October 3rd

Vote on Palestinian UN bid within two months: Abbas
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
October 3, 2012 - 12:00am

RAMALLAH, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announced Tuesday that the bid for the UN recognition of Palestine as a non-member state will be presented and voted on in October or November.

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Israeli premier to visit Europe, discuss Iran
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Ian Deitch - October 3, 2012 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM — An Israeli official says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will visit Europe in a few months to persuade leaders to step up sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program. The official spoke anonymously Tuesday because he was not authorized to discuss the issue with reporters. Netanyahu told the U.N. last week that Iran will likely have the bomb by next summer. He has said he does not rule out a military strike.

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UN Agency: Israel Continues to Impede Palestinians' Access to Basic Services
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Akiva Eldar - October 3, 2012 - 12:00am

A new report published by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) last week stated that many of the movement restrictions in place on Palestinians in the West Bank were applied during the four years following the outbreak of the second Intifada, and most of them remain in place to this day, despite significant improvements in West Bank security.

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October 2nd

Western double standards and free speech
In Print by Hussein Ibish - NOW Lebanon (Opinion) - October 2, 2012 - 12:00am

In my recent columns I've been critical of calls for a global "blasphemy" ban from the Organization of Islamic Conference and other Muslim leaders. But free-speech protections, if they are to be meaningful, must be universal. The greatest threat to them is double standards that are the bedrock of advocacy for the slippery slope of restrictions.

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NEWS: The US reportedly warns, in “private correspondence,” EU states not to support any upgrade in UN status for Palestine to nonmember observer state. Syrian state media lashes out at Hamas. Palestinians say two teams of experts are investigating the death of the late Pres. Arafat. Israeli pro-settler vandals deface a Jerusalem monastery. Hamas detains a group of Muslim extremists in Gaza. PLO officials say Pres. Obama did not ask them to resume negotiations with Israel immediately. The CSM looks at Israel's new campaign to question Palestinian refugee rights by raising the issue of Jewish refugees and migrants from the Arab world. A former militant turned theater director is released by the PA. Palestinian citizens of Israel commemorate the killing of 14 demonstrators by Israeli police in October 2000. PM Netanyahu's popularity in Israel appears to be getting a post-UN bump. The Forward profiles Henry Siegman, a prominent Jewish American critic of Israeli policies. COMMENTARY: Hussein Ibish says free speech shouldn't be restricted to protect either Islam or Israel. Roger Cohen says Israel and Iran must step back from the brink of war. Rachel Shabi calls Israel's campaign on Jewish refugees and migrants from the Arab world “obnoxious diplomacy.” Ha'aretz interviews British-Palestinian writer Selma Dabbagh. Yitzhak Laor calls Netanyahu's UN speech “hypocritical.” Rawia Aburabia says Israel needs a holistic approach to dealing with the Bedouins of the Negev. Aaron David Miller says Mitt Romney has shown he has no new ideas on Middle East policy. Alon Ben-Meir says only the US can realize Israeli-Palestinian peace. Louis Charbonneau says Pres. Obama and Netanyahu both got what they wanted out of the UN meeting.

Obama, Netanyahu got what they hoped for at U.N. meeting
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Louis Charbonneau - (Analysis) October 1, 2012 - 12:00am

  (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to get what they hoped for at the annual U.N. General Assembly after closing ranks to send a message to Iran that it may face war over its nuclear program.   Obama and Netanyahu did not meet with each other at the United Nations, where leaders and foreign ministers from the world body's 193 member states have gathered since last week to give speeches and hold private talks to resolve conflicts and boost trade.

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Only the U.S. Can End the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Huffington Post
by Alon Ben-Meir - (Opinion) October 2, 2012 - 12:00am

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict cannot be resolved without the direct and active involvement of the United States, using both inducements and coercive diplomacy to bring about a peaceful solution. If the conflict remains unresolved over the next couple of years it will most likely precipitate a massive violent conflagration to the detriment of the Israelis and Palestinians, and will also severely damage the U.S.' security, economic interests and its credibility in the region. For these reasons, what the next president of the U.S.

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Mitt Romney's Terrible Wall Street Journal Op-Ed
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy
by Aaron David Miller - (Opinion) October 1, 2012 - 12:00am

First, full disclosure. I'm not associated with either the Barack Obama or the Mitt Romney campaign in any way. Over the years, I've worked for both Republican and Democratic administrations and voted for candidates from both parties. On foreign and domestic policy, I've come to believe that the appropriate dividing line for Americans should not be between Democrat and Republican, left and right, liberal and conservative, but between dumb and smart. And we ought to be on the smart side.

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The Beduin of the Negev
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Rawia Abu Rabia - (Opinion) October 1, 2012 - 12:00am

Over the past month, The Jerusalem Post has run two opinion articles from the same author on the subject of Arab Beduin in the Negev. The articles characterize Beduin villagers as illegal settlers against whom the government is powerless, and accuses Israeli human rights organizations of “ignoring Israel’s democratic process” by advocating on behalf of residents of unrecognized Beduin villages in the Negev.

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Netanyahu's hypocritical sermon
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Yitzhak Laor - (Opinion) October 2, 2012 - 12:00am

What will future historians say about Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech at the United Nations General Assembly last week? Not clear. This is the risk he took on - to turn himself into a laughing stock but to be remembered as part of a tragedy.

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