Israel's far right-wing is real threat to Mideast peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Yoel Marcus - (Opinion) December 16, 2011 - 1:00am

The undersigned was educated in a religious boarding school near Kfar Hasidim in the north. Boys and girls studied together. The girls would crochet skullcaps for the boys, and the institution was under the sponsorship of Hapoel Hamizrahi, a moderate Zionist party, from which the first advocates of Greater Israel eventually emerged.

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Abbas: Palestine peace key to stability
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP)
December 15, 2011 - 1:00am

RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- President Mahmoud Abbas said Wednesday a key component of peace and stability in the Middle East was an agreement between the Israelis and Palestinians. Such a scenario requires a deal between the two sides, and after that ties between Israel and the rest of the Arab and Islamic world, Abbas was quoted as saying by Palestinian Authority media. At a joint news conference with the president of the European Council in Brussels, Abbas said that "yesterday we raised the Palestinian flag at UNESCO, and I hope in the future we will raise it at the UN."

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No, Newt and JPost, there is no Santa Claus: how national identities are really formed
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ibishblog
by Hussein Ibish - (Blog) December 14, 2011 - 1:00am

What's most interesting about the brouhaha regarding Newt Gingrich's outrageous comments about Palestinians being “an invented people” -- which he then augmented by describing them in general as “terrorists" -- isn't the rebuttals or defenses of these comments. Almost every responsible, sane and rational actor has dismissed Gingrich's remarks as preposterous, not because the Palestinians are not in some sense “invented” but because all modern national identities plainly are, in the same ways.

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The moment of truth
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Saeb Erakat - (Opinion) December 11, 2011 - 1:00am

The two-state solution on the 1967 borders has been the official Palestinian position for the past 23 years. Since then, we have engaged Israel and the international community and exerted sincere efforts to achieve our inalienable right to self-determination through the establishment of a viable and sovereign Palestinian state on the territory occupied by Israel in 1967, including East Jerusalem, and a just solution to the Palestinian refugee issue in accordance with UN General Assembly Resolution 194.

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Without peace talks, Israel must leave East Jerusalem alone
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
(Editorial) December 7, 2011 - 1:00am

As the diplomatic process has sunk deeper into hibernation, acts whose sole purpose is to tighten Israel's annexation of East Jerusalem have multiplied. Thus even as the Palestinians have given the Quartet a proposal on security arrangements and permanent borders in the West Bank, Israel is advancing proposals to change the master plans of neighborhoods over the Green Line.

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Israel needs a peace process to connect with a new Egypt
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Yoel Marcus - (Opinion) December 2, 2011 - 1:00am

When I watched the long lines of Egyptian voters on television this week, the names of two historical figures came to mind: Mao Zedong and Shraga Netzer. One was the legendary leader of China, and the other was the leader of the “bloc” in Mapai (the predecessor of the Labor Party), who was involved in everything related to preserving the veteran leadership.

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Reiterating need for peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
(Opinion) November 30, 2011 - 1:00am

Just as His Majesty King Abdullah was discussing with visiting Israeli President Shimon Peres the need to stop unilateral actions which “pose a major and real obstacle to peace efforts”, Israel declared that 100 more housing units will be constructed in the West Bank settlement of Shilo. To say the least, settlements - which are illegal under international law - on occupied Palestinian lands remain a major hurdle to achieving progress in the already stalled peace process.

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In November, a day to remember
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
by Uri Avnery - (Opinion) November 28, 2011 - 1:00am

A day in November. A day to remember. On Nov. 29, 1947, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted, by 33 votes against 13 (with 10 abstentions), the Palestine Partition Plan. This event has become a subject of endless debates, misinterpretations and outright falsifications. It may be worthwhile to peel away the myths and see it as it was.

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Both sides are to blame
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Yossi Alpher - (Opinion) November 28, 2011 - 1:00am

Israeli politics are becoming increasingly right-wing and nationalist. Israel's Arab citizens, along with its human rights community and democratic society in general, are the victims of the resultant legislation.

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The Irony of Netanyahu's 'Success Story'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Huffington Post
by Alon Ben-Meir - (Opinion) November 14, 2011 - 1:00am

It is ironic how those loyal to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have created a narrative of a success story of Netanyahu's achievements where failure is clearly rampant. They point to the solidity of the governing coalition, the halting of the Gaza flotillas, the failure of the Palestinian UN gambit, the release of Gilad Shalit, the expansion of settlements and the standing ovation from Congress, all while defiantly opposing any of the peacemaking moves proposed by President Obama.

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