Democracy Is Coming Again to Palestine -- Hamas Permitting ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line by David Miller - February 13, 2011 - 1:00am More than five years after the Hamas movement was swept into power in an upset election victory, the Palestinians will going back to the polls again – or not. The Palestinian Authority (PA) said last week it planned to hold municipal elections this summer and on Saturday announced that it would also conduct voting for president and parliament by September. But Hamas immediately said it would refuse to participate, a stance experts said precludes the prospect of elections for now. » Read more

As Egypt tumult spreads, top Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erekat, resigns ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Ben Lynfield - February 13, 2011 - 1:00am Top Palestinian peace negotiator, Saeb Erekat, has resigned after embarrassing depictions in media leaks of his posture towards Israel, saying he hopes his stepping down will set a model of transparency for the young Palestinian state-in-the-making. » Read more

Future of Israel-Egypt treaty ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News by Patrick Seale - (Opinion) February 14, 2011 - 1:00am Israel has been unnerved by Egypt’s Revolution. The reason is simple: it fears for the survival of the 1979 Peace Treaty — a treaty which by neutralising Egypt, guaranteed Israel’s military dominance over the region for the next three decades. By removing Egypt — the strongest and most populous of the Arab countries — from the Arab line-up, the treaty ruled out any possibility of an Arab coalition that might have contained Israel or restrained its freedom of action. As Israel’s Foreign Minister, Moshe Dayan, remarked at that time: ‘If a wheel is removed, the car will not run again.’ » Read more

Postcard From Cairo, Part 2 ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Thomas L. Friedman - (Opinion) February 13, 2011 - 1:00am For anyone who spent time in Tahrir Square these last three weeks, one thing was very obvious: Israel was not part of this story at all. This was about Egypt and about the longing of Egyptians for the most basic human rights, which were described to me by opposition Egyptian newspaper editor Ibrahim Essa as “freedom, dignity and justice.’’ It doesn’t get any more primal than that. And when young Egyptians looked around the region and asked: Who is with us in this quest and who is not?, the two big countries they knew were against them were Israel and Saudi Arabia. Sad. » Read more

As Egypt Calms Down, So Do Israeli Nerves ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Isabel Kershner - February 13, 2011 - 1:00am As Israelis began to adjust to the departure of President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, their staunchest and longest-standing regional ally, the alarm and anxiety that Israel has been projecting seemed to give way on Sunday to more nuanced tones, as well as some hints of admiration for the Egyptian people and sympathy for their cause. » Read more