September 22nd

Obama at the UN on Israel-Palestine: Good Politics, Poor Diplomacy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Atlantic by Hussein Ibish - (Opinion) September 22, 2011 - 12:00am If you'd wanted to gauge how strained relations between the Obama administration and the Palestinian leadership have become, all you'd need do is watch the shaking heads of the Palestinian representatives at the United Nations General Assembly during the U.S. President's speech there on Wednesday. Obama reiterated the American commitment to a two-state solution and the creation of an independent Palestine, both established U.S. policy. Rhetorically, however, his speech recognized most of the core elements of the Israeli narrative but virtually none of the Palestinian one. » Read more

Ready for Statehood ATFP World Press Roundup Article from International Herald Tribune by Jonas Gahr Store - (Opinion) September 22, 2011 - 12:00am The main issue before the United Nations General Assembly this week is the Palestinian quest for recognition. Less attention is being paid to a related, and no less important question: Are the Palestinians capable and ready to run a state? » Read more

Netanyahu, Lieberman praise Obama’s U.N. speech, but Palestinians pan it ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) September 22, 2011 - 12:00am Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked President Obama for his speech at the United Nations General Assembly, but the Palestinians criticized the address. Netanyahu met with Obama at the United Nations on Wednesday afternoon after the president’s speech and reportedly expressed his appreciation for the address. The speech was praised as well by Israel’s hawkish foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman. “I congratulate President Obama, and I am ready to sign on this speech with both hands,” Lieberman said at a news conference. » Read more

Europe's diluted solution to Palestinian aspirations ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC World News by Matthew Price - September 22, 2011 - 12:00am The Palestinians' drive to achieve statehood has had diplomats around the world scrambling to decide their positions - not least within the EU, where it is testing the limits of a common foreign policy. The battle started several months ago, and the battleground was Europe. Cables were sent out across the continent's EU member states. Orders were given: lobby high officials, gather the backing of local supporters, flood the media with sympathetic articles. » Read more

Europe's diluted solution to Palestinian aspirations ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC World News by Matthew Price - September 22, 2011 - 12:00am The Palestinians' drive to achieve statehood has had diplomats around the world scrambling to decide their positions - not least within the EU, where it is testing the limits of a common foreign policy. The battle started several months ago, and the battleground was Europe. Cables were sent out across the continent's EU member states. Orders were given: lobby high officials, gather the backing of local supporters, flood the media with sympathetic articles. » Read more

U.S. Jews give Obama mixed reviews for 'pro-Israel' UN speech ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Natasha Mozgovaya - September 22, 2011 - 12:00am It was quite clear that U.S. President Barack Obama's speech, which Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said he "would sign with both hands," would draw mixed reactions. Its failure to go into details about the Israeli-Palestinian issue was assumed to be due to a combination of re-election concerns and those of slipping Jewish support. But the U.S. Jewish organizations provided varying - in some cases even polar - responses to the speech. » Read more

Abbas presses Palestinian case with new defiance ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Alertnet September 22, 2011 - 12:00am President Mahmoud Abbas looks certain to fail in his bid to win United Nations membership for a Palestinian state, but his move has rekindled admiration for him back home, revealing the defiant side of an often understated man. The initiative is fiercely opposed by the United States and his decision to forge ahead has thrust the Palestinian issue to the top of the U.N. agenda, challenging the view of critics who accuse him of yielding too swiftly to foreign pressure. » Read more

Palestinian leadership considering French proposals on peace process: official ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua September 22, 2011 - 12:00am The Palestinian leadership is studying ideas proposed by French President Nicolas Sarkozy to revive peace talks with Israel, a senior official said Thursday. Sarkozy's ideas, revealed Wednesday in a speech at the United Nations General Assembly, aim at defusing an increasing tension between the United States and the Palestinian National Authority ( PNA) over the latter's plan to request a full UN membership. » Read more

PLO to give UN council time to mull bid ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency September 22, 2011 - 12:00am The Palestinian leadership -- despite firm US and Israeli opposition -- will give the UN Security Council "some time" to study their application for full membership in the United Nations, a senior Palestinian official said on Wednesday. He also said the Palestinian delegation would politely reject US President Barack Obama's demand in his UN General Assembly speech on Wednesday that the Palestinians drop their bid for membership in the United Nations, a plan that is doomed to failure if Washington keeps its promise to veto it. » Read more

Taking a Stand, and Shedding Arafat’s Shadow ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Ethan Bronner, Neil MacFarquhar - September 21, 2011 - 12:00am At the baronial Morgan Library in Midtown Manhattan the other night, President Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian leader, stood quietly along the edge of a diplomatic reception, avoiding the animated gossip and flowing Champagne. Only when the host noted that Mr. Abbas was in the room, and expressed hope that his quest for Palestinian membership in the United Nations would produce real sovereignty, did the crowd take notice. » Read more