Palestinians pessimistic about negotiation prospects
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Elior Levy - January 4, 2012 - 1:00am

Palestinian sources in Ramallah said Tuesday that the meeting between Israeli and Palestinian representatives in Amman may be important but doubted it will yield results. This despite optimism expressed on the Israeli side. "One cannot say progress was achieved, there is just an attempt to create atmosphere," one Palestinian official said. "It was an important meeting indeed as it's the first official meeting between the parties after a long period of political stalemate, but it's not a big deal."

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Rare opportunity
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
(Editorial) January 4, 2012 - 1:00am

No matter what emerges from the first direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians in 16 months, no one can say that Jordan has not tried its best to bring the two sides together. Hosting the negotiations in Amman and in the company of Quartet representatives as well as Jordanian officials including Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh is a big feat for His Majesty King Abdullah’s own diplomacy and deep involvement in the continued search for a just and durable peace between Israel and the Palestinians on the basis of the two-state solution living side-by-side in peace and harmony.

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Israel fails to create climate for peace talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
(Editorial) January 4, 2012 - 1:00am

The importance of yesterday's renewed direct contact between the Palestinians and the Israelis should not be overplayed. As Saeeb Erekat, chief Palestinian negotiator, said before the talks, "the meeting would not constitute the resumption of negotiations, but rather is one that could lead to the resumption of negotiations".

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Jordan talks may help Palestinian leader
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Mohammed Daraghmeh - January 4, 2012 - 1:00am

(AP) JERUSALEM -- After this week's attempt to restart Mideast peace talks, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is now caught between undesirable choices. Despite Abbas' deep misgivings, a Jordanian offer to salvage the peace process may be his best hope.

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Jordan: Chief Israeli, Palestinian envoys meet
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Mohammed Daraghmeh - January 3, 2012 - 1:00am

Jordan says the chief Palestinian and Israeli negotiators are meeting for the first time in more than a year. Jordan's Foreign Ministry says Israel's Yitzhak Molcho and Palestinian Saeb Erekat are meeting in the presence of envoys from the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations. The pair will later hold a separate meeting alone to exchange positions on key issues of security and borders between Israel and a future Palestinian state.

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Israel, PA agree to meet again next week
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Khaled Abu Toameh, Herb Keinon - January 3, 2012 - 1:00am

Israel and Palestinian negotiators meeting in Amman on Tuesday for the first direct talks in 16 months agreed to continue talking, with another round scheduled in Jordan next week, The Jerusalem Post has learned.

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As Israelis and Palestinians Talk, the Rise of a Political Islam Alters the Equation
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Ethan Bronner - January 3, 2012 - 1:00am

JERUSALEM — Israeli and Palestinian officials met in Amman, Jordan, on Tuesday, their first encounter in more than a year, and while little emerged, the meeting said a great deal about the crossroads facing the Palestinians — and the entire Middle East — as political Islam emerges as a potentially transformative force in the region.

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A small sign of progress toward Mideast peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
(Editorial) January 3, 2012 - 1:00am

SOMETHING SURPRISING happened Tuesday in a Middle East diplomatic landscape that most people assumed was frozen over: Israeli and Palestinian negotiators met face-to-face for the first time in 16 months. That they did so was partly to the credit of Jordan’s King Abdullah, who has been working feverishly to restart negotiations, and partly to the credit of the “Quartet,” the diplomatic amalgam of the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations, which has been pressuring the two sides for months.

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Why US won't be center stage in new Israeli-Palestinian talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Howard Lafranchi - January 2, 2012 - 1:00am

The United States won’t take its usual center-stage position when Israeli and Palestinian negotiators meet Tuesday for their first direct talks in more than a year.

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Palestinians and Israelis Will Talk This Week
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Ethan Bronner - January 1, 2012 - 1:00am

Palestinian and Israeli negotiators plan to meet for the first time in more than a year in Jordan on Tuesday, in an effort to revive moribund peace talks, although none of the sides involved suggested any reason to view the meeting as a sign of significant progress. The Jordanian Foreign Ministry said the chief Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erekat, and the chief Israeli negotiator, Yitzhak Molho, would be joined by officials from Jordan as well as the so-called quartet — Russia, the United States, the European Union and the United Nations — and would later hold a separate meeting.

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