Hamas-Fatah summit proposed
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
December 16, 2009 - 1:00am

Egyptian mediators agreed to hold a meeting between opposing Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah, a Palestinian official involved in the talks said on Wednesday. Iyad As-Sarraj, a prominent Gaza psychiatrist who heads the nonpartisan Palestinian Reconciliation Committee, said Egypt accepted a suggestion from the group during a meeting in Cairo on Tuesday night to hold a three-day workshop with Hamas, Fatah, and other factions.

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Hamas: PA security forces arrest 80 members in 24 hours
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
December 16, 2009 - 1:00am

Palestinian Authority security forces have arrested 80 members of the Hamas movement from locations across the West Bank in the last 24 hours a statement from the party issued on Wednesday said. The statement noted that the arrests occurred in ten of the eleven districts in the West Bank, including Nablus, Jenin, Salfit, Hebron, Tulkarem, Bethlehem, Ramallah, Jericho, Qalqiliya and Tubas. The statement included the names of 50 alleged supporters, which could not all be independently verified by Ma'an.

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Abbas to Haaretz: Peace possible in 6 months if Israel freezes all settlements
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Avi Issacharoff - December 16, 2009 - 1:00am

If Israel completely halts construction in the settlements, negotiations with the Palestinians on a final-status agreement can be completed within six months, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas told Haaretz Tuesday, adding that Israel needn't declare the freeze, just carry it out. Abbas, who appeared self-assured and upbeat during the exclusive interview, said the Palestinians had no preconditions for talks with Israel but wanted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to meet his obligations to the road map, which calls for a cessation of construction in the settlements.

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Activists planning Temple Mount ascent
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Abe Selig - December 16, 2009 - 1:00am

A group of activists dedicated to bringing Jews to the Temple Mount told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday that they were hoping to see hundreds of participants take part in a planned "mass pilgrimage" to the site scheduled for Thursday morning in honor of Hannuka, which celebrates the rededication of the Second Temple after it was recovered from Hellenist Greeks more than 2,000 years ago.

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Enough of blaming the Goldstone Report!
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
by Rami Khouri - (Opinion) December 16, 2009 - 1:00am

A brief news item in the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) a few days ago made depressing reading. It was entitled: “State Department blames Goldstone for stalled peace talks.” “Wow!” I thought to myself, has it really come down to this? The United States and Israel, who do not hesitate to toot their horn about their democratic credentials, now blame the stalled Arab-Israeli peace process on Judge Richard Goldstone, the main author of a report on potential war crimes during the Gaza war that was issued last September by the United Nations Human Rights Council inquiry commission?

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U.S.-Israeli Arms Cooperation Quietly Growing
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by Nathan Guttman - December 16, 2009 - 1:00am

Leaders in Washington and Jerusalem have publicly locked horns over the issue of West Bank settlements. And Israeli public opinion has largely viewed America’s new administration as unfriendly. But behind the scenes, strategic security relations between the two countries are flourishing. Israeli officials have been singing the praises of President Obama for his willingness to address their defense concerns and for actions taken by his administration to bolster Israel’s qualitative military edge — an edge eroded, according to Israel, during the final year of the George W. Bush presidency.

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Israel is ready for peace. Are its neighbors?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Nadav Tamir - (Opinion) December 15, 2009 - 1:00am

The time for peace in the Middle East is now. This has been the consistent message from both the Netanyahu and Obama administrations. And it is time to take advantage of the fact that we have a stable government in Israel capable of making a move toward peace, a US government that has made it an important foreign-policy priority, our best Palestinian Authority negotiating partner thus far in President Mahmoud Abbas, and a majority of the population and government on both sides who desire a two-state solution.

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Abbas Sets Terms for Resuming Stalled Peace Talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
December 15, 2009 - 1:00am

President Mahmoud Abbas said on Tuesday the Palestinians would only resume peace talks if Israel fully halted settlement building in the occupied West Bank, but ruled out any return to violence. Addressing a meeting of the Palestine Liberation Organisation's central council, which is expected to extend his term as president, Abbas dismissed Israel's partial settlement freeze and said the Israelis did not want negotiations.

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Poll: 57% back Abbas not running
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
December 15, 2009 - 1:00am

A majority of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip support President Mahmoud Abbas' decision not to run in the next elections, results of an independent poll conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PSR) showed Monday. From its findings, PSR concluded, "While the balance of power between Fatah and Hamas remains as it was before the eruption of the Goldstone report crisis, the majority do not blame Hamas for the continued split between the West Bank and Gaza Strip or for the failure to hold national elections.

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Akiva Eldar / U.S. tax dollars fund rabbi who excused killing gentile babies
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Akiva Eldar - (Opinion) December 15, 2009 - 1:00am

The White House condemns the torching of a mosque, yet respectable Americans contribute to a yeshiva whose rabbi said it's okay to kill gentile babies. It is no surprise that the American administration tacitly, if unenthusiastically, accepted the excuse that the map of national priority zones the cabinet approved on Sunday does not violate the decision to freeze construction in the settlements.

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