Palestinians guilty again? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Abir Kopty - (Opinion) February 19, 2010 - 1:00am For many years Israel and members of the International community have claimed that Palestinians “do not take responsibility for themselves. All they do is whine, accuse Israel of everything and make suicide bombings.” That's what we have heard. Now, when those false claims have expired, Israel’s arsenal of claims is replaced quickly. » Read more

Abbas to renew talks with Israel next week ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Barak Ravid - February 19, 2010 - 1:00am Negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority are to be renewed next week, a senior government official in Jerusalem said on Thurdsay. Israeli government officials were told by Austrian Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger that the Palestinians were ready to resume indirect talks, the senior government official said. Spindelegger, who visited Israel and the Palestinian territories last week, said Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas had told him he would consent to the United States' request to renew talks with Israel. » Read more

Troubling questions from Dubai ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz (Editorial) February 18, 2010 - 1:00am If Israel is behind last month's assassination of senior Hamas official Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, it may be assumed that anybody who tried to appropriate some of the glory regrets it now. Dubai's police investigation may present the Israeli government and intelligence community with tough questions, even if the government did not take responsibility for the assassination, which the foreign press attributes to the Mossad. What at first seemed like a "clean" operation turned out to be wracked by negligent mishaps. » Read more

Kidon, the Mossad within the Mossad ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Yossi Melman - (Opinion) February 19, 2010 - 1:00am Every time an assassination is attributed to the Mossad, the foreign media pulls out the name Kidon. This is the name of the Mossad unit which, according to these media sources, handles such operations. » Read more

In Dubai attack, signs of Mossad shadow war ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press by Matti Friedman - February 18, 2010 - 1:00am The death of a Hamas operative in Dubai at the hands of a squad of burly hit men conjures up images of the string of killings that followed the murder of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics and a bungled attempt to poison a Hamas leader in Jordan 13 years ago. Israel's Mossad spy agency — the prime suspect in the death of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh last month in Dubai — has known both triumph and embarrassment in decades of covert warfare, and the latest episode would appear to include elements of each. » Read more

Palestinian leader meets US envoy on peace effort ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Mohammed Assadi, Alastair MacDonald - February 18, 2010 - 1:00am Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met a senior aide to U.S. envoy George Mitchell on Thursday, part of Washington's effort to relaunch peace negotiations between the Palestinians and Israel. Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat confirmed the scheduled meeting with David Hale had taken place in Ramallah. But like the Americans he offered no comment on what was discussed. U.S. officials had announced the meeting after Erekat met Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Qatar on Sunday. Mitchell and his team maintain a strict silence about their discussions. » Read more

UN envoy: Quartet to back PA autonomy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency February 19, 2010 - 1:00am Robert Serry, the UN special envoy to the Middle East peace process, hinted on Thursday that the international community would pressure Israel to cede parts of the occupied West Bank to Palestinian Authority control. Serry said the International Quartet, made up of the UN, EU, US and Russia, will express support for PA demands on the Israeli government to transfer Areas B and of the West Bank C into A, under full Palestinian control, on the road to establishing statehood. » Read more

Deibes: PA will include Area C in plans ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency February 19, 2010 - 1:00am The Palestinian Authority plans to include Area C in it strategic planning in an effort to lay the groundwork for a future state, Tourism Minister Khouloud Deibes said on Thursday. Deibes made this remark following a meeting in Jericho with a visiting delegation from the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She also said her ministry is committed to attracting private sector investment to tourism-related projects in the West bank, particularly north of the Dead Sea, and also attract more tourists to the area. » Read more

Cartoonists in Israel take aim at Mossad ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency February 19, 2010 - 1:00am Political cartoonists working for Israeli newspapers this week turned their attention away from Rafiq Husseini, the Palestinian Authority official who disgraced by a sex tape. The new target of the cartoonists is a subject that is usually off-limits: Mossad. The shift in focus took place as suspicion mounted that the spy agency was involved in the assassination in January of Hamas leader Mahmoud Al-Mabhouh in Dubai. » Read more

Palestinian role Dubai assassination? Hamas blames Mossad ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Erin Cunningham - February 18, 2010 - 1:00am Hamas, who lost senior leader Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in January after he was assassinated in an elaborate cloak-and-dagger operation in Dubai, has joined the government of the tiny emirate in saying it's convinced the likely perpetrators were members of the Mossad, Israel's intelligence and security agency. » Read more