A scent of negotiations in the air

The arrival of US Secretary of State John Kerry in Israel to discuss resuming peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians features high on the Arab news agenda, alongside a mega-suicide bombing in Damascus and sectarian tensions in Egypt.

“Kerry: Peace is possible between Israelis and Palestinians,” reads the headline of the London-based daily Al-Hayat, which features the American official against a backdrop of two Israeli flags.

The paper reports a divergence in opinions on peace within the Israeli cabinet. While Justice Minister Tzipi Livni insinuated that Israel may give up its precondition of Palestinian recognition of Israel as a Jewish state, Economics Minister Naftali Bennett told the visiting Canadian foreign minister, John Baird, that peace must stem “from the bottom up” and efforts should focus on easing the daily lives of Palestinians.

“Kerry: I will not rush to resume the peace process,” reads the headline of an article on website of the Qatari news channel Al-Jazeera. Kerry said he will first focus on reconstructing good faith between Israel and the Palestinians.

Quoting knowledgeable sources in the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office who spoke to Israeli daily Maariv, Saudi-owned daily A-Sharq Al-Awsat reports that Livni did not consult with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before forgoing the “Jewish state” condition.

The London-based daily Al-Quds Al-Arabi leads its front page with a report that Jordan will play a key role in the upcoming Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, as part of its new position as “guarantor of the holy sites in Jerusalem.” An agreement to that effect was recently signed in Amman.

According to an unnamed Palestinian source who spoke to the daily, when negotiations resume they will be conducted as three-way talks between Israel, the Palestinians and Jordan.

The involvement of Jordan in the new round of negotiations indicates PA President Mahmoud Abbas’s failure to reach the two-state solution, claims Al-Quds Al-Arabi’s lead editorial.

“Finding a role for Jordan in the Palestinian-Israeli peace negotiations is a new and surprising development. For 20 years the custom has been to conduct bilateral negotiations without involving any third party. What has changed, and what is the new plan which calls for this change?

“The Palestinian people are the source of all powers, and claiming that any agreement will be brought to a national referendum is misleading. We know full well how forgery takes place, be it directly or indirectly.”

Nabil Amr, a Palestinian official, praises John Kerry in an op-ed in the Palestinian independent daily Al-Quds, claiming that the American secretary has come to do business.

“The man has made his first priority to reconnect Palestinians and Israelis… Secretary Kerry has proven that he is not interested in merely filling the void or managing the crisis,” writes Amr.

Muslims and Christians clash in Cairo

Sectarian clashes between Coptic Christians and Muslims across from St. Mark’s Cathedral in Cairo is worrying European countries and the United States, reports A-Sharq Al-Awsat.

Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi condemned an attack on the church, calling it tantamount to “an attack on him personally.”

Al-Hayat, openly critical of the Egyptian regime for its handling of the St. Mark’s crisis, which has already led to three deaths and over 80 injuries, claims that the events have “increased the embarrassment of the Muslim Brotherhood.”

“The ruling Muslim Brotherhood has repeated its policy of resorting to security measures and customary meetings, exposing it to harsh criticism from Copts and opposition forces,” reads the article.

Quiet has returned to the cathedral’s vicinity, reports independent Egyptian daily Al-Masry Al-Youm in an article titled “The churches blame the ministry of interior; pope: the justice of the heavens will have its word.”

In an op-ed listing all of Morsi’s faults since taking office, Al-Hayat columnist Jameel Theyabi underscores the discrepancy between the president’s rhetoric and his actions on the ground.

“In Morsi’s first year in office, the tone of intimidation toward freedom of expression has increased and media has been curtailed through the targeting of journalists and broadcasters,” writes Theyabi.