A Middle East Twofer
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Thomas L. Friedman - (Opinion) April 4, 2012 - 12:00am

There is so much going on in the Middle East today, it’s impossible to capture it all with one opinion. So here are two for the price of one.

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Abbas warns of int'l complaint if Israel won't talk
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Khaled Abu Toameh, Herb Keinon - April 2, 2012 - 12:00am

If Israel is not prepared to return to the negotiating table, the Palestinian Authority will file a complaint with international bodies, PA President Mahmoud Abbas declared Monday.

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Physicians of female Palestinian prisoner on hunger strike say her life is in danger
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
March 20, 2012 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM — A Palestinian woman who has refused food for the past month to protest her imprisonment by Israel without formal charges is in grave danger of dying, a medical rights group said Tuesday. Hana Shalabi lost 14 kilograms (31 pounds), her muscles are wasting and she is in excruciating pain, said Ran Cohen of Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, which has provided her a doctor. She has taken only water since her arrest on Feb. 16.

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PA, Israel negotiate revenue collection
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
March 19, 2012 - 12:00am

RAMALLAH (Reuters) -- The Palestinian Authority and Israel are holding economic talks despite frozen peace negotiations in a bid to revamp revenue collection and help relieve the PA's deepening debt crisis, officials said on Sunday. Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967 and interim peace deals have tasked it with levying taxes and customs duties on the Palestinian Authority's behalf, amounting to around $100 million a month, on goods imported into the territories.

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Diplomacy Led By Cairo is Still a Stabilising Force
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
(Editorial) March 14, 2012 - 12:00am

It was Egyptian mediation that secured a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel after four days of deadly clashes. For all of the changes in Cairo since Hosni Mubarak's fall more than a year ago, there are signs that it is resuming its role as a powerhouse in the region. Especially because of the changes in Cairo, that renewed diplomacy has been a welcome development.

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Hamas May Become Viable Negotiating Partner
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'ariv
by Nachman Shai - (Opinion) March 14, 2012 - 12:00am

In the present confrontation between Israel and the Popular Resistance Committees, Israel has been treading very carefully. As of the writing of these lines, we have been very fortunate. The cutting-edge technological systems developed by Israel have been doing their jobs in the best possible manner. Regarding the offensive-attack perspective, Israeli drones have struck targets on the ground with surgical precision based on reliable intelligence information. They have succeeded in stopping missiles from being fired with minimal harm to innocent bystanders.

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Israeli Leftists Peddle Illusions In the Guise of Foreign Policy
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'ariv
by Amos Gilboa - (Opinion) March 12, 2012 - 12:00am




Israeli Leftists Peddle Illusions In the Guise of Foreign Policy
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'ariv
by Amos Gilboa - (Opinion) March 12, 2012 - 12:00am

Recently, I have been seeing terrible visions in the morning before I open my eyes. Everything around me is destroyed, the wreckage reaches above my head. I crawl outside, hoping to be saved, but I see before me an abyss filled with corpses. This is it, all those intellectuals in the media were correct—those who decided long ago that our democracy is in shambles and has come to an end due to the iniquities of the state. That our society has descended to the lower limits of hell and has dissolved, due to the sins and transgressions of the state.

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Palestinians to give Israelis deadline on talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
March 6, 2012 - 1:00am

JERICHO, West Bank: Palestinian officials said Saturday they plan to give a deadline to Israel to accept ground rules for negotiations, and suggested that a 'no' will allow them to shelve Mideast talks until it does. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is to spell out the requirements in a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki. He said he did not know by when Netanyahu would have to respond.

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Palestinians taken aback by Obama embrace of Israel, but expect little in US election year
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
March 5, 2012 - 1:00am

RAMALLAH, West Bank — Palestinians say they are disappointed in President Barack Obama but not surprised by his especially warm embrace of Israel in an election year. Still, his weekend speech to the powerful pro-Israel lobby AIPAC was perceived in the West Bank as unprecedented in its show of support for Israel. It raised eyebrows even among hardened skeptics who have lost faith in Washington’s ability to serve as an honest Mideast broker.

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