Another (Predictable) Jerusalem Settlement Announcement ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Americans For Peace Now by Lara Friedman - (Opinion) September 30, 2011 - 12:00am As the entire world now knows, yesterday an Israeli planning committee approved Plan 13261, Mordot Gilo - South (aka "Gilo Slopes") - a plan for large-scale settlement construction in East Jerusalem, adjacent to the settlement of Gilo (map, courtesy of Daniel Seidemann). This development was predictable (and predicted). Which is really the theme here. » Read more

Israeli-Palestinian conflict too volatile to wait for U.S. election ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Globe and Mail by Shira Herzog - (Opinion) September 30, 2011 - 12:00am Supported by the United States, Israel has always feared “internationalization” of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict over direct negotiations and rightly sees the majority of United Nations members as biased against it. Palestinians recognize their relative advantage in international forums but, until now, have been content with the familiar ritual of General Assembly resolutions critical of Israel. Now that Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas has upped the ante and applied for admission through the Security Council, no one really knows what happens next. » Read more

The Three Competing Strategies That Led to the UN ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Huffington Post by Steven L. Spiegel - (Opinion) September 30, 2011 - 12:00am The controversial Palestinian request for UN membership is the culmination of three competing strategies pursued by the US, Israel, and the Palestinians over the last three years. » Read more

More snubs ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times by George S. Hishmeh - (Opinion) September 30, 2011 - 12:00am Hardly a week has passed since Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas made an impassioned plea for full Palestinian United Nations membership at the opening session of the UN General Assembly session; the two loud opponents - the US and Israel - have been lambasted by Arabs, Israelis and even some Americans. » Read more

Standing firmly for Palestine ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News by Khalaf Ahmad al Habtoor - (Opinion) September 30, 2011 - 12:00am Ever since Yasser Arafat passed away, the Palestinians have lacked a strong leader with the authority to speak on their behalf. His successor Mahmoud Abbas took a different approach on statehood in the belief the road to peace ran through Washington. And to that end, he has been unfailingly conciliatory, even on some of his people's basic demands. His statements were always designed to be non-inflammatory and whereas the Israelis and their American backers thought of him as a good guy, Palestinians themselves expected a lot more from him. » Read more

Some are more equal at the UN ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News by Aijaz Zaka Syed - (Opinion) September 30, 2011 - 12:00am US President Barack Obama’s shameful turnaround over Palestine has exposed the ‘audacity of hope’ for what it is — a sham. More important, it has turned the spotlight on the world body and the crass hypocrisy that goes on in there in the name of peace and international diplomacy. Let’s face it. The world body has ended up as a plaything in the hands of world powers. » Read more

A win-win strategy for the Palestinians ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Andrew Kydd - (Opinion) September 29, 2011 - 12:00am Everyone knows that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' bid for statehood through the United Nations Security Council will fail. Even if the Palestinians get the nine votes needed , the United States will veto it. And yet the strategy is brilliant. Why? Because the Palestinians win even if they lose. » Read more

Land without peace: Why Abbas went to the U.N. ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Charles Krauthammer - (Opinion) September 30, 2011 - 12:00am While diplomatically inconvenient for the Western powers, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s attempt to get the United Nations to unilaterally declare a Palestinian state has elicited widespread sympathy. After all, what choice did he have? According to the accepted narrative, Middle East peace is made impossible by a hard-line Likud-led Israel that refuses to accept a Palestinian state and continues to build settlements. » Read more

Israeli occupation hitting Palestinian economy, claims report ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Harriet Sherwood - (Analysis) September 29, 2011 - 12:00am Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza deprives the Palestinian economy of almost £4.4bn a year, equivalent to about 85% of the nominal gross domestic product of Palestine, according to a report published in Ramallah . As well as its detrimental effect on the Palestinian economy, the "occupation enterprise" allows the state of Israel and commercial firms to profit from Palestinian natural resources and tourist potential, the report said. » Read more

Europe: Palestinian statehood bid 'legitimate' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews (Analysis) September 29, 2011 - 12:00am The European Parliament on Thursday passed a resolution calling the Palestinian bid for statehood "legitimate." "The right of Palestinians to self-determination and to have their own state is unquestionable, as is the right of Israel to exist within safe borders", the resolution said. » Read more