Jordan’s king urges Israel, Palestinians to restart talks, look to Arab Spring for inspiration ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post October 22, 2011 - 12:00am SOUTHERN SHUNEH, Jordan — Jordan’s King Abdullah on Saturday urged Israel and the Palestinians to look to the Arab Spring uprisings for inspiration and to restart their stalled peace talks. “The future for the Middle East and beyond is with the normalcy of peace,” Abdullah told the opening of a two-day special meeting of the Davos-based World Economic Forum, held on the shores of the Dead Sea, the lowest point on earth. » Read more

Short-lived ramifications ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons by Shlomo Brom - (Opinion) October 24, 2011 - 12:00am The exchange of 1,027 Palestinian prisoners for one Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, after years of campaigning and negotiating is a dramatic event that deeply affects Israeli public opinion and probably also Palestinian public opinion. Naturally, there is a tendency to look for broad and long-term implications of this recent development. » Read more

Difficult Truths on Borders ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Atlantic by Zvika Krieger - (Opinion) October 25, 2011 - 12:00am For Palestinians, a two-state solution is the only realistic way to achieve independence and realize the dream of a sovereign, viable Palestinian state. For Israelis, a two-state solution is an existential imperative, less the emerging Arab majority between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River force Israel to choose between its Jewish and democratic characters. » Read more

A chance for Hamas to find friends outside of Damascus ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Salman Shaikh - (Opinion) October 26, 2011 - 12:00am In mid-March Khaled Meshaal, the Damascus-based leader of Hamas, spoke to Bashar Al Assad to express his concern about the Syrian regime's crackdown on popular protests spreading across the country. Mr Meshaal had been asked to do so by key supporters at a private meeting at his home in the Syrian capital a few days earlier. » Read more

IMPERVIOUS: Palestinian exchange rides regional upheavals ATFP World Press Roundup Article from KippReport October 25, 2011 - 12:00am The Palestinian stock exchange has proved resilient in the face of regional political upheaval, but is still heavily undervalued because of the territory’s reputation for violence and strife, the bourse’s CEO said on Monday. Since the start of the year, the Palestine Securities Exchange (PSE) has fallen just 1.5 percent, against drops of up to 40 percent in some neighbouring markets, such as Egypt, chief executive operator Ahmad Aweidah said in an interview. » Read more

India and Israel: a friendship deepened by prejudice ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Kapil Komireddi - (Opinion) October 25, 2011 - 12:00am In 1974, the New York Times journalist Bernard Weinraub described India as "the loneliest post in the world" for Israeli diplomats. Having voted against the creation of Israel at the UN in 1947, India held back from establishing full diplomatic relations with Tel Aviv until 1992. For decades, Israel's presence in India was limited to an immigration office in Mumbai. » Read more

Quartet officials coming to restart peace talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Herb Keinon - October 26, 2011 - 12:00am Quartet officials will take yet another stab over the next two days at kick-starting the stalemated diplomatic process, meeting separately in Jerusalem with Israeli and Palestinian representatives in an effort to convince the latter to agree to a direct meeting. The Quartet officials – expected to include Quartet envoy Tony Blair, US envoy David Hale, Helga Schmid from the EU, the UN’s Robert Serry, and a Russian representative – are scheduled to meet on Wednesday with Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat. » Read more

Jewish groups: Don't slam Obama over Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Yitzhak Benhorin - October 25, 2011 - 12:00am WASHINGTON – The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and the American Jewish Committee (AJC), two of the most prominent Jewish-American organizations in the United States, on Sunday issued a joint “pledge” calling on Jewish and Israel groups not to criticize President Obama’s record on Israel. The "National Pledge for Unity on Israel," aims to promote bipartisan support for Israel while preventing the Jewish State from becoming a wedge issue in the upcoming campaign season. » Read more

Gilad Shalit has been brought home to an Israel that has no plan for peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Jonathan Freedland - (Opinion) October 25, 2011 - 12:00am The posters are still up, showing the face of Gilad Shalit, the boy soldier freed last week after five years hidden in the dark. "How good it is to have you back home," runs the slogan, appearing on the side of shopping malls in Tel Aviv and on lampposts in Jerusalem. Shalit's return has enabled Israelis to walk with an unaccustomed spring in their step, despite their fear that the price was dreadfully high. » Read more

Former U.S. envoy: Mideast peace stalemate could lead to West Bank violence ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Barak Ravid - October 26, 2011 - 12:00am The United States' former special envoy for Mideast peace warned recently that the continued impasse in diplomatic contacts between Israel and the Palestinians is liable to ignite violence on the West Bank. In a lecture delivered last week at London's Chatham House, George Mitchell stressed that the Shalit release deal strengthened Hamas, and weakened Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. » Read more