January 27th

Pro-Palestinian hackers apologise for cyber attack on Haaretz newspaper website ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Hugh Naylor - January 27, 2012 - 1:00am JERUSALEM // Pro-Palestinian hackers apologised on Twitter yesterday for disrupting the website of Israel's Haaretz newspaper. Haaretz announced on Wednesday that its Hebrew-language website had been temporarily disabled by hackers, identifying themselves on Twitter as @AnonPS, or Anonymous Palestine. » Read more

Shocking Silence ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times by George S. Hishmeh - (Opinion) January 27, 2012 - 1:00am It is unbelievable, actually bewildering, that an American newspaperman should suggest that one of three options facing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the conflict with Iran over its nuclear policies is to assassinate the American president. Although he did not mention Barack Obama by name, all those who read the column felt this American president was the target. Equally appalling has been the failure of the American media, by and large, to cover this shocking issue that surfaced two weeks ago on a website. » Read more

'Peace process' is a fig leaf for Quartet ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National (Editorial) January 27, 2012 - 1:00am Nobody should be surprised that the "deadline" to resume peace talks expired yesterday with hardly a whimper. The Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas, rightly, refused to resume talks in Amman unless Israel made some commitment on borders for a two state-solution. He asked for a commitment that talks would actually be meaningful. Israel, as was to be expected, declined. » Read more

Dennis Ross still advising Obama on regular basis, despite stepping down ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Barak Ravid - January 27, 2012 - 1:00am Despite the fact that he resigned from his post in the Obama administration, longtime American diplomat Dennis Ross just cannot quit. Haaretz has learned that Ross still advises President Barak Obama on a regular basis, and maintains an open channel with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. » Read more

Hamas quietly quits Syria as violence continues ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Nidal al-Mughrabi - January 27, 2012 - 1:00am The leader of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, Khaled Meshaal, has effectively abandoned his headquarters in the Syrian capital, Damascus, diplomatic and intelligence sources said on Friday. "Meshaal is not staying in Syria as he used to do. He is almost out all the time," said a diplomat in the region who spoke on condition on anonymity. A regional intelligence source, who also did not wish to be identified, said: "He's not going back to Syria. That's the decision he's made. There's still a Hamas presence there, but it's insignificant." » Read more

CEC 'ready for elections' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency January 27, 2012 - 1:00am Elections can go ahead as planned on May 4 if President Mahmoud Abbas issues a decree in the coming days, a Central Elections Commission official said Thursday. Jamil Khalidi, who heads the commission's office in Gaza, told Ma'an the elections register in Gaza could be updated within six weeks. The Gaza office reopened on Tuesday after a two-year closure. Hamas shut down the office in November 2009 saying fair elections could not be held while political activists were threatened by the infighting. » Read more

"Big step" for new Palestinian city ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Tani Goldstein - January 26, 2012 - 1:00am After a four-year wait, the planners of Rawabi received Israel's permit to pave an access road to the new Palestinian town of and will embark on the work Sunday. The announcement was made Wednesday by Palestinian millionaire Bashar al-Masri, who owns the construction company tasked with building the new West Bank city. » Read more

Fayyad: Building Palestinian state requires cooperation from Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Frank Kane - January 27, 2012 - 1:00am DAVOS, SWITZERLAND // A lasting peace deal between Israel and Palestine "might happen very quickly," Shimon Peres, the Israeli president, told an audience at the World Economic Forum in Davos. "We are sorry it has taken so long but we are nearer, at the final stage," Mr Peres said during a debate with Salam Fayyad, the prime minister of the Palestinian Authority, at Davos, the Swiss town hosting the annual gathering of the world's leading decision-makers. Mr Fayyad said: "There must be a hope for peace but it has to be a product of conscious decision-making." » Read more

Abbas meets Ashton in Amman ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency January 27, 2012 - 1:00am President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday met EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton in Amman as the Quartet's latest deadline passed. The Quartet of peace mediators -- the EU, US, UN and Russia -- set a Jan. 26 deadline for the resumption of direct talks. Despite five meetings between Israeli and Palestinian envoys in Amman in January, the parties failed to agree on a starting point for negotiations. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday called for more talks. » Read more

As Israeli-Palestinian talks sink, fringe ideas gain traction ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Joshua Mitnick - January 27, 2012 - 1:00am As another round of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks faltered on Wednesday, a growing number of Israelis and Palestinians say that the status quo is rapidly approaching a point at which establishing a Palestinian state alongside Israel is impossible or unrealistic. » Read more