NEWS: Hamas is gaining in confidence following the prisoner swap with Israel. Pres. Abbas will meet Hamas leader Mishaal in Egypt in spite of the unrest, and some analysts think they will finalize a deal soon. Israel is concerned about the future of its peace agreement with Egypt, and a former defense official is urging contingency plans to re-enter Sinai, but Egypt reaffirms its commitments. Israel charges a Palestinian man with "revenge" killings. Israel's Internal Security Minister says he fears more political assassinations by Jewish extremists. UNSG Ban calls on Israel to release Palestinian tax revenues. One of PM Netanyahu's media advisors resigns over threats to press freedom. UNESCO defunding is crippling its programs. COMMENTARY: Sarah Schulman says Israel engages in "pinkwashing" by using gay rights rhetoric to distract from the occupation. Bradley Burston says Netanyahu's government is hypocritical. Ha'aretz says Netanyahu must choose between FM Lieberman and the rule of law. Attila Somfalvi says Netanyahu is deliberately stifling the media. Gershon Baskin says Netanyahu could be a leader for peace if he wanted to. The Jordan Times says King Abdullah's Ramallah trip was timely support. Rebecca Vilkomerson says Israel is failing to protect its own citizens. Marwan Muasher says the Arab Peace Initiative may be dead. Dan Simpson says the peace process must be revived. Zvi Bar'el says Jordan may become the new home for Hamas' leadership.

Jordan seeks Palestinian respect by offering Hamas a new home
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Zvi Barel - (Opinion) November 23, 2011 - 1:00am

Jordan's King Abdullah is not an innovative leader. But last week he surprised Arab leaders and the whole world by becoming the first Arab ruler to call on Syrian President Bashar Assad to resign. "If I were in his shoes, I'd step down," he told the BBC.

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Revive the peace process
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
by Dan Simpson - (Opinion) November 23, 2011 - 1:00am

It may seem misdirected to insist on there being in place a credible effort to settle the Israeli-Palestinian conflict when there is so much turmoil in neighboring states. There is, however, a critical case for not letting that effort stay dormant. There is even an argument that the situations in some neighboring states would become more coherent if an Israeli-Palestinian peace effort promised a stable and just resolution.

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The Death of the Arab Peace Initiative?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Atlantic
by Marwan Muasher - (Opinion) November 23, 2011 - 1:00am

We should all be "celebrating," in a few short months, the tenth anniversary of the Arab Peace Initiative, a collective Arab offer championed by then Saudi Crown Prince (and current king) Abdullah to help bring about a permanent resolution to the Arab-Israeli conflict. Instead, the fate of the plan is more precarious than ever.

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Activist: Israeli government won't protect its own citizens
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from CNN
by Rebecca Vilkomerson - (Opinion) November 23, 2011 - 1:00am

On September 30, a group of Jewish Israelis from the activist groups Solidarity and Ta'ayush set out on a visit to support the Palestinian al Rifai family in the West Bank. The family's claim to their land has been recognized by the Israeli Supreme Court, but the settlement of Anatot is nevertheless built upon it. Al Rifai family members have faced harassment for years while insisting on their right to access private land. The settlers of Anatot, enraged by the Israeli support of the Palestinian family, violently attacked the family and activists alike.

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Timely support
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
(Opinion) November 23, 2011 - 1:00am

His Majesty King Abdullah’s visit to Ramallah for talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is the second, in time, but first in importance. The Palestinians are passing through difficult circumstances, so there couldn’t be a better time to stand by them in solidarity. The Monarch reassured the Palestinians that Jordan stands by them and that support for their steadfastness in unwavering, no matter how challenging the current developments in the Middle East are.

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Leadership that makes history
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Gershon Baskin - (Opinion) November 23, 2011 - 1:00am

Leading is not easy. Leading Israel is certainly not a simple task. It is not surprising that many leaders of Israel, maybe even most of them, have made decisions in office that go against what they preached and believed in before they sat in the prime minister’s seat. As the saying goes, “what you see from here is not what you see from there.” Real leadership is measured when one is faced with real-life situations that place diametrically opposed values and principles on the scales of decision making.

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Bibi's conspiracy of silence
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Attila Somfalvi - (Opinion) November 23, 2011 - 1:00am

At the end of the day, the thing that will be remembered from Benjamin Netanyahu’s second premiership term is the harm to Israel’s democracy, freedom of expression, the media and the courts. In his three years in office, Israel's democracy went back 30 years. Instead of flourishing, it’s becoming defensive and pale. The prime minister is undermining the power of regular folk and boosting politicians at the people's expense. This is the entire aim of the so-called silencing law and of the series of laws against the court. No more and no less than that.

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Netanyahu must choose the rule of law over Lieberman
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
(Editorial) November 23, 2011 - 1:00am

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman is threatening to break up the coalition if the illegal outposts Migron and Givat Assaf are evacuated. "Migron is not an illegal outpost," the minister said Monday. "It's a community where then-Defense Minister Moshe Arens and the GOC Central Command stood beside the cornerstone at its founding. How did it suddenly become illegal?"

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Over Netanyahu's New Israel, the B.S. light is on
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Bradley Burston - (Blog) November 23, 2011 - 1:00am

How does Israel expect to explain itself after this? How are people who support Israel supposed to understand the Black Flag legislation which has expropriated the business of the Knesset? Fortunately, the language of the Bible now has a word for all of it. It's spelled Bet Vav Lamed Shin Yud Tet. Sometimes written bull****.

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