Meshal's folly ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Henry Siegman - (Opinion) December 14, 2012 - 1:00am Just as the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly recognized Palestine as a state in the occupied territories beyond Israel's pre-1967 borders, providing new hope and encouragement to those who have not given up on the struggle for a Palestinian state living in peace alongside the State of Israel; and as major European countries condemned in unprecedentedly strong terms Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to enlarge the settlement project in the Jerusalem area and elsewhere, a move that would prevent such a two-state outcome, Hamas' political bureau chief Khaled Meshal las » Read more

After Abbas ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy by Jonathan Schanzer - (Opinion) December 13, 2012 - 1:00am Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas went to the United Nations last month and brought his people one step closer to statehood. But amid all the fanfare, Western diplomats quietly conceded that the General Assembly vote to upgrade the Palestinians' U.N. mission was not simply a step taken to advance their national project. It also reflected a desire to counter Hamas's growing influence, particularly after the Gaza-based terrorist group claimed victory in its war with Israel in November. » Read more

How Unilateral Moves Can Help ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast by Ami Ayalon - (Opinion) December 13, 2012 - 1:00am Several signs lately reinforce the conclusion that the direct negotiations paradigm for resolving the Israel-Palestinian conflict has failed and must be replaced. The recent U.N. vote accepting Palestine as a non-member state is one such sign: 138 states supported the Palestinians’ resolution, only 9 voted against it, including the United States (a prisoner of the old paradigm). » Read more

On Israel, Obama brings Moynihan to mind ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) by Gil Troy - (Opinion) December 13, 2012 - 1:00am JERUSALEM (JTA)  -- Those who view American-Israel relations through a dualistic “are you pro-Israel or anti-Israel” lens must be confused. In one week, the United States stands virtually alone with Israel against the Palestinians’ upgrade of their status at the United Nations, then immediately condemns Israel’s settlement expansion. Similarly, despite Republican warnings that a reelected Barack Obama would “throw Israel under a bus,” the president backed Israel during the recent Gaza War. » Read more

Palestine: Diary of a historic month ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Raja Shehadeh - (Opinion) December 14, 2012 - 1:00am 9 November It was inevitable that at some point Jewish settlements in the West Bank would endanger even the trees. This was the thought I had as I was driven through the northern part of the West Bank on a field trip organised by Oxfam, which is working with Palestinian NGOs to help local cooperatives improve their agricultural practices and open up local and international markets to them. The villagers told us that tens of thousands of olive trees have been uprooted to make way for the construction of the Israeli separation barrier. » Read more

A Middle East union of young progressives ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Uri Savir - (Opinion) December 13, 2012 - 1:00am I have a young Egyptian friend, Ahmed Meligy, who also happens to be a Jerusalem Post blogger. At the moment that this article is being written, he is taking part in pro-democratic demonstrations in Cairo, as he did continually during the Tahrir revolution. The courage and outspokenness of Meligy and his peers is the hope for the Middle East to steer toward greater democratization and peace. » Read more

Israel winning in Europe ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Arsen Ostrovsky - (Opinion) December 14, 2012 - 1:00am Before the ink was even dry on the Palestinian vote at the UN last week, headlines already started flooding on how Israel 'lost Europe.' The reality however, could not be further from the truth, as Israel continues to make stunning headway in its trade and bilateral relations with the EU. » Read more

'Neutralizing' East Jerusalem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Salman Masalha - December 14, 2012 - 1:00am All of a sudden, everyone is protesting vehemently - those who are called left-wing here, and all the other sorts of hypocrites from the rest of the world - about the plans to build in the area known in the Zionist secret code as E-1. I must admit that I haven't fully understood those who are protesting. Because in which way is this site more outrageous than the other conquests we have witnessed in the past decades, so that it has aroused their ire? » Read more

Feiglin: Israel's clear and present danger ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Sara Hirschhorn - (Opinion) December 13, 2012 - 1:00am This is the story of Moshe Zalman Feiglin, an Israeli ultranationalist activist who “had a dream” to lead the government of the Jewish state  - and that day may well arrive soon. On January 22, Israelis will go the polls to elect, in all likeliness, a new Likud-Israel Beiteinu slate that some consider the most right-wing in the party’s history - a candidate list where even MK Benny Begin, the heir of the Revisionist movement, has now been edged out in favor of a new identity politics and ideological orientation.   » Read more

The myth of an Israeli-Palestinian demographic disaster ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Oded Carmeli - (Opinion) December 13, 2012 - 1:00am Since the 19th century, and more intensively since the 1960s, demographers like Paul Ehrlich, who was interviewed in this magazine last week, have been telling us that the world is a ticking bomb because of the population explosion. When we think about the “population explosion” we conjure up street crossings in New York or, alternatively, refugee camps in the Gaza Strip. But the truth is that the world is quite empty of people. » Read more