PLO Under ‘Huge Pressure’ to Extend Negotiations Deadline
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
January 20, 2012 - 1:00am

BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) -- The PLO is under intense international pressure to extend a Jan. 26 deadline set by the Quartet for the exchange of proposals by Israeli and Palestinian peace negotiators, a PLO executive committee member said Thursday. In October, the Quartet of international peace mediators -- the US, Russia, the EU and the UN -- set the Jan. 26 deadline for both sides to state their positions on the borders and security arrangements of a future two-state solution.

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The Labyrinth of Palestinian-Israeli negotiations
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Bilal Hassen - (Opinion) January 19, 2012 - 1:00am

The Palestinian-Israeli negotiations have entered the labyrinthine stage: everybody is present and moving forward, but the paths within the labyrinth do not intersect.

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Palestinians to Renew Efforts for Bid to U.N.
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Times
by Ben Birnbaum - January 19, 2012 - 1:00am

RAMALLAH, West Bank — Palestinian officials say that they will resume their effort to gain U.N. membership, and that they could launch a nonviolent third intifada because they see no chance of reaching a peace deal with the current Israeli government. The Palestinians had put their U.N. bid on hold to participate in informal Jordanian-sponsored talks with Israel that began at the beginning of the year in Amman.

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Obama Commends Abdullah For Promoting Peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
January 18, 2012 - 1:00am

US President Barack Obama expressed appreciation for Jordanian King Abdullah's efforts in encouraging "peace and prosperity" in the Middle East, after the two held talks on Tuesday. Noting Abdullah's role in decrying the Syrian government's violent crackdown on protesters, Obama said of the Jordanian leader, "I want to thank him for his willingness to stand up. As a consequence, Jordan has been part of an overall Arab League effort to encourage this sort of peaceful transition inside of Syria that is needed."

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Israel Needs a Positive Approach to Hamas-Fatah Reconciliation
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Shlomo Brom - (Opinion) January 18, 2012 - 1:00am

The conventional wisdom in Israel holds that Hamas-Fateh reconciliation is detrimental to the peace process. The main argument is that Hamas is a spoiler of the negotiations process because it is a radical Islamic movement guided by a virulent anti-Israel ideology that preaches elimination of the state of Israel. Successful reconciliation would endow Hamas with veto power to block any attempt to achieve a peaceful resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

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Israeli Defense Minister Says West Bank Faces “Period of Uncertainty”
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
January 17, 2012 - 1:00am

JERUSALEM, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- Defense Minister Ehud Barak said on Tuesday that though the West Bank has been stable in recent years, Israel's security establishment is gearing up for a "period of uncertainty" in the region. Speaking during a visit to the Israeli army's West Bank Division, Barak said that the military's most important mission is to protect the lives of Israeli settlers in the area.

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Playing for time
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Yossi Alpher - (Opinion) January 16, 2012 - 1:00am

Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Mahmoud Abbas is currently managing two very different and in many ways contradictory negotiating tracks. Neither has produced any sort of substantive success thus far. If one does produce a breakthrough, the other will probably collapse. Meanwhile, the counterpoint between them is instructive.

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Israel's negative campaign against Palestinians is on the backburner, for now
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - (Opinion) January 16, 2012 - 1:00am

The Prime Minister’s Office, as well as senior officials in the Palestinian Authority have been reporting, rather laconically, on the positive atmosphere and the in-depth and serious discussions taking place in Jordan, despite the hidden bitterness and anger on the side of the Israelis. When the talks started, both sides committed to Jordan’s Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh that they would avoid leaking information, and make sure that the contents of the talks would remain within his office's hands.

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Encountering Peace: Fayyad's dream
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Gershon Baskin - (Opinion) January 16, 2012 - 1:00am

The victims of Israeli-Palestinian violence over the past 10 years were the victims of the absence of peace. Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad was interviewed in the UK-based Jewish Chronicle this week (“PA shares Israel’s nuclear Iran fears” by Stephen Pollard, January 12, 2012). “We are greatly harmed by [Iranian] President [Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad projecting himself as a spokesman for the Palestinians,” said Fayyad. “He seeks the destruction of Israel. We do not. We are deeply troubled by Iran’s interventions and we suffer from them.”

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Israel Plays a Role
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Ghassan Khatib - (Analysis) January 16, 2012 - 1:00am

There has always been a very strong correlation between internal Palestinian issues and Palestinian-Israeli relations. This is true because Israel is a key player in all aspects of Palestinian life. Israel's troops are on the ground in the West Bank, and occupy the Gaza Strip by air and sea. But Israel's occupation was never an issue of military or security control alone; it has interfered with Palestinian economic and political development for the four decades of its existence.

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