January 10th, 2012

Israel remains the main priority ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat by Hussein Shobokshi - (Opinion) January 9, 2012 - 1:00am It appears that US President Barack Obama is on his way to being re-elected. There are many positive indicators working strongly in his favour. There he is fulfilling his pledge and withdrawing "militarily" from Iraqi territories, reducing his military presence in Afghanistan, and re-structuring the US defense budget as a kind of economic belt-tightening measure which is required in practical terms to meet the problem of the budget deficit. » Read more

Two Mideast Democracies, Side by Side ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by J.J. Goldberg - (Opinion) January 9, 2012 - 1:00am Advocates of democracy in the Middle East have been deeply alarmed since December 29, when Egyptian security forces staged lightning raids on the offices of three American nonprofits that work to promote democracy and fair elections overseas. Egyptian officials say they seized the organizations’ books and computers because they suspect them of fomenting the unrest that led to the overthrow of the Mubarak dictatorship last year and the imposing of Egypt’s first open, democratic election, which the army has pledged to support after it’s done arresting the people who started it. » Read more

Sexism and the state of Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent by Catrina Stewart - (Analysis) January 10, 2012 - 1:00am As dusk falls in Mea Shearim, Jerusalem's most pious neighbourhood, black-clad and hatted Jewish men hurry home along the narrow streets lined by medieval-style houses where lights burn dimly in darkened windows. Less than half a mile away, young Israelis mix in bustling bars in central Jerusalem, anathema to this religious ultraorthodox community that has tried its hardest to hide itself away from the temptations of secular life, and ensure a rigorous separation between men and women. » Read more

Death of peace process means opportunity for new ideas ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Tovah Norlen - (Opinion) January 9, 2012 - 1:00am The recent attempts by Jordan’s King Abdullah to restart the peace process do bring to mind several lingering questions: Is the peace process dead, as some people maintain, and if so, who killed it? If the answer to the first question is yes (never mind about the second one), a third immediately comes to mind: What do we do now? » Read more

The many contradictions of Mahmoud Abbas ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Khaled Abu Toameh - (Opinion) January 10, 2012 - 1:00am Seven years have passed since Mahmoud Abbas was elected to succeed Yasser Arafat as president of the Palestinian Authority, and many Palestinians appear to be as confused as ever regarding their leader’s true intentions. Abbas ran in the January 2005 presidential election for a four-year term on a platform that promised massive reforms and changes both in the PA and the ruling Fatah faction, which he also heads. » Read more

Israel's Arabs and seculars will return to the polls ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Sefi Rachlevsky - (Opinion) January 10, 2012 - 1:00am Sometimes, numbers say it all. In the 1999 elections, some 3.3 million citizens voted. A similar number voted in 2009. But in the meantime, about 1 million eligible voters had been added to the rolls. Had the 80 percent turnout rate that prevailed in Israel until 1999 been maintained, another 800,000 people would have voted; instead, they stayed away. Those absent voters are now about to shake up Israel. » Read more

Of course Gaza is still occupied ATFP World Press Roundup Article from NOW Lebanon by Hussein Ibish - (Opinion) January 10, 2012 - 1:00am It never ceases to amaze how much leaders of Hamas and the Israeli far-right agree about. But the latest iteration of this bizarre de facto alliance is a real doozy: alone in the world, they both say the Gaza Strip is not occupied by Israel. Part of the Israeli right has been trying to claim that the occupation of Gaza has been over since Ariel Sharon pulled Israeli forces out of the interior of Gaza in 2005. The then-prime minister accurately described this as a “unilateral redeployment,” not a “withdrawal.” » Read more

Not even the word of Israeli soldiers is enough to confirm Palestinian testimony ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Amira Hass - January 9, 2012 - 1:00am On my way home from Tel Aviv last Wednesday, at midnight, I turned right on Route 443, just where a yellow sign warns: "Israeli, beware, if you've arrived here you made a mistake." » Read more

"The future is ours," says Hamas Gaza leader ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Nidal al-Mughrabi - January 10, 2012 - 1:00am (Reuters) - The coming rise of Islamism in the Arab world will strengthen support for the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, which will not give up its armed confrontation with Israel, senior Hamas official Mahmoud Al-Zahar said Monday. If Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas bets on peace talks with Israel rather than reconciling his Fatah movement with Hamas, he will lose out, Zahar said in an interview with Reuters in his Gaza office. » Read more

Peace Now: Israel began building 1,850 new houses in West Bank in 2011 ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Deutsche Presse Agentur (DPA) January 10, 2012 - 1:00am Israel started construction work on 1,850 new housing units in the West Bank in 2011, a 19 percent rise from a year earlier, an Israeli settlement watchdog said Tuesday. Peace Now attributed the rise to a partial, 10-month moratorium on new constructions in the West Bank that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu imposed in 2010 to spur peace talks with the Palestinians. » Read more