September 27th

The speech Yasser Arafat never gave
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from NOW Lebanon
by Hussein Ibish - (Opinion) September 27, 2011 - 12:00am


Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ moving speech before the United Nations General Assembly on Friday was certainly the high point of his career. His address will be forever remembered because Abbas was able to do what no Palestinian leader has ever done in the past: make the moral case for Palestinian independence in a clear, coherent, reasonable manner at the highest international forum.


Abbas Strikes Out
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National Review
by Elliott Abrams - (Opinion) September 27, 2011 - 12:00am


The rapturous applause that greeted Mahmoud Abbas, appearing before the U.N. General Assembly in his role as chairman of the PLO, was deceiving. The collection of states that swooned when he mentioned Yasser Arafat’s 1974 appearance in the same hall will never give him a state — nor even the foreign-aid money to pay his delegation’s hotel bills.


Price to be paid
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Ghassan Khatib - (Opinion) September 27, 2011 - 12:00am


This past week witnessed the culmination of the Palestinian political move to the United Nations. We have seen key speeches by US President Barack Obama, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, in addition to the submission of the Palestinian application for state membership to the United Nations and, finally, a statement by the Middle East Quartet.


Three speeches, no progress
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Yossi Alpher - (Opinion) September 27, 2011 - 12:00am


Last week, we heard three dramatic speeches at the United Nations General Assembly that were ostensibly intended to offer new ideas for dealing with the Israeli-Palestinian issue. They did not. United States President Barack Obama made an unusually pro-Israel speech that was obviously motivated by domestic American political considerations. Obama made clear that he was abdicating a leadership role regarding Israel-Palestine for the coming US election year. It's doubtful the rest of the Quartet, meaning essentially Europe, can fill the gap.


UN Showdown Ushers in Critical a Period for U.S. Middle East Peace Efforts
Media Mention of Hussein Ibish In Bloomberg - September 27, 2011 - 12:00am

The Palestinians’ bid for statehood at the United Nations has shaken up Mideast peace efforts, fueling a sense of crisis among Israeli and Palestinian allies that the U.S. says can drive a return to direct peace talks. “We know that there’s a trust deficit that needs to be overcome,” Michael Hammer, acting assistant secretary of state for public affairs, said yesterday. The two sides “have an opportunity here that we hope they will seize.”


Dynamics of Arab Spring
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
by Joschka Fischer - (Opinion) September 27, 2011 - 12:00am


Regardless of whether democratisation in the ‘new Middle East' succeeds or authoritarian forms of government prevail once again, one fundamental change has already become clear: no one will be able to govern without taking into account domestic public opinion.


After U.N. Drama, Little Hope for Peace Breakthrough
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Forward
by Nathan Guttman - (Opinion) September 27, 2011 - 12:00am


An intense week of high-profile speeches and backroom diplomacy, which reached its climax with an official Palestinian bid for statehood, has reshaped the Middle East peace process, eroding the American position as lead player — which may, in fact, be President Obama’s strategy.


Palestine, yes, but Israelis draw the line at Jerusalem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent
by Robert Fisk - (Opinion) September 27, 2011 - 12:00am


They wear their wounds well, the buildings of the old "green line". Forget the new Jerusalem hotels across the road, the state-of-the-art tramway that glistens down the highway; just take a look at the bullet holes on the walls to the left, the shell gashes in the preserved façade of what was once an Israeli army bunker and is now Raphie Etgar's little art gallery. You can still peer between the rusting iron shutters, across the road. A hundred metres away was the Arab Legion. Just 300ft from here was the Jordanian frontier.


Shapiro: US opposes preconditions to peace talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
(Analysis) September 27, 2011 - 12:00am


Washington does not agree that a settlement building freeze should be a precondition to the renewal of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, United States Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro said Tuesday morning in an interview with Army Radio. He said that "the US has had the same policy for the past 40 years - against building settlements in the West Bank." However, he stressed that the US believes that direct talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, without preconditions, are the only way to resolve the conflict.


Reciprocity, mutuality – key to Mid-East peacemaking
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Gershon Baskin - (Opinion) September 26, 2011 - 12:00am


Dear President Abbas and Prime Minister Netanyahu, welcome home to both of you. You both did a fine job at the UN and made your peoples feel proud. You represented the cause of your peoples’ struggle for existence and peace with great honor. You can both claim victory and come home to a hero’s welcome.



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