January 13th

West Bank: ‘Nothing New’ Offered by Israelis in Talks, Abbas Says ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press January 12, 2012 - 1:00am Israel has made no new proposals in meetings with Palestinians about the possibility of resuming formal peace talks, the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, said Thursday. The sides have met twice in Jordan, and plan two more meetings. Mr. Abbas has said he will not resume negotiations unless Israel freezes settlement construction in the West Bank, a demand Israel rejects. He said Thursday that the low-level exploratory talks had not broken that impasse. “There is nothing new in the dialogue that is going on in Amman,” he said, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa. » Read more

Palestinians Insist on Israel Talks Deadline ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Tia Goldenberg - January 12, 2012 - 1:00am JERUSALEM — Palestinian negotiators are sticking to an end of January deadline in talks with Israel despite U.S. calls for flexibility, a Palestinian official said Friday. The Palestinians say they want to hold Israel to a schedule that might pressure it to come forward with proposals, but the tight time frame could prevent the nascent talks from getting off the ground. Palestinian and Israeli negotiators met last week for the first time in more than a year, kicking off low-level contacts aimed at reviving formal peace negotiations. » Read more

January 12th

High Court Okays Citizenship Law, Legalizing Racial Discrimination of Arabs ATFP World Press Roundup Article from 972 Magazine by Noam Sheizaf - (Opinion) January 12, 2012 - 1:00am Israeli Arab MK Ahmed Tibi famously said that “Israel is indeed a Jewish-democratic state: it is democratic for Jews and Jewish for all the rest.” This rings truer than ever after Israel’s High Court of Justice rejected yesterday (again) the petitions against the Citizenship Law, one of the first measures to make racial discrimination against the Arab minority not just common practice, but part of Israel’s legal codex. » Read more

Hate Israel’s Citizenship Law, Accept the Supreme Court Decision ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Journal by Shmuel Rosner - (Opinion) January 12, 2012 - 1:00am It was an important decision and not a trivial one, when Israel’s Supreme Court upheld a law yesterday that prevents most non-Israeli Arabs who marry Israelis from living in Israel. The court was split almost in half: Six justices sided with the majority ruling and five justices – Chief Justice Dorit Beinish included – opposed the ultimate decision. The numbers reflect the magnitude of the dilemma, they reflect the fact that this cannot be an easy decision for any country, and they reflect the delicate balancing act with which Israel has to live. » Read more

A Year for Elections, Not Mideast Peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Wall Street Journal by Elliott Abrams - (Opinion) January 12, 2012 - 1:00am Last week Israelis and Palestinians held talks for the first time since September 2010. Back then, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met at the White House, under bright lights and with great expectations, along with Jordanian King Abdullah and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. In a matter of weeks the talks failed—and Mr. Mubarak didn't last much longer himself. What to expect this time? » Read more

Washington’s Ultimatum to Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Natasha Mozgovaya - (Book Review) January 12, 2012 - 1:00am The President of the United States, haunted by troubles home and abroad, finally decides to forge a breakthrough on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict - at any price. He separately summons Israeli and Palestinian leaders, and presents them with an ultimatum: for Israel, lack of agreement means no more aid and no more vetoes at the UN Security Council. » Read more

EU on Verge of Abandoning All Hope for a Viable Palestinian State ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent by Donald MacIntyre - (Editorial) January 12, 2012 - 1:00am The Palestinian presence in the largest part of the occupied West Bank – has been, "continuously undermined" by Israel in ways that are "closing the window" on a two-state solution, according to an internal EU report seen by The Independent. » Read more

Do Discard the "Resistance Axis" Hoax ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star by Michael Young - (Opinion) January 12, 2012 - 1:00am This past week several British parliamentarians were in Beirut to learn more about the situation in Lebanon and Syria. They met with politicians, academics and journalists, and an argument they took home with them was particularly intriguing. It pertains to what has become known in the West as the “resistance axis.” » Read more

Ayoon Wa Azan (A Palestinian State is Attainable After 2013) ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat by Jihad El-Khazen - (Opinion) January 11, 2012 - 1:00am American policies, both domestic and foreign, are a hostage of the U.S. elections, a stand-alone American industry much like the auto and hi-tech industries. Presidential elections are held every four years, along with elections for the House and a third of the Senate’s seats (in addition to local elections of every kind in the states). Then the winner in the presidential elections in November would have barely entered the White House in January, when he has to begin preparing for the U.S. » Read more

Israel Must Stop Stalling on Peace Process ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz (Editorial) January 12, 2012 - 1:00am Just as with previous efforts to advance negotiations on a final-status agreement, the Jordanian attempt to breath new life into the diplomatic process has gotten hung up on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's policy of dragging his feet. As Barak Ravid reported in yesterday's Haaretz in Hebrew, at this week's meeting in Amman with chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, Israeli envoy Isaac Molho refused to present Israel's positions on borders and security. » Read more