December 5th

Diplomats: Hamas quietly scaling back Syria presence ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency by Nidal Al-Mughrabi - December 5, 2011 - 1:00am GAZA CITY (Reuters) -- Dozens of Hamas operatives have quietly returned to Gaza from Damascus as the ruling party in the coastal strip scales back its presence in Syria and gauges the uncertain future of President Bashar Assad, diplomats said on Sunday. Hamas leaders deny they plan to quit the Syrian capital, where the group keeps its main headquarters outside the Gaza Strip. But diplomats and regional sources said the Hamas delegation in Damascus, which once numbered hundreds of Palestinian officials and their relatives, had shrunk to a few dozen. » Read more

Fatah, Hamas discuss reconciliation in Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency December 5, 2011 - 1:00am GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Hamas and Fatah leaders met in the Gaza Strip on Sunday to discuss the results of last week's summit between party chiefs, officials said. Describing the Gaza meeting of top officials from the rival movements as "significant," Fatah national relations commissioner Diab al-Loh said both Hamas and Fatah reaffirmed their commitment to the reconciliation deal. Al-Loh told Ma'an the parties discussed mechanisms to implement agreements between Fatah leader President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas chief Khalid Mashaal in Cairo. » Read more

After American Jewish Outcry, Israel Ends Ad Campaign Aimed at Expatriates ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Isabel Kershner - December 2, 2011 - 1:00am JERUSALEM — One video advertisement shows a Jewish elderly couple distraught that their Israeli granddaughter in the United States thinks Hanukkah is Christmas. Another shows a clueless American boyfriend who does not get why his Israeli expatriate girlfriend is saddened on Israel’s memorial day. A third shows a toddler calling “Daddy! Daddy!” to his napping Israeli expatriate father, who finally awakens when the child switches to Hebrew: “Abba!” » Read more

Israeli Entrepreneur Opens Online University in West Bank ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by D.D. Guttenplan - December 4, 2011 - 1:00am An American online university started by an Israeli entrepreneur has opened an operations center in the West Bank. Shai Reshef, the founder of University of the People, a nonprofit institution that offers free online education to students in more than 120 countries, said in an interview last week that his agreement with ASAL Technologies, a Palestinian software and information technology services company based in Ramallah, was just the first stage of a plan to move the university’s entire back office to the West Bank. » Read more

Israeli ministers criticize remarks attributed to Clinton about Israeli democracy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Associated Press - December 4, 2011 - 1:00am JERUSALEM — Israeli Cabinet ministers on Sunday criticized Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton over remarks attributed to her in which she expressed concerns over Israel’s democracy. Clinton made the comments at a closed-door session over the weekend at the Saban Forum, a Mideast policy seminar sponsored by the Brookings Institution think tank. » Read more

Defense Chief Says Israel Must Mend Arab Ties ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Tom Shanker - December 2, 2011 - 1:00am WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta spoke sternly on Friday to America’s closest ally in the Middle East, telling Israel that it is partly responsible for its increasing isolation and that it now must take “bold action” — diplomatic, not military — to mend ties with its Arab neighbors and settle previously intractable territorial disputes with the Palestinians. » Read more

The connection between a Pulitzer-winning photojournalist and a Palestinian housekeeper ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Amira Hass - (Opinion) December 5, 2011 - 1:00am What is about to happen here constitutes deliberate exploitation of the attention given to the humiliating security check undergone by New York Times photographer Lynsey Addario. It is very likely that without the report last week about how Addario was stripped at the Erez checkpoint and the subsequent apology of the Defense Ministry, the following lines would not have been written. » Read more

'Peace treaty with Israel won't be revoked' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Roee Nahmias - (Opinion) December 4, 2011 - 1:00am "Israel has no cause for concern – the peace treaty won't be revoked," Egyptian academic and journalist Mounir Mahmoud told Ynet over the phone on Sunday. "The country is going through its hardest period since the revolution – and I won't be exaggerating if I say – perhaps the hardest period it has known to date," Mahmoud noted. "We all hoped for a natural and smooth birth toward a true democracy in Egypt, but we were forced to undergo a cesarean section," he said, drawing a comparison between the birth of a newborn and the situation in post-Mubarak Egypt. » Read more

Danger, in the absence of peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Arabiya by Musa Keilani - (Opinion) December 4, 2011 - 1:00am His Majesty King Abdullah has raised Jordan’s diplomatic profile as a key country seeking a realistic solution to the Palestinian-Israeli problem based on the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people as enshrined in United Nations resolutions and international law. » Read more

Full transcript of interview with Palestinian professor Rashid Khalidi ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Chemi Shalev - (Interview) December 5, 2011 - 1:00am THE PALESTINIANS: “We already have a one-state solution” Q. Let’s talk about the Palestinians. Why has the Arab Spring passed them by? And do you think the two-state solution is still possible? Your detractors say that you would not be unhappy about such a development » Read more