January 30th

Hard-line Israeli settler challenges Netanyahu for ruling Likud Party leadership
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
January 30, 2012 - 1:00am

JERUSALEM — A hard-line Jewish settler who wants to pay Palestinians to leave the West Bank and Gaza is running against Israel’s prime minister in Tuesday’s ruling party primary election. Moshe Feiglin has little chance of defeating Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but he could deliver an embarrassing blow to the country’s leader in his fourth try for leadership of the Likud, none of which have had a realistic shot at success.

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Meshaal's cordial visit to Jordan helps open 'new page' in relations
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Hugh Naylor - January 30, 2012 - 1:00am

JERUSALEM // The leaders of Hamas have never been known for globetrotting or an appetite for diplomatic fanfare. They were confined to the Gaza Strip, unable to leave because of the Israeli blockade of the coastal enclave. Or, if they were among the clutch of senior Hamas officials based in Damascus, they maintained a low profile to avoid testing the patience and straining the hospitality of their Syrian hosts. Those days are gone.

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Hamas Leader Takes Rare Trip to Jordan
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Stephen Farrell - January 29, 2012 - 1:00am

AMMAN, Jordan — Khaled Meshal, the leader of Hamas, made a rare and pointedly low-key visit to Jordan on Sunday, days after Hamas officials signaled that he had effectively abandoned the group’s base in Damascus, the Syrian capital. Mr. Meshal and a delegation from Hamas’s political bureau, including his deputy, Mousa Abu Marzook, arrived in Amman with the crown prince of Qatar, Sheik Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, and met with the king of Jordan, Abdullah II.

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January 27th

Attempting to Answer the Arab Question
Media Mention of Hussein Ibish In The New York Times - January 27, 2012 - 1:00am

PARIS — Raised, if respectful voices at a private dinner party in Paris on Thursday. Among the guests — two Syrians, both anti-regime but with diametrically opposite analyses of what is going on in their home country. “We’re in the last quarter of an hour,” said the first guest, a very recent exile from Damascus, predicting the imminent demise of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

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Attempting to Answer the Arab Question
Media Mention of Hussein Ibish In The New York Times - January 27, 2012 - 1:00am

PARIS — Raised, if respectful voices at a private dinner party in Paris on Thursday. Among the guests — two Syrians, both anti-regime but with diametrically opposite analyses of what is going on in their home country. “We’re in the last quarter of an hour,” said the first guest, a very recent exile from Damascus, predicting the imminent demise of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

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Pro-Palestinian hackers apologise for cyber attack on Haaretz newspaper website
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Hugh Naylor - January 27, 2012 - 1:00am

JERUSALEM // Pro-Palestinian hackers apologised on Twitter yesterday for disrupting the website of Israel's Haaretz newspaper. Haaretz announced on Wednesday that its Hebrew-language website had been temporarily disabled by hackers, identifying themselves on Twitter as @AnonPS, or Anonymous Palestine.

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NEWS: The PLO says Israel has given it no reason to continue with talks and dismisses Israel's proposals on borders. The continued diplomatic impasse is throwing the viability of a two-state solution into doubt. Pres. Abbas meets with EU foreign policy chief Ashton. The Palestinian election commission says it's ready and able to hold elections in May if so instructed. Hamas has effectively abandoned its headquarters in Damascus. In spite of having resigned, Dennis Ross is reportedly still providing regular advice to the Obama administration. Israel agrees to the construction of an access road for the first planned Palestinian city in the West Bank. An Israeli cabinet minister takes journalists on a tour of a West Bank settlement. In a conversation with Pres. Peres at the Davos forum, PM Fayyad says building a Palestinian state will require Israeli cooperation and Peres says a Palestinian state has in effect already been established. Pro-Palestinian hackers apologize for a cyber attack on the Ha'aretz website. COMMENTARY: David Ignatius memorializes the late Palestinian journalist Tewfik Mishlawi. Yossi Sarid says PM Netanyahu may face an angered and reelected Pres. Obama next year. Guy Bechor says Hamas is in real trouble. Herb Keinon says low-level Israeli-Palestinian talks are likely to continue. The National says the peace process is a fig leaf for the Quartet. George Hishmeh says the suggestion by a newspaper editor that Israel might assassinate Obama met with a shocking silence, except from the Jewish-American community.

Shocking Silence
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by George S. Hishmeh - (Opinion) January 27, 2012 - 1:00am

It is unbelievable, actually bewildering, that an American newspaperman should suggest that one of three options facing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the conflict with Iran over its nuclear policies is to assassinate the American president. Although he did not mention Barack Obama by name, all those who read the column felt this American president was the target. Equally appalling has been the failure of the American media, by and large, to cover this shocking issue that surfaced two weeks ago on a website.

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'Peace process' is a fig leaf for Quartet
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
(Editorial) January 27, 2012 - 1:00am

Nobody should be surprised that the "deadline" to resume peace talks expired yesterday with hardly a whimper. The Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas, rightly, refused to resume talks in Amman unless Israel made some commitment on borders for a two state-solution. He asked for a commitment that talks would actually be meaningful. Israel, as was to be expected, declined.

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Dennis Ross still advising Obama on regular basis, despite stepping down
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - January 27, 2012 - 1:00am

Despite the fact that he resigned from his post in the Obama administration, longtime American diplomat Dennis Ross just cannot quit. Haaretz has learned that Ross still advises President Barak Obama on a regular basis, and maintains an open channel with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

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