debating, rather than seeking a compromise. » Read more

Palestine Papers backlash? Protesters rally for Mahmoud Abbas at Al Jazeera office ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Ruth Sherlock - January 24, 2011 - 1:00am Protesters stormed the headquarters of the Al Jazeera television station in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Monday afternoon, infuriated over the leak of confidential documents that reveal Palestinian negotiators offered Israel big concessions during peace talks over the past decade. The leak of the so-called Palestine Papers has embarrassed Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian National Authority, but some 250 supporters rallied to his defense in today's demonstration. » Read more

The Palestine Papers: Despair. But we still need a deal ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian (Editorial) January 25, 2011 - 1:00am Yesterday Yasser Abed-Rabbo and Saeb Erekat, senior PLO leaders, attacked al-Jazeera, which obtained the Palestine papers, for distortions and fraud, and questioned the political motives of its Qatari owners. A demonstration in Ramallah burned an al-Jazeera logo. This leak originated in the Palestinian Authority's own institutions, and al-Jazeera is a rarity in the Arab world. It was praised for its coverage of the invasion of Iraq by the very people who attack it today. It should be defended by all who want democracy in the Arab world. » Read more

Israel's lost weekend ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times (Editorial) January 24, 2011 - 1:00am Even before last weekend, the news from the Israeli-Palestinian peace front was not good. The most recent round of talks fell apart months ago. The Palestinian Authority is weakened and unsure where to turn; Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with terrorist incidents down and the economy growing, has little incentive to move forward. Defense Minister Ehud Barak has ripped apart the opposition by leaving the Labor Party. Prospects for near-term solution: low to none. » Read more

WEST BANK: Leaks from peace talks don't show Palestinians making shocking concessions ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Edmund Sanders - January 24, 2011 - 1:00am If there’s a lesson from Sunday's leak of alleged meeting minutes from 2008 Mideast peace talks involving Palestinian, Israeli and U.S. officials and from the previous WikiLeaks dump of U.S. diplomatic cables, perhaps it's this: Governments needn't be so afraid of having their private business aired in public. » Read more

Wave in favor of Palestine gathers momentum ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News by Uri Avnery - (Opinion) January 23, 2011 - 1:00am PLO’s permanent delegation in Washington has been allowed to fly the Palestinian flag over its building ISRAEL IS, as we well know, the land of unlimited impossibilities. In Israel, for example, the diplomats are striking. Postmen strike. Longshoremen strike. But diplomats — the most conservative, the most establishment people? Well, in Israel it is possible. All the Foreign Office services have ceased to function. For years, these people have suffered from miserable working conditions. Their salaries are bordering on the ridiculous. So they went on strike. » Read more

Documents Open a Door on Mideast Peace Talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Ethan Bronner - January 25, 2011 - 1:00am Israeli-Palestinian peace talks over the past 17 years have operated at two levels, one public, the other behind closed doors. To the world and their own people, each side spoke of sacred, nonnegotiable demands, while in the Jerusalem hotel suites where the officials met those very demands were under negotiation. » Read more

Palestinians insist leaked memos from peace process reveal nothing new ATFP World Press Roundup Article from PBS by Sal Gentile - January 24, 2011 - 1:00am Leaked memos from a decade of negotiations between Israeli and Palestinian officials roiled the Mideast peace process and put the embattled Palestinian Authority on the defensive Monday. But moderate Palestinian observers and officials close to the government of President Mahmoud Abbas insisted that the documents reveal relatively little about the negotiations that isn’t already known. And if anything, they say, the records expose how uncooperative the Israeli and American governments have been throughout the process. » Read more

Counterpoint: Palestinians and the U.N. ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Aaron David Miller - January 24, 2011 - 1:00am On Jan. 21, Hanan Ashrawi, the veteran Palestinian negotiator and politician, argued on these pages (“Palestinians, America and the U.N.”) that the Palestinians are justified in raising the issue of Israeli settlements before the U.N. Security Council, and that Washington should support them. The debate is joined. A bad idea » Read more