January 27th

PA officials: Israeli border proposal a non-starter
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
January 27, 2012 - 1:00am


Palestinian officials said Friday that Israel's presentation of its ideas for border and security arrangements of a future Palestinian state at a meeting in Amman on Wednesday was a non-starter, envisaging a fenced-off territory of cantons that would preserve most Jewish settlements.


Pro-Palestinian hackers apologize 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.


Gingrich Won’t Win, and Bibi Will Be in a Lose-Lose Situation
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Yossi Sarid - (Opinion) January 27, 2012 - 1:00am


Newt Gingrich won in South Carolina and that's good, very good. What's so good about the victory of an egomaniac who has compared himself to Churchill, de Gaulle and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu? It's good because it's bad for the Republican Party, which is drunk not on wine but on tea. That's how the wild party will continue until the summer, and they'll all swallow each other alive.


PLO: Israel gave no reason to restart talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
January 27, 2012 - 1:00am


BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- PLO meetings with Israeli envoys have not been able to restart negotiations, a Palestinian presidential spokesman said Friday, after Israel said it had fulfilled its obligation to the Quartet-sponsored talks. Israel did not provide anything to build upon, while the issue of borders and security is still pending, Nabil Abu Rudeineh told Ma'an. PLO officials held five exploratory meetings with Israeli negotiators in the Jordanian capital during January. The diplomatic Quartet had called for the sides to give their positions on borders and security by Jan. 26.


A Special Journalist
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by David Ignatius - (Opinion) January 26, 2012 - 1:00am


DAVOS, Switzerland It was 30 years ago that Tewfik Mishlawi confessed what might sound like a mundane ambition but which contained the sublime spark that has swept across the Middle East over the past year: He said that he wanted to create the first independent Arab news service.


January 26th

NEWS: Palestinians and Israelis have not yet agreed on another round of talks. Significant challenges are facing efforts to revive them. The EU says there is still hope they will continue and is reportedly working on an incentive package for Palestinians. Hanan Ashrawi says Israel is “thwarting all efforts” to continue negotiations. Some experts say Palestinians are looking for alternatives to continued talks. Jailed Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti is placed in solitary confinement following recent public comments. Palestinian officials doubt elections will be held in May, as planned. Palestinians are concerned about new Israeli search technologies involving nausea-inducing gas. Hamas says it's trying to improve relations with Jordan. COMMENTARY: Carlo Strenger says politicians, including PM Netanyahu, and others should stop misusing the Holocaust. Israel Harel says Israel's High Court should create a constitutional court. Roni Brizon says religious and nationalist extremists are taking over Israel. Gershon Baskin says Israel will only find security through peace. Jonathan Rosen says Israel will probably have an election before October. Douglas Bloomfield says negotiations might be futile at this stage but they are still necessary. Gal Beckerman says Sheldon Adelson's apparent ability to change Newt Gingrich's attitudes on Israel and the Palestinians shows one person can affect an election if they're willing to spend enough money. Joel Braunold says the apparent failure of negotiations doesn't change the fundamental realities facing Israelis and Palestinians. Eyal Press looks at a new Israeli film about law and the occupation. Ronen Bergman asks if Israel will attack Iran.

Will Israel Attack Iran?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Ronen Bergman - (Opinion) January 26, 2012 - 1:00am


As the Sabbath evening approached on Jan. 13, Ehud Barak paced the wide living-room floor of his home high above a street in north Tel Aviv, its walls lined with thousands of books on subjects ranging from philosophy and poetry to military strategy. Barak, the Israeli defense minister, is the most decorated soldier in the country’s history and one of its most experienced and controversial politicians. He has served as chief of the general staff for the Israel Defense Forces, interior minister, foreign minister and prime minister.


How the Occupation Became Legal
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Review Of Books
by Eyal Press - (Film Review) January 25, 2012 - 1:00am


In 1979, a group of Palestinian farmers filed a petition with Israel’s High Court of Justice, claiming their land was being illegally expropriated by Jewish settlers. The farmers were not Israeli citizens, and the settlers appeared to have acted with the state’s support; indeed, army helicopters had escorted them to the land—a hilltop near Nablus—bringing along generators and water tanks. The High Court of Justice nevertheless ordered the outpost dismantled.


Political Failure Does Not Change Reality for Israelis or Palestinians
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Huffington Post
by Joel Braunold - (Opinion) January 26, 2012 - 1:00am


Today, 26 January, will mark another line in the sand in the morbid negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. Whether or not this is the date that the Quartet has stated its deadline to get each side's documents presented to each other is currently under dispute by the sides themselves. Arguments about deadlines of document submission is as far as the sides have got in getting the decision makers into the same room together.


What Sheldon's Money Buys
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by Gal Beckerman - (Opinion) January 26, 2012 - 1:00am


It is safe to say that without multi-billionaire Sheldon Adelson’s help the chances of Newt Gingrich becoming the Republican nominee for president would be zero — and consequently the race itself, going into Florida at the moment, would not be the competitive, drag-out fight it has become. Adelson, the hotel and casino magnate, has kept Gingrich alive, first through an infusion of $5 million into a super PAC, which allowed the former speaker to defend himself against attacks by Mitt Romney and led to Gingrich’s thumping victory in South Carolina.



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