January 14th

White House seeks new ideas about Mideast peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Politico
by Laura Rozen - January 13, 2011 - 1:00am

With U.S. Middle East peace efforts at an impasse, the Obama administration has sought new ideas from outside experts on how to advance the peace process. One task force has been convened by Sandy Berger and Stephen Hadley, former national security advisers to Presidents Clinton and George W. Bush, respectively, to offer recommendations on the Middle East peace process to the National Security Council.

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Mideast threats that can't be ignored
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Jackson Diehl - (Opinion) January 13, 2011 - 1:00am

Barack Obama has been fortunate in the Middle East so far. Yes, his attempt to revive the Israeli-Palestinian peace process has been a high-profile failure. But Israel, the Palestinians and the region as a whole have enjoyed a remarkable stretch of relative tranquility and stability during the past two years.

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Gaza: Hamas Tries to Curb Rocket Attacks on Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
January 13, 2011 - 1:00am

Hamas deployed forces near the Israeli border on Thursday to try to prevent smaller militant groups from firing rockets, a sign that the movement may be concerned about possible Israeli retaliation. Hamas, the militant Islamist movement that governs Gaza, met with representatives of the groups late Wednesday and told them to hold their fire. The Israeli military says at least 25 rockets and mortar shells have exploded in southern Israel this month, wounding several Israelis.

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January 13th

Palestinians are prevented from investing in Jerusalem real estate. John Whitbeck says the US should join the rest of the world in recognizing Palestine. Jeffrey Goldberg says Israel must recognize that Jerusalem must be the Palestinian capital. Settlers are evacuated from an unauthorized outpost, with several are hurt in scuffles, along with an elderly Palestinian man. The PA accuses Hamas of hypocrisy by calling for calm in Gaza and for violence in the West Bank, and Abdullah Iskandar agrees. Fatah's investigation into Mohammed Dahlan is expanded. Sec. Clinton reiterates that Israel makes its own decisions. A paralyzed Palestinian girl is given Israeli residency. Hamas leaders say they want to replace the PLO because of its secularism. Pres. Abbas says the US is not working hard enough to create a Palestinian state. Israel's Social Affairs Minister says the country feels like Alabama in the 1940s. The Latin Patriarchate in Jerusalem is trying to help Palestinians stay. An Al Jazeera TV reporter says Israeli security demanded she remove her bra at a press conference. Tensions reportedly grow between George Mitchell and Dennis Ross. Abbas is demonstrating increased authority. Daoud Kuttab says the PA is in a difficult position. FM Maliki explains the Palestinian strategy for international recognition and Yossi Alpher says this can be an opportunity for Israel as well.

An opportunity for Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Yossi Alpher - January 10, 2011 - 1:00am

As more and more South American countries--Chile is the latest--proclaim their recognition of a Palestinian state, the clamor grows in Jerusalem to declare a major failure of Israeli diplomacy. Didn't Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman travel to Latin America some months ago to stem the tide of recognition? Didn't Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu telephone the president of Chile just last week to persuade him not to join the Palestine bandwagon? And if Latin America goes, won't Europe be next and then, god forbid, the United States?

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Pressuring Israel, an interview with Riad Malki
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
(Interview) January 10, 2011 - 1:00am

bitterlemons: What is the importance of the string of Latin American countries that have recognized the state of Palestine within the 1967 borders?

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Difficult position for the PA
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by Daoud Kuttab - January 13, 2011 - 1:00am

The choices facing Palestinian leaders as they try to navigate their responsibilities while the 44-year-long Israeli occupation continues are difficult.

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Hamas: What is Allowed in the Bank is Prohibited in the Strip
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat
by Abdullah Iskandar - January 12, 2011 - 1:00am

So it is thus that the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) is busy “forcing” the other Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip to commit to the settlement with Israel, based on the “assessment of general interest and the protection of the Palestinian people and their capabilities” according to the movement’s spokesman. This came in response to the launching of rockets on Israel and the eruption of clashes with its army, after which the Hebrew state threatened to wage a wide-scale operation in the Strip if this situation were to continue.

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'Invigorated' Abbas has regained his authority
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Hugh Naylor - January 13, 2011 - 1:00am

Aides describe his mood as "invigorated". Rights activists say his security forces are fighting dissent more effectively. And while staking his credibility on negotiating with Israel, analysts say the recent failure of direct Israel-Palestinian peace talks has yet to damage his popularity. For a leader who is rumoured regularly to be on the brink of quitting, the political fortunes of Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, no longer seem so gloomy.

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Pregnant TV reporter objects to 'humiliating' Israeli security checks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent
by Catrina Stewart - January 13, 2011 - 1:00am

A pregnant newswoman from the Arab Al Jazeera television network walked out of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's annual foreign press conference after security officials asked her to remove her bra.

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