Politics not ripe for Palestinian statehood bid - Fayyad ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times by Taylor Luck - December 5, 2011 - 1:00am AMMAN - Global and regional politics are not yet ripe for a Palestinian state, according to Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, as leadership in Ramallah eyes a less than certain future. The Palestinian premier, a champion of institution-building as a path to statehood, said the current political conditions within Israel, the Palestinian territories and across the world are not favourable to lead to concrete steps towards a Palestinian state. » Read more

U.S. warns Palestinians: Stop leaking content of Quartet talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Barak Ravid - December 3, 2011 - 1:00am The U.S. government has asked senior Palestinian officials to refrain from leaking details of talks that took place recently between Middle East Quartet envoys, Israeli representatives and the Palestinian Authority. According to a senior U.S. official, the Quartet agreed with Israel and the Palestinians that the content of the talks would remain confidential. “Quartet members and parties have agreed to preserve confidentiality in their discussions. So frankly, we're somewhat disturbed by the fact that many of these details have appeared in the press,” the official said. » Read more

Israel rights group attacks government for curbing freedon of speech ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Vita Bekker - December 5, 2011 - 1:00am TEL AVIV // Israel's biggest civil rights group yesterday blasted the country for curbing the freedom of speech and freedom of assembly for Jews and Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. A report by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) said the country was stepping up action to stifle dissent. It claimed the government has warned political activists not to participate in protests and allowed local authorities to repress demonstrations. » Read more

Netanyahu calls for Likud vote in move linked to US outlook ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency by Reuters - December 5, 2011 - 1:00am JERUSALEM (Reuters) -- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called for a snap Likud party leadership vote, officials said on Monday, a contest he is expected to win and which could pave the way for an early national election in Israel. Some commentators said Netanyahu was quietly preparing for the possibility that US President Barack Obama, with whom he has had a testy relationship, will win a second term in November, a year before Israel's currently scheduled ballot. » Read more

Iran threatening to cut Hamas funds, arms supply if it flees Syria ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Avi Issacharoff - December 5, 2011 - 1:00am Iran had applied intense pressure to Hamas in an effort to persuade it not to leave Damascus, threatening even to cut off funds to the organization if it did so, Palestinian sources have told Haaretz. The Iranian pressure also included an unprecedented ultimatum - namely, an explicit threat to stop supplying Hamas with arms and suspend the training of its military activists. » Read more

Diplomats: Hamas quietly scaling back Syria presence ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency by Nidal Al-Mughrabi - December 5, 2011 - 1:00am GAZA CITY (Reuters) -- Dozens of Hamas operatives have quietly returned to Gaza from Damascus as the ruling party in the coastal strip scales back its presence in Syria and gauges the uncertain future of President Bashar Assad, diplomats said on Sunday. Hamas leaders deny they plan to quit the Syrian capital, where the group keeps its main headquarters outside the Gaza Strip. But diplomats and regional sources said the Hamas delegation in Damascus, which once numbered hundreds of Palestinian officials and their relatives, had shrunk to a few dozen. » Read more

Fatah, Hamas discuss reconciliation in Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency December 5, 2011 - 1:00am GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Hamas and Fatah leaders met in the Gaza Strip on Sunday to discuss the results of last week's summit between party chiefs, officials said. Describing the Gaza meeting of top officials from the rival movements as "significant," Fatah national relations commissioner Diab al-Loh said both Hamas and Fatah reaffirmed their commitment to the reconciliation deal. Al-Loh told Ma'an the parties discussed mechanisms to implement agreements between Fatah leader President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas chief Khalid Mashaal in Cairo. » Read more

After American Jewish Outcry, Israel Ends Ad Campaign Aimed at Expatriates ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Isabel Kershner - December 2, 2011 - 1:00am JERUSALEM — One video advertisement shows a Jewish elderly couple distraught that their Israeli granddaughter in the United States thinks Hanukkah is Christmas. Another shows a clueless American boyfriend who does not get why his Israeli expatriate girlfriend is saddened on Israel’s memorial day. A third shows a toddler calling “Daddy! Daddy!” to his napping Israeli expatriate father, who finally awakens when the child switches to Hebrew: “Abba!” » Read more

Israeli Entrepreneur Opens Online University in West Bank ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by D.D. Guttenplan - December 4, 2011 - 1:00am An American online university started by an Israeli entrepreneur has opened an operations center in the West Bank. Shai Reshef, the founder of University of the People, a nonprofit institution that offers free online education to students in more than 120 countries, said in an interview last week that his agreement with ASAL Technologies, a Palestinian software and information technology services company based in Ramallah, was just the first stage of a plan to move the university’s entire back office to the West Bank. » Read more

Israeli ministers criticize remarks attributed to Clinton about Israeli democracy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Associated Press - December 4, 2011 - 1:00am JERUSALEM — Israeli Cabinet ministers on Sunday criticized Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton over remarks attributed to her in which she expressed concerns over Israel’s democracy. Clinton made the comments at a closed-door session over the weekend at the Saban Forum, a Mideast policy seminar sponsored by the Brookings Institution think tank. » Read more