A grim staging ground ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons by Ghassan Khatib - (Opinion) January 10, 2012 - 1:00am The two main Middle East-related events of 2011 appear to be continuing into the new year. One is the complete stagnation of the Palestinian-Israeli peace process, and the other is the roiling wave of Arab revolutions and uprisings, which also carry weighty implications for the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. » Read more

At best, a year of reassessment ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons by Yossi Alpher - (Opinion) January 10, 2012 - 1:00am The year 2012 will almost certainly not witness any progress toward agreement between Israelis and Palestinians. We'll be lucky if there is no serious backsliding in the form of violence or formal withdrawal from negotiating frameworks. Meanwhile, however, we can and should be making good use of this year to reassess the entire peace process and find ways to reconstitute it in a more useful format. There are multiple reasons for a pessimistic prognosis regarding the year ahead. » Read more

A Saudi-Israeli-Palestinian negotiation table ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News by Abdulateef Al-Mulhim - (Opinion) January 10, 2012 - 1:00am The Palestinians met the Israelis in Jordan for the first time in 16 months. And these days there is talk about what is the best solution to end the issue of the Palestinian refugees before the UN withdraws its financial support. In addition to serious talks about a two-state solution. But, the whole world heard this many times before. So, is the Palestinian issue solvable and who can really have a solution? Could it be some one the Israelis never met? Here is my humble opinion: » Read more

Israel remains the main priority ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat by Hussein Shobokshi - (Opinion) January 9, 2012 - 1:00am It appears that US President Barack Obama is on his way to being re-elected. There are many positive indicators working strongly in his favour. There he is fulfilling his pledge and withdrawing "militarily" from Iraqi territories, reducing his military presence in Afghanistan, and re-structuring the US defense budget as a kind of economic belt-tightening measure which is required in practical terms to meet the problem of the budget deficit. » Read more

Two Mideast Democracies, Side by Side ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by J.J. Goldberg - (Opinion) January 9, 2012 - 1:00am Advocates of democracy in the Middle East have been deeply alarmed since December 29, when Egyptian security forces staged lightning raids on the offices of three American nonprofits that work to promote democracy and fair elections overseas. Egyptian officials say they seized the organizations’ books and computers because they suspect them of fomenting the unrest that led to the overthrow of the Mubarak dictatorship last year and the imposing of Egypt’s first open, democratic election, which the army has pledged to support after it’s done arresting the people who started it. » Read more

Sexism and the state of Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent by Catrina Stewart - (Analysis) January 10, 2012 - 1:00am As dusk falls in Mea Shearim, Jerusalem's most pious neighbourhood, black-clad and hatted Jewish men hurry home along the narrow streets lined by medieval-style houses where lights burn dimly in darkened windows. Less than half a mile away, young Israelis mix in bustling bars in central Jerusalem, anathema to this religious ultraorthodox community that has tried its hardest to hide itself away from the temptations of secular life, and ensure a rigorous separation between men and women. » Read more

Death of peace process means opportunity for new ideas ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Tovah Norlen - (Opinion) January 9, 2012 - 1:00am The recent attempts by Jordan’s King Abdullah to restart the peace process do bring to mind several lingering questions: Is the peace process dead, as some people maintain, and if so, who killed it? If the answer to the first question is yes (never mind about the second one), a third immediately comes to mind: What do we do now? » Read more

The many contradictions of Mahmoud Abbas ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Khaled Abu Toameh - (Opinion) January 10, 2012 - 1:00am Seven years have passed since Mahmoud Abbas was elected to succeed Yasser Arafat as president of the Palestinian Authority, and many Palestinians appear to be as confused as ever regarding their leader’s true intentions. Abbas ran in the January 2005 presidential election for a four-year term on a platform that promised massive reforms and changes both in the PA and the ruling Fatah faction, which he also heads. » Read more

Israel's Arabs and seculars will return to the polls ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Sefi Rachlevsky - (Opinion) January 10, 2012 - 1:00am Sometimes, numbers say it all. In the 1999 elections, some 3.3 million citizens voted. A similar number voted in 2009. But in the meantime, about 1 million eligible voters had been added to the rolls. Had the 80 percent turnout rate that prevailed in Israel until 1999 been maintained, another 800,000 people would have voted; instead, they stayed away. Those absent voters are now about to shake up Israel. » Read more

Of course Gaza is still occupied ATFP World Press Roundup Article from NOW Lebanon by Hussein Ibish - (Opinion) January 10, 2012 - 1:00am It never ceases to amaze how much leaders of Hamas and the Israeli far-right agree about. But the latest iteration of this bizarre de facto alliance is a real doozy: alone in the world, they both say the Gaza Strip is not occupied by Israel. Part of the Israeli right has been trying to claim that the occupation of Gaza has been over since Ariel Sharon pulled Israeli forces out of the interior of Gaza in 2005. The then-prime minister accurately described this as a “unilateral redeployment,” not a “withdrawal.” » Read more