December 9th

US 'disappointed' by new Israeli settlements ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Google News December 8, 2011 - 1:00am WASHINGTON — The United States expressed disappointment Thursday over Israeli settlement activity after the approval of construction of a new Jewish enclave in annexed east Jerusalem. However, the US State Department also said that it opposed a call by the Palestinians to take the issue to the UN Security Council, where Washington vetoed in February a resolution condemning Israeli settlements. » Read more

December 8th

US expects direct Israeli-Palestinian talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Herb Keinon - December 8, 2011 - 1:00am Both the US and the Quartet expect Israelis and Palestinians to meet in direct talks and exchange comprehensive proposals there on the issue of security and territory, US Ambassador Dan Shapiro said Thursday. Shapiro, at a press conference in Tel Aviv, said that this position has been made clear to both sides. His comments are significant because the Palestinians have said in recent days that while they have presented the Quartet with comprehensive proposals, Israel has refused to do so - casting Israel in the role of peace obstructor. » Read more

Abbas should change his locks before next wave of Palestinian prisoners freed ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Akiva Eldar - (Opinion) December 8, 2011 - 1:00am In the coming days, as the next wave of Palestinian prisoners are released as part of the Gilad Shalit deal, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas ought to change the locks on his house and car. Contacts between the Egyptians and Israeli mediator David Meidan, a representative of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have made clear that the vast majority of the 550 soon-to-be-released prisoners are car thieves and petty criminals. » Read more

Avoiding the regional ramifications of stalemate ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons by Hassan Barari - (Opinion) December 8, 2011 - 1:00am For Jordan, the impasse of the Israeli-Palestinian track could not be more threatening. Time and time again, King Abdullah II has stressed that the failure of a two-state solution would be detrimental to the national security of his country. For this reason, Amman has pushed both Palestinians and Israelis to get their act together and hammer out an historic deal to allay the fears of Jordanians. » Read more

Leadership that makes history ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News by Gershon Baskin - (Opinion) December 8, 2011 - 1:00am Leading is not easy. Leading Israel is certainly not a simple task. It is not surprising that many leaders of Israel, maybe even most of them, have made decisions in office that go against what they preached and believed in before they sat in the prime minister’s seat. As the saying goes, “what you see from here is not what you see from there.” Real leadership is measured when one is faced with real-life situations that place diametrically opposed values and principles on the scales of decision making. Benjamin Netanyahu faced that in the Gilad Shalit case. » Read more

Testy relationship ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times by Michael Jansen - (Opinion) December 8, 2011 - 1:00am Israel has reacted angrily to tough US talk about both its regional and domestic policies, risking a fresh breach with the Obama administration which has always had a testy relationship with Israel’s right-wing regime. The first unwelcome comments came from US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta who said Israel must engage with the Palestinians by returning to the “damn” negotiating table and take steps to halt the country’s growing isolation in the region. » Read more

Panetta and Clinton Take Aim at Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Nathan Guttman - (Opinion) December 8, 2011 - 1:00am Just as the troubled relationship between the Obama administration and the government of Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu seemed to be getting on track, remarks by top American officials have made it clear that frustration still runs deep in Washington over Israel’s policies. » Read more

Revisionism, rejectionism and Arab-Israeli peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Irwin Cotler - (Opinion) December 8, 2011 - 1:00am While serving as a Canadian delegate to the annual inter-parliamentary hearing at the United Nations, I came across an exhibit marking the annual International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. The central theme of the exhibit is the Nakba – catastrophe – suffered by the Palestinian people, due to the establishment of the State of Israel. » Read more

Israeli court releases 'tortured' Palestinain ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Hugh Naylor - December 8, 2011 - 1:00am JERUSALEM // In a rare ruling, an Israeli military court has acquitted a Palestinian man because interrogators were found to have brutally forced his guilty confession. All but one of the 17 charges brought against Ayman Hamida, 37, from east Jerusalem's Azariya neighbourhood, were dropped by the military judges, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported yesterday. He was convicted of firing a weapon at Israeli police officers in 2009. The judges concluded that Mr Hamida was subjected to choking, beating and food deprivation during 40 days of interrogation, the newspaper reported. » Read more

A match made in heaven? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Ilan Manor - (Opinion) December 8, 2011 - 1:00am Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in love. Not with a person or an idea, but with a party. The Republican Party. Ever since he took office, Netanyahu has found himself attracted to the GOP. Now, the attraction has blossomed into love. The prime minister has been swept off his feet by the parade of dashing Republican candidates courting him and offering to take care of Iran, an issue he has struggled with for more than two years.It’s like the old song lyrics, “Heaven/ I’m in heaven/ and my heart beats/ so that I can hardly speak...” » Read more