Middle East News: World Press Roundup

Pres. Abbas says he would return to negotiations if Israel halted settlement activity "for a fixed time." Hamas is seeking to lower tensions with Israel and Egypt, and vows to halt any attacks against Israel from Gaza. PM Fayyad accuses Israel of trying to isolate the PA, and launches a fund aimed at ridding the Palestinian economy of settlement products. More extreme groups challenge Hamas in Gaza. The US expresses support for Egypt's new Gaza border wall. Egypt reiterates its insistence on the creation of a Palestinian state. A Ha'aretz commentary says PM Sharon succeeded in cutting Israelis off from the realities of conflict. A YNet commentary says FM Lieberman's policies are making Israel look ridiculous. A huge majority of Israelis support negotiations with the PLO. The Pope calls for a two state solution. Rami Khouri says he has not lost his faith in the American people, but Osama Al Sharif warns of the dangers of failed negotiations. An ATFP original translation of an article by Hassan Khader critiques the "mass-man" mentality in the contemporary Arab world.

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Mideast peacemakers mull aid to Palestinians ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Slobodan Lekic - January 12, 2010 - 1:00am BRUSSELS -- U.S. envoy George Mitchell urged European and other international donors on Tuesday to help the Palestinian Authority finance its institution-building program as it prepares to set up a Palestinian state. After meeting with America's partners in the quest for a solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict, Mitchell said President Barack Obama was committed to achieving peace in the Middle East. "Central to the effort is resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on the basis of two states," Mitchell told reporters. » Read more

Abbas calls for settlement freeze 'for a fixed period' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP) January 12, 2010 - 1:00am RAMALLAH, West Bank — Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas on Tuesday said for the first time that he might restart peace negotiations with Israel if it froze settlement expansion for a "fixed period." "We will not accept the relaunching of negotiations without a complete halt to settlements, including in Jerusalem, for a fixed period," Abbas told reporters in the West Bank town of Ramallah. It was the first time Abbas appeared to accept some kind of temporary settlement freeze, after months in which he insisted on a total halt to settlement growth pending a final agreement on borders. » Read more

Hamas seeks to lower tension with Egypt, Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters January 12, 2010 - 1:00am Ismail Haniyeh, prime minister of the Islamist movement's government in the coastal enclave, said other armed groups in the Gaza Strip should observe what has amounted to a ceasefire since Israel's major offensive a year ago. That, Haniyeh said, was in the interests of protecting Gazans from Israeli attacks. Monday, Israel's defense minister had warned Hamas to rein in its allies "or else" -- a threat of more Israeli action. » Read more

Palestinian PM accuses Israel of trying to isolate PNA ATFP World Press Roundup Article from China View January 12, 2010 - 1:00am RAMALLAH, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad accused Israel on Tuesday of trying to isolate the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) through a campaign against President Mahmoud Abbas and Fayyad's government. "The Israeli campaign can be explained only as part of a planned effort that openly aims at isolating us internationally," Fayyad told reporters in Ramallah. Once the PNA is boycotted, "Israel can evade the peace process' requirements," he added. » Read more

No easy riding for Gaza bikers ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP) by Djallal Malti - January 12, 2010 - 1:00am GAZA CITY — When Munzer Diyya wants to get away from it all, he sits astride his motorcycle and takes to the open road -- all 45 kilometres of it. Diyya has the misfortune of being an open road enthusiast living in the Gaza Strip, a tiny territory sandwiched between Israel and Egypt and blockaded by both. So when he and his buddies gun their engines and head out on the highway, they are reduced to riding only the length of the impoverished and overcrowded Palestinian enclave -- a mere 45 kilometres (28 miles). » Read more

Up next: 'Al Qaeda in Palestine'? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Erin Cunningham - January 11, 2010 - 1:00am Gaza City, Gaza — Militant Islamist groups in Gaza seeking an alliance with Al Qaeda may be planning to carry out a large-scale attack in order to boost their credentials, warns a report released today by the pro-Israel Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP). » Read more

US announces support for Egypt's wall ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency January 13, 2010 - 1:00am Bethlehem – Ma’an – The US administration in Washington announced on Tuesday its support for the construction of an underground steel wall on the Egyptian borders with Gaza, to prevent the smuggling of weapons. Spokesman for the US Foreign Ministry Gordon Duguid said "We have seen that Egypt is carrying out activities which will help stop weapons smuggling into Gaza. We believe that weapons smuggling should stop, and that measures taken to stop that weapons smuggling should be – could be carried out." » Read more

