Who's Afraid of the Palestinians?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Hussein Agha, Robert Malley - (Book Review) January 10, 2011 - 1:00am

During the last two years, the Israeli-Palestinian peace process has suffered serious setbacks. Other than for a brief, fleeting moment, Israelis and Palestinians have had no direct political contact and there is little hope, for now at least, that this will change. Any faith Israelis and Palestinians may have in the possibility of an agreement is collapsing.

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Abbas: I’m not afraid of Wikileaks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
January 3, 2011 - 1:00am

President Mahmoud Abbas said he was not concerned over any material that could be released about him or his government by the whistleblower site Wikileaks, saying follow-up with the site was not on his agenda. "I hear talk about it," Abbas told Ma'an, but said he had no personal interactions with the site, adding that the PA was "not afraid of any leaked document," because officials "say things in public and not in secret. If there’s anyone afraid of these documents, it would be the ones who say something in public while they have another position in secret.”

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'Palestinian hurting their cause by pursuing unilateral statehood'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Avi Issacharoff - (Interview) December 20, 2010 - 1:00am

The outgoing chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs, Howard Berman (D-CA), talks to Haaretz about the Palestinians' plan for unilateral declaration of statehood, Turkey's ties with Israel and the U.S., and President Barack Obama's foreign policy. There are some fears of a stalemate in foreign policy following the midterm elections. What are the chances of cooperation between the parties, especially as the 2012 elections approach?

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Ecuador Next to Recognize Palestinian State – Abbas
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Ali al-Saleh - (Opinion) December 18, 2010 - 1:00am

Bolivia is the latest country to recognize the State of Palestine after it officially announced yesterday that it recognized a sovereign Palestinian State along its 1967 borders. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas yesterday welcomed Bolivia’s recognition of a Palestinian state and praised the bilateral relations between the two countries..

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PLO condemns U.S. congress resolution against Palestinian state recognition
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
December 16, 2010 - 1:00am

The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Thursday condemned a United States congress resolution opposing the Palestinian quest to gain international recognition of their future state. The resolution of the U.S. house of representatives "is unjustified and doesn't help the U.S. administration's role as a sponsor of the peace process in the Middle East," said Ahmed Majdalani, a member of the PLO's Executive Committee.

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AIPAC viewed U.S. gov’t as targeting pro-Israel groups during espionage probe
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
by Ron Kampeas - December 16, 2010 - 1:00am

It was a case that transfixed the pro-Israel community: the arrest in August 2005 on espionage charges of two senior officials at the most influential pro-Israel group in Washington, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. Before the government dropped the case in May 2009 amid questions of whether the officials actually committed a crime by talking to Israeli officials about classified information one of them had received alleging an Iranian plot against Israelis stationed in Iraq, AIPAC fired the two men: foreign policy chief Steve Rosen and Iran analyst Keith Weissman.

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IRS: No ‘special’ policy for pro-Israel groups
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
December 15, 2010 - 1:00am

In affidavits, Internal Revenue Service officials denied telling a pro-Israel group that they checked whether such groups applying for tax-exempt status oppose the administration. “Z Street's application was not referred to the TAG group because of an ‘Israel Special Policy’ as alleged in Z Street's complaint,” Jon Waddell, the manager of the Exempt Organizations Determinations Group, said. TAG is an acronym for Touch and Go, the informal name for the Exempt Organizations Determinations Group, according to a report Tuesday by Politico.

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A U.N. Plan for Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Robert Wright - (Opinion) December 13, 2010 - 1:00am

The blogger Andrew Sullivan has called America’s policy toward Israel “assisted suicide.” That may be an exaggeration, but on Friday it became less of one. The occasion was a speech by Hillary Clinton, much anticipated after the collapse of talks between Israelis and Palestinians.

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Reality Check
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Thomas L. Friedman - (Opinion) December 11, 2010 - 1:00am

The failed attempt by the U.S. to bribe Israel with a $3 billion security assistance package, diplomatic cover and advanced F-35 fighter aircraft — if Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu would simply agree to a 90-day settlements freeze to resume talks with the Palestinians — has been enormously clarifying. It demonstrates just how disconnected from reality both the Israeli and the Palestinian leaderships have become.

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The Palestinians’ Options after Obama’s Failure
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat
by Raghida Dergham - (Opinion) December 10, 2010 - 1:00am

The US Administration admitting this week its failure to convince Israel to agree to freeze what is under international law illegal settlement-building for a mere three months, until Palestinian-Israeli negotiations enter the phase of discussing the borders of the Palestinian state and the permanent situation, is tantamount to admitting President Barack Obama’s personal failure and his being forced to submit to Israel’s dictates.

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