January 3rd

Report: Assad to meet Hamas leadership ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Elior Levy - January 3, 2012 - 1:00am Syrian President Bashar Assad is expected to meet with Damascus-based representatives of the Palestinian factions in the coming days, including the heads of Hamas, Lebanon's al-Akhbar newspaper reported Tuesday. Assad's relationship with Hamas leadership has been rocky since March 2011, when Syria plunged into civil unrest. The Syrian president expressed his disapproval of Hamas' decision to relocate its politburo to another Arab country. The decision was made following the growing unrest in the country. » Read more

Anti corruption chief going after foreign accounts ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency January 3, 2012 - 1:00am The head of the PA anti-corruption commission said on Monday that the body is working to restore public funds stashed abroad by Palestinian officials. Rafiq al-Natsheh told Ma'an that the commission is chasing corruption suspects living outside of Palestine, pending an agreement with their countries of residence. Jordanian newspaper al-Dustour reported last week that Palestinian officials are moving deposits from Jordanian banks to foreign accounts, raising fears that suspects were trying to circumvent the corruption crackdown. » Read more

Hamas: Peaceful resistance not applicable to Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency January 3, 2012 - 1:00am Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahhar has cast doubt his party will take up peaceful resistance against Israel as advocated by former rivals Fatah. Under a reconciliation deal between the factions signed in May, officials called for a unified "national strategy," and Fatah officials say that Hamas chief-in-exile Khalid Mashaal agreed to adopt non-violent popular action in favor of armed struggle. But in comments to Ma'an late Monday, senior Hamas official in Gaza Zahhar stressed the situation in the Gaza Strip is different to the occupied West Bank. » Read more

Settlement outposts at root of Jewish violence in West Bank ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Edmund Sanders - December 29, 2011 - 1:00am For months many Israelis shrugged off the mosque burnings, the uprooted Palestinian olive trees and even the death threats against Jewish leftists. But when young settlers this month vandalized army bases and stoned Israeli soldiers, the question of Jewish terrorism turned into a national emergency. The recent flare-up in settler violence has puzzled many because it comes when there are no peace talks that might lead to land concessions, Palestinian attacks in the West Bank have dropped to new lows, and Israel is led by a conservative government that is expanding settlement construction. » Read more

Gaza Premier in Turkey, in First Official Trip Abroad ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Sebnem Arsu, Ethan Bronner - January 2, 2012 - 1:00am Ismail Haniya, the Hamas prime minister of Gaza, who is making his first official trip abroad since his Islamist movement took over the Palestinian strip in 2007, sought Monday to strengthen ties with the Arab and Muslim world in the wake of regional uprisings that have produced a rise in Islamist political strength. Here in Turkey, where Mr. Haniya arrived after visiting Egypt and Sudan, he was quoted by the semiofficial Anatolian Agency on Monday as saying that “the Arab Spring is turning into an Islamic spring.” » Read more

Jordan: Chief Israeli, Palestinian envoys meet ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Mohammed Daraghmeh - January 3, 2012 - 1:00am Jordan says the chief Palestinian and Israeli negotiators are meeting for the first time in more than a year. Jordan's Foreign Ministry says Israel's Yitzhak Molcho and Palestinian Saeb Erekat are meeting in the presence of envoys from the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations. The pair will later hold a separate meeting alone to exchange positions on key issues of security and borders between Israel and a future Palestinian state. » Read more

Why US won't be center stage in new Israeli-Palestinian talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Howard Lafranchi - January 2, 2012 - 1:00am The United States won’t take its usual center-stage position when Israeli and Palestinian negotiators meet Tuesday for their first direct talks in more than a year. » Read more

Palestinians and Israelis Will Talk This Week ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Ethan Bronner - January 1, 2012 - 1:00am Palestinian and Israeli negotiators plan to meet for the first time in more than a year in Jordan on Tuesday, in an effort to revive moribund peace talks, although none of the sides involved suggested any reason to view the meeting as a sign of significant progress. The Jordanian Foreign Ministry said the chief Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erekat, and the chief Israeli negotiator, Yitzhak Molho, would be joined by officials from Jordan as well as the so-called quartet — Russia, the United States, the European Union and the United Nations — and would later hold a separate meeting. » Read more