Death of peace process means opportunity for new ideas
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Tovah Norlen - (Opinion) January 9, 2012 - 1:00am

The recent attempts by Jordan’s King Abdullah to restart the peace process do bring to mind several lingering questions: Is the peace process dead, as some people maintain, and if so, who killed it? If the answer to the first question is yes (never mind about the second one), a third immediately comes to mind: What do we do now?

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Jordan seeks to defend its strategic interests, boost image by hosting Palestinian-Israeli talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
(Analysis) January 6, 2012 - 1:00am

AMMAN, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- As Israeli and Palestinian negotiators convened in Jordan's capital Amman this week, analysts says Jordan is seeking to bring the Palestinian issue back onto the international agenda as it has been overshadowed by the unrest across Middle East and North Africa in the past year.

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Starting the new year with failed old diplomacy
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by Rami Khouri - (Opinion) January 6, 2012 - 1:00am

The good news about the Jordanian-hosted Palestinian-Israeli-Quartet meeting in Amman to explore possibilities for resuming Palestinian-Israeli direct negotiations is that former US Mideast specialist Dennis Ross is not there to guarantee failure with the pro-Israel tilt of the US delegation. The bad news is that the meeting is likely to fail because the Ross approach to guaranteeing diplomatic failure with the pro-Israel tilt of the US delegation still prevails.

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Marwan Barghouti Speaks, Through Wife
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by Jane Eisner - (Editorial) January 6, 2012 - 1:00am

He is the Palestinians’ most famous prisoner and most popular politician. Now Marwan Barghouti is speaking to the American public, through the voice of his wife. Every 15 days, Fadwa Barghouti is allowed to visit her husband in an Israeli prison, where he has served 10 years of five consecutive life sentences for helping to arrange and fund terrorist attacks that killed five Israelis. Marwan Barghouti insisted that his trial was politicized and unfair, and even some Israelis have spoken out for his release.

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US: Israeli, Palestinian envoys to meet Monday
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
January 6, 2012 - 1:00am

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Israeli and Palestinian peace negotiators will hold their second round of face-to-face talks within a week on Monday in Amman, a US State Department spokeswoman said on Thursday. "We are encouraged that they are both coming to the table, they are talking directly," spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters in her daily briefing. The two sides held their first high-level talks in more than a year in Amman on Tuesday, a gathering sponsored by the Quartet of Middle East peace mediators -- the European Union, Russia, the United Nations and the United States.

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Gaza premier plays down talks with Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
January 5, 2012 - 1:00am

TUNIS, Tunisia — The prime minister of the Gaza government said Thursday the first meeting between Israeli and Palestinian peace negotiators in more than a year was "a futile gesture" that will lead nowhere. Ismail Haniyeh of the Palestinian faction Hamas received a hero's welcome at Tunisia's airport where he was greeted by thousands of people chanting their support for the Palestinian cause. He also met with Tunisia's new prime minister, Hamadi Jebali.

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Jimmy Carter Interview: Real Story Behind Egypt Israeli Peace Deal
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Huffington Post
by Paul Brandeis Raushenbush - (Interview) January 5, 2012 - 1:00am

Jimmy Carter is the 39th president of the United States, founder of the Carter Center and recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. He has authored many books, the most recent being "Through the Year with Jimmy Carter: 366 Daily Meditations from the 39th President." In this wide-ranging interview, HuffPost's Senior Religion Editor spoke to President Carter by phone about the role faith played in the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty, the time of his greatest alienation from God, faith in the White House and his personal daily devotional practice.

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Hamas witnesses fundamental changes, but not enough to join peace process
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
by Emad Drimly, Osama Radi - January 5, 2012 - 1:00am

GAZA, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- Analysts said the discourse and approach of the Islamic Hamas movement, which rules the Gaza Strip, recently witnessed fundamental changes and seemed to be more moderate and pragmatic than what it used to be. Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal has recently accepted the principle of adopting popular resistance against Israel instead of armed struggle that the movement was always sticking to.

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Jordan King Abdullah's Christmas Eve initiative
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - (Blog) January 5, 2012 - 1:00am

Last week, Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh arrived in Bethlehem for the traditional Christmas Eve mass in the Church of the Nativity. Just before services began, Judeh met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and updated him on the recent push by Jordan and the Quartet on the Middle East – which includes the United States, Russia, the EU, and the UN – to organize a meeting between Israeli and Palestinian representatives in Amman.

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PLO gives borders, security proposal at Amman meet
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
January 4, 2012 - 1:00am

Palestinian envoys handed Israeli officials a proposal for resolving border and security issues at a meeting in the Jordanian capital on Tuesday attended by international Quartet delegates. Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Juda said Israeli representatives promised to respond to the proposals in future meetings, which were agreed to be held in Amman at an unspecified date, official PA news agency Wafa reported. Juda emphasized that there were no specific breakthroughs at the meeting, which was called by the international Quartet and attended by

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