Abu Al-Gheit: Either 2 states or 1 state for 2 peoples ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency January 13, 2010 - 1:00am Cairo – Ma’an – Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Abu Al-Gheit asserted on Tuesday evening that Egypt insists on the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the territories occupied in 1967 with East Jerusalem as its capital, Egyptian media reported. Abu Al-Gheit explained that his recent visit to Washington with Chief of Intelligence Omar Suleiman was undertaken to compel the US administration to exert pressure on both the Palestinian and Israeli sides to agree on Egypt's call for renewed peace talks, he said speaking in an interview with Egypt's Channel 2. » Read more

Fayyad launches settlement good boycott fund ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency January 13, 2010 - 1:00am Bethlehem – Ma’an – Caretaker Prime Minister Salam Fayyad launched on Tuesday the National Dignity Fund, as part of an initiative undertaken by the Palestinian Authority to rid the Palestinian market of settlement goods at a ceremony in the Red Crescent headquarters in Al-Birreh, Ramallah. The National Dignity Fund aims at increasing the availability of Palestinian produce in local markets, in addition to strengthening their presence in global markets as an alternative to goods made on illegal Israeli settlements, Fayyad said during his speech. » Read more

Sharon's real legacy - keeping the Arabs out of sight ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Aluf Benn - (Opinion) January 13, 2010 - 1:00am Let's assume the optimistic forecast by special U.S. envoy George Mitchell comes true and in two years the establishment of an independent Palestine is declared at a ceremony. The event will be broadcast on prime time, but most Israelis will opt to view "Big Brother 6," "Survivor 7" or whatever the next television hit is. Viewers will behave this way not because they oppose a Palestinian state but because they are indifferent. Palestine-shmalestine simply does not interest them. » Read more

Hamas wants rocket fire halt to avoid Israeli retaliation ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Ali Waked - January 12, 2010 - 1:00am Hamas in Gaza tried to ease tension with Israel and Egypt on Tuesday, urging other Palestinians to stop firing rockets into the Jewish state and promising Cairo answers over the shooting of an Egyptian soldier at the border. Ismail Haniyeh, prime minister of the Islamist movement's government in the coastal enclave, said other armed groups in the Gaza Strip should observe what has amounted to a ceasefire since Israel's major offensive a year ago. That, Haniyeh said, was in the interests of protecting Gazans from Israeli attacks. » Read more

Lieberman-style diplomacy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Alon Liel - (Opinion) January 13, 2010 - 1:00am The humiliating meeting held by Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon with Turkey’s ambassador to Israel attests to a new kind of diplomacy invented by Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman. The content of the conversation was barely mentioned, but rather, only its style was: Seating the ambassador on a low seat, refraining from shaking his hand, pummeling him, and later stressing this was about pulverizing him – these are all new rules of diplomacy. The incident made the Foreign Ministry look ridiculous internationally, and not only in the context of our ties with Turkey. » Read more

'Large majority in favor of peace talks' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Haviv Rettig - January 13, 2010 - 1:00am Both Jewish and Arab Israelis support peace talks with the Palestinian Authority by a large majority, but also trust the government's handling of Israel's security challenges, according to the latest Tel Aviv University "War and Peace Index" survey. 72.5 percent of Israelis support negotiations toward peace, with just 20.9% opposing it. This support for negotiations, however, did not translate into optimism that the efforts would result in peace in the near term. » Read more

Pope calls for two-state solution ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) January 12, 2010 - 1:00am ROME (JTA) -- Pope Benedict XVI called for "universal recognition" of both Israel's right to exist and the rights of Palestinians to an independent state. In his traditional New Year's address Monday to world diplomats accredited to the Vatican, the pope recalled that during his trip to Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority last May, he had "urgently appealed" for dialogue and respect between Israelis and the Palestinians. » Read more

Apply American decency to Mideast policy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star by Rami Khouri - (Opinion) January 13, 2010 - 1:00am I am often asked why I maintain the slightly naive expectation that the United States will one day pursue policies in the Middle East that are fair to all in the region, and also comply with international law and core American values. My answer is, in part, Denise Horn’s Globalization and International Affairs class INTL 1101 at Northeastern University in Boston. » Read more

Resumption of Mideast talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News by Osama Al-Sharif - (Opinion) January 13, 2010 - 1:00am In normal circumstances — but then what’s normal in the Middle East — one would receive news of recent US efforts to restart peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians with relief, even jubilation. After weeks of deliberate disengagement from mediation, maybe to punish the main parties or as a sign of frustration, anger or all of the above, Washington is once again stepping into the quicksands of the elusive peace process, which it had helped launch and nurture and eventually monopolized for more than 15 years. » Read more

ATFP Original Translation: Saeed and a Happy New Year! ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Ayyam by Hassan Khader - (Opinion) January 12, 2010 - 1:00am The following is a quote from a Reuters article published in the London daily Al-Quds Al-Arabi on November 30: » Read more

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