January 13th, 2012

Abbas on Diplomacy Tour of Europe
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
January 13, 2012 - 1:00am

RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- President Mahmoud Abbas will travel to Britain, Germany and Russia next week, presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rdainah said on Thursday. Abbas will meet with British Prime Minister David Cameron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev during the tour, Rdainah told official Palestinian Authority news agency Wafa. Rdainah emphasized that the three countries are members of the UN Security Council, indicating that diplomacy around the stalled bid for UN membership may be ongoing.

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Obama, Netayahu Talk After Peace Contacts Resume
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
January 12, 2012 - 1:00am

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed recent Israeli-Palestinian talks on Thursday as U.S. officials signaled that a January 26 target date for the two sides to exchange proposals could slide. Obama and Netanyahu, who have at times appeared out of sync on Middle East peace efforts, spoke after two rounds of diplomatic contacts between Israeli and Palestinian officials in Jordan's capital in recent weeks.

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Israel, Palestinians to Hold Further Talks Saturday
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
January 13, 2012 - 1:00am

* Will be third round of exploratory face-to-face talks * Negotiations frozen 15 months ago over Jewish settlements JERUSALEM, Jan 13 (Reuters) - Israelis and Palestinians will hold their third round of face-to-face meetings this year on Saturday in what diplomats hope might lead to the resumption of full peace talks, sources on each side said on Friday. The exploratory discussions began on Jan. 3 and followed a long break in negotiations after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas suspended talks 15 months ago over Israel's expansion of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank.

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West Bank: ‘Nothing New’ Offered by Israelis in Talks, Abbas Says
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
January 12, 2012 - 1:00am

Israel has made no new proposals in meetings with Palestinians about the possibility of resuming formal peace talks, the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, said Thursday. The sides have met twice in Jordan, and plan two more meetings. Mr. Abbas has said he will not resume negotiations unless Israel freezes settlement construction in the West Bank, a demand Israel rejects. He said Thursday that the low-level exploratory talks had not broken that impasse. “There is nothing new in the dialogue that is going on in Amman,” he said, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa.

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Palestinians Insist on Israel Talks Deadline
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Tia Goldenberg - January 12, 2012 - 1:00am

JERUSALEM — Palestinian negotiators are sticking to an end of January deadline in talks with Israel despite U.S. calls for flexibility, a Palestinian official said Friday. The Palestinians say they want to hold Israel to a schedule that might pressure it to come forward with proposals, but the tight time frame could prevent the nascent talks from getting off the ground. Palestinian and Israeli negotiators met last week for the first time in more than a year, kicking off low-level contacts aimed at reviving formal peace negotiations.

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January 12th

NEWS: PM Fayyad says he is very concerned about Iran's behavior and nuclear ambitions. The Israeli Supreme Court upholds a law banning Palestinians who marry Israelis from living in Israel. Hamas leader Haniyyeh may go on another regional tour soon including Qatar and Iran. Hamas sentences a Palestinian man to death for alleged collaboration with Israel. The CSM looks at whether Israel was responsible for the assassination of an Iranian nuclear scientist. The rise of Israel's ultra-Orthodox community is creating an identity crisis for the state. A committee on Palestinian national reconciliation will reportedly begin work “immediately.” Palestinians say Sec. Clinton has asked Pres. Abbas to extend the Quartet deadline for resumed negotiations. An EU report says Israel's policies in the occupied territories are endangering the two-state solution and the Palestinians should develop in “Area C.” A makeover for Gaza's beachfront is controversial. Jordan is reportedly working on how to accommodate some Hamas members as residents. COMMENTARY: Ha'aretz says Israel must stop stalling on peace. Jihad el-Khazen thinks that if Pres. Obama is reelected, a Palestinian state should be attainable in 2013. Michael Young says it's high time to discard the hoax about a “resistance axis.” Donald Macintyre says the EU is on the brink of abandoning hopes for Palestinian statehood. Natasha Mozgovaya looks at a new fictional book about Middle East peacemaking. Elliott Abrams says 2012 is a year for elections, not diplomacy. Shmuel Rosner says the Supreme Court decision is worthy of indignation but should be respected, while Noam Sheizaf says it just legalizes racial discrimination against Arabs.

High Court Okays Citizenship Law, Legalizing Racial Discrimination of Arabs
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from 972 Magazine
by Noam Sheizaf - (Opinion) January 12, 2012 - 1:00am

Israeli Arab MK Ahmed Tibi famously said that “Israel is indeed a Jewish-democratic state: it is democratic for Jews and Jewish for all the rest.” This rings truer than ever after Israel’s High Court of Justice rejected yesterday (again) the petitions against the Citizenship Law, one of the first measures to make racial discrimination against the Arab minority not just common practice, but part of Israel’s legal codex.

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Hate Israel’s Citizenship Law, Accept the Supreme Court Decision
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Journal
by Shmuel Rosner - (Opinion) January 12, 2012 - 1:00am

It was an important decision and not a trivial one, when Israel’s Supreme Court upheld a law yesterday that prevents most non-Israeli Arabs who marry Israelis from living in Israel. The court was split almost in half: Six justices sided with the majority ruling and five justices – Chief Justice Dorit Beinish included – opposed the ultimate decision. The numbers reflect the magnitude of the dilemma, they reflect the fact that this cannot be an easy decision for any country, and they reflect the delicate balancing act with which Israel has to live.

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A Year for Elections, Not Mideast Peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Wall Street Journal
by Elliott Abrams - (Opinion) January 12, 2012 - 1:00am

Last week Israelis and Palestinians held talks for the first time since September 2010. Back then, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met at the White House, under bright lights and with great expectations, along with Jordanian King Abdullah and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. In a matter of weeks the talks failed—and Mr. Mubarak didn't last much longer himself. What to expect this time?

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Washington’s Ultimatum to Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Natasha Mozgovaya - (Book Review) January 12, 2012 - 1:00am

The President of the United States, haunted by troubles home and abroad, finally decides to forge a breakthrough on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict - at any price. He separately summons Israeli and Palestinian leaders, and presents them with an ultimatum: for Israel, lack of agreement means no more aid and no more vetoes at the UN Security Council.

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