Palestinian Leader Abbas Back at UN With Lowered Aims
Media Mention of Hussein Ibish In Bloomberg - September 26, 2012 - 12:00am

This time last year Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas was a hero to his people as he waved an application for statehood recognition from the podium of the United Nations General Assembly.


Welcome to 'Fortress Gaza,' Home of the Newly Radicalized Hamas
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Atlantic
by Zvika Krieger - (Opinion) September 25, 2012 - 12:00am


Top officials in Hamas have confirmed this week that the group's leader, Khaled Mishaal, has decided to resign his post. Hamas official Salah al-Bardawil tried to dismiss any suspicions of internal discord: "He has decided to retire to make room for the younger members." But Mishaal's decision belies significant shifts within the organization.


Stop Blaming Bibi
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy
by Aaron David Miller - (Opinion) September 25, 2012 - 12:00am


It's been a bad month for Benjamin Netanyahu. The Israeli prime minister has been hammered for being trigger-happy on Iran, he won't see his good friend Barack Obama at the opening of the U.N. General Assembly, and he's being blasted for intervening in American politics.


Can Israel Win Turkey Over?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Milliyet
by Semih Idiz - (Opinion) September 25, 2012 - 12:00am


Israel is probing its relations with Turkey. Moderate remarks from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his extreme right-wing Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman reflect their search for reconciliation.


Abbas’ grim options
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by Osama Al-Sharif - (Analysis) September 25, 2012 - 12:00am


Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas finds himself in an unenviable position as he prepares to fly to New York to pursue the difficult goal of upgrading Palestine’s status from observer status to a non-member observer state.


Netanyahu gets tangled up in US election
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News
by Mark Mardell - (Analysis) September 24, 2012 - 12:00am


Iran is not on the agenda. But it is on their minds. As the big United Nations meeting gets underway, the West's biggest foreign policy challenge is not likely to be discussed.


The Israeli prime minister is unfit to serve
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Sefi Rachlevsky - (Opinion) September 25, 2012 - 12:00am


Early in the summer of 1983 Menahem Begin became unfit to serve as prime minister. For weeks this fact was concealed from the Israeli public by cabinet ministers and military leaders.


Palestinians set for Pyrrhic victory in United Nations
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Crispian Balmer - (Analysis) September 26, 2012 - 12:00am


RAMALLAH (Reuters) -- If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. After failing last year to win recognition of full statehood at the United Nations, President Mahmoud Abbas returns to New York on Thursday to ask the General Assembly for a less ambitious status upgrade.


NEWS: Palestinian officials say they are likely to ask the UN for nonmember observer state status, but will push for a vote after the November US elections. This represents a lowering of expectations from last year. Pres. Abbas meets with Jewish Americans, and reiterates Palestinians would resume negotiations if Israel initiated a settlement freeze. Hundreds of protesters in the Gaza Strip call for the overthrow of Hamas following the death of a child in a fire triggered by power outages. Jordan condemns extremist Jewish Israelis for breaking into the yards of the Al Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem. Israel's left-wing Meretz party presents a new peace proposal. Qatar pledges millions in aid for Gaza rebuilding. Six Palestinians are reportedly killed, in a manner that reflects torture and execution, in Aleppo. Israel's official recognition of a settlement university puts its policies under test and scrutiny. A Palestinian citizen of Israel studying at the university says she was thrown off a bus at gunpoint by security officers. A Gaza family blames sewage and lack of sanitation for the loss of eight children in two years. Massachusetts Democratic Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren says Israeli-Palestinian peace must not “fall off the map.” The PA minister accused of sexual harassment is reportedly Civil Affairs Minister al-Sheikh, in charge of security coordination with Israel. COMMENTARY: ATFP Pres. Ziad Asali previews Abbas' UN speech. Crispian Balmer says the Palestinians are set for a Pyrrhic victory at the UN. Sefi Rachlevsky says PM Netanyahu is unfit to serve as prime minister. Mark Mardell looks at how Netanyahu has become part of the US election campaign. Osama Al Sharif says Abbas faces a set of unpalatable options. Semih Idiz says unless Israel changes its policies, its efforts to repair relations with Turkey won't work.Aaron David Miller says Netanyahu isn't solely to blame for the impasse on peace or deterioration in relations with the United States. Zvika Krieger looks at what he calls “Fortress Gaza.”

No Drama at Turtle Bay
In Print by Ziad Asali - The Daily Beast (Opinion) - September 26, 2012 - 12:00am

At the upcoming United Nations General Assembly meeting, the world will be watching—though with markedly less intensity than last year—to see what the Palestinians will do.



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