‘The two-state solution is starting to look impractical’ ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Jonathan Cook - December 31, 2009 - 1:00am The biggest effect for Israel’s 1.3 million Palestinian citizens of its assault on Gaza last winter has been to smash any remaining illusions that there is a future for the minority in a Jewish state, the community’s leaders have agreed. They say that minority voters have almost completely abandoned Zionist parties, even left-wing ones, believing that none is really interested in a peaceful solution to the country’s conflict with the Palestinians. » Read more

For American Teens, Lessons in Hebrew Immersion and Settler Ideology ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Nathan Jeffay - December 30, 2009 - 1:00am For participants in the Yeshiva University schools’ newest exchange program, the last month has been one of slumber parties, shopping trips, Hebrew-language immersion and settler ideology. In early December the Queens, N.Y.-based Samuel H. Wang Yeshiva University High School for Girls became the first American girls’ school on record to immerse its students in West Bank-based programming. » Read more

Child born into a life of conflict in Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News by Katya Adler - December 30, 2009 - 1:00am Mariam El-Sharif was born a year ago into a world of conflict and violence. Her extended family crowds around a cake with one pink candle on it. The walls of this front room in northern Gaza are still riddled with bullet and mortar shell holes. Israel began a three-week long assault on Gaza, a couple of hours after Mariam came in to the world. Panic and chaos spread throughout Gaza's main hospital. Israel says its operation was aimed at Palestinian militants, who for years had been firing rockets at Israeli families over the border. » Read more

State supports Kiryat Netafim houses built without permits ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Dan Izenberg, Tovah Lazaroff - December 31, 2009 - 1:00am The state on Wednesday asked the High Court of Justice to reject a petition filed by Peace Now against construction of 15 houses in the West Bank settlement of Kiryat Netafim and said it would complete detailed planning which would pave the way for the authorities to grant building permits for the homes. The state's support of the 15-home project comes in the midst of a 10-month moratorium on new settlement construction. » Read more

Rattling the Cage: A taboo question for Israelis ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Larry Derfner - (Opinion) December 31, 2009 - 1:00am There's a question we Israelis won't ask ourselves about the Palestinians, especially not about Gaza. The question is taboo. Not only won't anyone ask it out loud, but very, very few people will dare ask it in the privacy of their own minds. However, I think it's time we start asking it, privately and in public. If we don't, I think there's going to be Operation Cast Lead II, then Operation Cast Lead III, and each one is going to be worse than the last, and the consequences for Palestinians and Israelis are going to be unimaginable. » Read more

Peace talks framework may bridge goals ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Herb Keinon - December 31, 2009 - 1:00am When US Mideast envoy George Mitchell arrives here in early January he is expected to declare a framework for peace talks aimed at reconciling the Palestinian demand for a state based on the 1967 lines, with Israel's goal of a Jewish state with secure and recognized borders, The Jerusalem Post has learned. » Read more

Journey to nowhere ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Gideon Levy - (Opinion) December 31, 2009 - 1:00am Well, here we are. A new year begins at midnight, and for the Middle East, 2010 will be a year of negotiations. Peace envoys are warming up at the starting line, document writers are polishing draft agreements for the envoys, advisers are coming up with their own phraseology, pundits are piling up verbiage, photographers are aiming their cameras, and diplomats are packing their bags and sharpening their tongues. George Mitchell will be here soon, Benjamin Netanyahu has already been to Cairo, Mahmoud Abbas is on his way. In the end there will be a summit. » Read more

Shin Bet: 2009 was quiet year ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Hanan Greenberg - December 30, 2009 - 1:00am The year 2009 saw a significant decline in the number of attacks both in the Gaza Strip and in the West Bank compared with previous years, according to data released Wednesday by Israel's Shin Bet to mark the end of the year. At the same time, many attempts by terror groups from the Gaza Strip to plant booby traps inside Israel were thwarted by removing the devices from the Strip into the Sinai, and from there to Israel. » Read more

PCBS: 10.88 million Palestinians in the world, half in diaspora ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency December 31, 2009 - 1:00am The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics released a report on the Palestinian population worldwide, noting a decrease in family size for the population living in Palestinian territories. The report counted a total of 10.9 million Palestinians worldwide by the end of 2009, with 2.5 million in the West Bank including East Jerusalem, 1.5million in the Gaza Strip and 1.25 million living in Israel. More than half of the world Palestinian population, the report noted, live in the diaspora. » Read more

Zahhar: Hamas still open to swap deal ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency December 31, 2009 - 1:00am Hamas has not ruled out a prisoner exchange with Israel, one of the movements top leaders said upon returning from talks on the issue in Damascus. Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahhar told Ma’an, “Hamas did not close the door on the Shalit deal. Hamas is demanding that Israel release some 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in return for Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier held in Gaza. Zahhar said Hamas is still holding internal consultations on the prisoner deal, and other issues, including reconciliation with Fatah, and the steel wall Egypt is building on the border with Gaza. » Read more