Palestinians look for modifying Paris agreement signed with Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua by Emad Drimly, Osama Radi - (Analysis) September 28, 2011 - 12:00am RAMALLAH, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian officials and analysts said Tuesday that substantial modifications of Paris agreement, signed in 1994 and aimed at coordinating the economical ties with Israel, would be essential to strengthen the characteristics of the Palestinian state. Mohamed Ishteya, director general of the Palestinian Economical Council for Development and Reconstruction (PECDR), said the Paris agreement depended on the basis of free movement of trade, workers and goods in both directions. » Read more

Rhetoric vs. reality: ‘Lawfare’ and the PA statehood bid ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Josh Mintz - September 27, 2011 - 12:00am In February 2010, Avichai Mandebilt, the IDF’s chief military advocate-general was quoted in a diplomatic cable as saying that a successful Palestinian Authority attempt to take Israel to the International Criminal Court (ICC) on charges of war crimes would be considered an act of war by the IDF. » Read more

Palestinian prisoners to start hunger strike against worsening condition in Israeli jails ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua by Mu Xuequan - (Analysis) September 28, 2011 - 12:00am JERUSALEM, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Palestinians jailed in Israeli prisons are going to start a hunger strike Wednesday to protest against what they call "an escalating series of punitive measures by the Israel Prison Service (IPS)." Beginning this week, the prisoners will go on a hunger strike every Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday, together with other forms of disobedience, including refusal to wear prison uniforms or cooperate with any other IPS demands, according to a press release from Addameer, a non-governmental organization working to promote Palestinian prisoners' rights. » Read more

PA: Nigeria to support Palestine statehood bid ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency (Analysis) September 28, 2011 - 12:00am RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- Nigeria will vote in favor of the application for full UN membership in the Security Council, foreign minister Riyad Malki said Tuesday after meeting with his Nigerian counterpart. Olugbenga Ashiru stressed Nigeria’s support for the application for a state on the 1967 borders as well as his hopes for a negotiated settlement to end the conflict, the official Palestinian Authority news agency said. » Read more

Savir's Corner: Alone together ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Uri Savir - September 27, 2011 - 12:00am An Indian poet once wrote: “I am alone, you are alone, let’s be alone together.” This phrase admirably sums up the current positions of Israel and Palestine. Israel’s solitude is glaringly obvious to everyone in the world, except possibly Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman. Approximately 130 of 193 UN members support a Palestinian bid for statehood. There is a universal consensus for the 1967 lines and against settlements. The United States is a friend and ally, but disagrees with our policies and is irritated to have been forced into isolation by us. » Read more

U.S. hopes to not use veto to aid Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Times by Ben Birnbaum - (Analysis) September 27, 2011 - 12:00am The Palestinians have yet to lock down a nine-vote majority in the U.N. Security Council for their statehood bid, raising U.S. hopes that it could be spared the embarrassment of using its veto power in defense of an increasingly isolated Israel. Amid indications that Colombia and the Security Council’s four EU member states will abstain from any vote, attention has focused on Nigeria, Gabon and Bosnia, which have offered few signals about how they will vote. » Read more

Netanyahu's messianism could launch attack on Iran ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Sefi Rachlevsky - September 27, 2011 - 12:00am Benjamin Netanyahu promised to tell the truth at the United Nations, and the truth was indeed revealed. The prime minister chose in this speech to quote reverently from his meetings with one person only: the Lubavitcher Rebbe, who viewed himself as the messiah. » Read more

PA slams Israeli settlement plans ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency (Analysis) September 26, 2011 - 12:00am BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- The Palestinian Authority on Tuesday slammed Israel's approval of construction plans to build 1,100 new housing units in a settlement in East Jerusalem. Israel's regional planning and construction committee on Tuesday approved the plans, described by one committee member as "a nice gift for Rosh Hashanah," the Israeli news site Ynet reported. Israel captured East Jerusalem in 1967 and illegally annexed it in a move not recognized by the international community. All settlements built on occupied territory are illegal under international law. » Read more

US, EU condemn Israeli plan to expand settlement ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Alertnet by Allyn Fisher-Ilan - (Analysis) September 27, 2011 - 12:00am JERUSALEM, Sept 27 (Reuters) - Israel approved on Tuesday the construction of 1,100 settlement homes on annexed land in the West Bank, complicating global efforts to renew peace talks and defuse a crisis over a Palestinian statehood bid at the United Nations. The plan was met with a chorus of Western criticism. Britain and the European Union called on Israel to reverse the decision, and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said new settlement building would be "counter-productive" to the efforts to revive peace talks. » Read more

2 for 2, or 2 for 1? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Thomas L. Friedman - September 27, 2011 - 12:00am Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu of Israel, the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, and President Obama all spoke at the U.N. last week and, honestly, it is hard to decide whose speech was worse. Netanyahu’s read like a pep rally to the Likud Central Committee. Abbas’s read like an address to an Arab League meeting. Obama’s read like an appeal to Jewish voters in Florida. The president meant well, but domestic politics required that he whisper where he once spoke bold truths to both sides. » Read more