Palestinian President Abbas says Israel spoiled latest round of talks on border, security
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
January 29, 2012 - 1:00am

RAMALLAH, West Bank — The Israeli and Palestinian leaders on Sunday blamed each other for the impasse in newly launched peace efforts, raising doubts about whether the dialogue would continue just weeks after it began. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas accused Israel of spoiling the low-level talks, saying it failed to present detailed proposals for borders and security requested by international mediators. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Palestinians “refused to even discuss” Israeli security needs.

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'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.

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PLO: Israel gave no reason to restart talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
January 27, 2012 - 1:00am

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- PLO meetings with Israeli envoys have not been able to restart negotiations, a Palestinian presidential spokesman said Friday, after Israel said it had fulfilled its obligation to the Quartet-sponsored talks. Israel did not provide anything to build upon, while the issue of borders and security is still pending, Nabil Abu Rudeineh told Ma'an. PLO officials held five exploratory meetings with Israeli negotiators in the Jordanian capital during January. The diplomatic Quartet had called for the sides to give their positions on borders and security by Jan. 26.

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Low-Level Talks Likely to Continue
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Herb Keinon - (Analysis) January 27, 2012 - 1:00am

January 26, that is yesterday, came and went pretty much like the month of September – namely, with a whimper. Remember September, the month when the Palestinians made their much-trumpeted and widely-feared play for statehood recognition at the United Nations. Defense Minister Ehud Barak prophesied a diplomatic tsunami; Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman warned of the worst Palestinian violence Israel had ever faced; and Haaretz continuously cautioned about a third intifada. Yet none of that materialized.

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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.

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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."

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Palestinians: Peace negotiations with Israel have ended
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - January 26, 2012 - 1:00am

The time frame that the Palestinians have allowed for talks with Israel in Amman under Jordanian auspices expires on Thursday. According to diplomatic sources associated with the Middle East Quartet - the United States, United Nations, European Union and Russia - last-minute efforts are underway to head off the talks' collapse, but the prospects seem slim.

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Ashrawi: Israel 'thwarting' all efforts to resume peace talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
January 26, 2012 - 1:00am

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- PLO official Hanan Ashrawi said Wednesday that peace talks with Israel were futile as long as it continues its illegal policies against Palestinians.

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News Analysis: Palestinians seek alternatives after halting exploratory talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
(Analysis) January 26, 2012 - 1:00am

RAMALLAH, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- The Palestinian leadership is preparing itself to look for alternatives after six meetings of exploratory talks with Israel in Jordan, which was expected to push for the resumption of direct Mideast peace talks, came out in vain. A well-informed Palestinian official source said that chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat reiterated during his meeting on Wednesday in Amman with his Israeli counterpart Yitzhak Mulkho that the Palestinians would not extend the exploratory meetings in Jordan.

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Barghouti sent to isolation after Israel comments
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
January 26, 2012 - 1:00am

RAMALLAH (Ma’an) -- Jailed Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti was sent to solitary confinement on Wednesday after making critical comments about Israel to journalists. After testifying in a Jerusalem court on Wednesday the Fatah leader briefly spoke to reporters. Upon returning to Hadarim prison in Israel, Barghouti was not allowed back into his regular cell and was instead put in isolation, the Palestinian Prisoners' Society said Thursday. Detainees in the prison protested the move and asked prison authorities to explain their decision. Israeli authorities have not responded.

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