'What's Wrong with the Palestinians Appealing to the UN?' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Speigel International by Christoph Sydow, Volkhard Windfuhr - (Interview) September 7, 2011 - 12:00am Pro-democracy uprisings are continuing in the Middle East and the Palestinians could soon declare statehood. SPIEGEL spoke with Arab League General Secretary Nabil Elaraby about the Syrian regime's use of violence against protesters and how the US has failed to force Israel to negotiate in good faith. SPIEGEL: Libya has been liberated from Moammar Gadhafi's autocratic rule. Tensions in Syria, meanwhile, have already claimed more civilian lives than the revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia combined, and yet the Arab League is holding back. Why are you going easy on the Syrian regime? » Read more

A new poll suggests that most Palestinians prefer continuing negotiations with Israel rather than a UN initiative ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Palestinian Center for Public Opinion by Nabil Kukali - September 6, 2011 - 12:00am Poll No. 179 Sept. 06, 2011 The most recent poll prepared by Dr. Nabil Kukali reveals that: (83.6%) of the Palestinians evaluate the US efforts on recognizing the Palestinian state as negative. (59.3%) prefer to resume the negotiations with Israel. (45.2%) expect Palestine to become a new UN member (48.8%) oppose holding peaceful demonstrations after proclaiming the recognition of the State of Palestine at the UN. (49.2%) believe that the PA President, Mahmoud Abbas, should exert more effort to obtain international support for the recognition of the Palestinian state. » Read more

Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat on statehood moves at U.N. ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Edmund Sanders - (Interview) September 6, 2011 - 12:00am Reporting from Jerusalem— Palestinians have everyone guessing about their next move. » Read more

In Sinai, Egypt should be tough but fair ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Masry Al-Youm by Issandr El Amrani - (Opinion) September 6, 2011 - 12:00am On 29 July, a group of around hundred armed men rode into the town of Arish in northern Sinai on motorbikes. They proceeded to attack the central police station, as well as a hospital morgue where they were reported to have taken a body of one of their own, before disappearing back into the desert. » Read more

Jewish groups say U.N. resolution is inevitable, but its wording isn’t set ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) by Ron Kampeas - September 6, 2011 - 12:00am WASHINGTON (JTA) -- All but resigned to the inevitability of a Palestinian push for statehood at the United Nations later this month, Jewish groups are hoping that its effects can be blunted through aggressive diplomacy and the threat of action by the U.S. Congress. » Read more

Not Israel’s best times ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News by Osama Al-Sharif - (Opinion) September 6, 2011 - 12:00am These are not Israel’s best times. A tussle with Turkey over a commando raid on a flotilla of aid-carrying ships heading to Gaza Strip last year in which nine Turkish citizens were killed, has just turned into a full-fledged diplomatic war. Ankara expelled the Israeli ambassador this week and vowed to challenge Israel’s blockade of Gaza at the International Court of Justice. Turkey’s main demand, that Israel issues an official apology for the naval attack, has been rejected — again — by Tel Aviv. » Read more

Israeli settlers vandalize IDF base in first 'price tag' act against army ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Chaim Levinson - September 7, 2011 - 12:00am Israeli settlers in the West Bank vandalized an Israel Defense Forces base on Wednesday, carrying out a "price tag" operation against the army for the first time since adopting the policy in recent years. Unknown perpetrators infiltrated a base in the Binyamin region and snuck their way to a mechanics workshop on site, where they slashed the tires and cut the cables of 12 army vehicles. The vandals sprayed the word "price tag" on the walls, as well as other graffiti referring to the three illegal homes demolished by the IDF in the outpost of Migron on Monday. » Read more

Analysis: Gates’s negative comments on Netanyahu ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Herb Keinon - (Analysis) September 7, 2011 - 12:00am Anyone who has paid any attention to Israel-US ties since the start of the “Obibi” era in early 2009, when US President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu took power in their respective countries, knows well that this relationship has been anything but a honeymoon. Anyone who has paid any attention knows there are wide gaps in the way the Obama administration and the Netanyahu government view the world and the swiftly changing region. » Read more

Cash-strapped Palestinians cut pay in half for September ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Alertnet by Tom Perry - September 6, 2011 - 12:00am RAMALLAH, West Bank, Sept 6 (Reuters) - The Palestinian Authority will pay only half wages this month, Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said on Tuesday, the second time in three months it has taken such a step because of a financial crisis it blames on donors failing to provide promised funds. Fayyad announced the half pay measure at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday. The Palestinian Authority took the same measure in July. Last month it paid full salaries but said its funding crisis had not been solved. » Read more

Obama 'star' of Palestinian ad ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Politico by Mackenzie Weinger - September 7, 2011 - 12:00am President Barack Obama is the unlikely star of a new Palestinian media campaign. Part of a speech Obama gave in 2010 to the United Nations General Assembly is featured in an ad aimed to rally support for the Palestinians upcoming bid for statehood at the United Nations on Sept. 20, Reuters reported on Wednesday. “When we come back here next year, we can have an agreement that can lead to a new member of the United Nations, an independent, sovereign state of Palestine living in peace with Israel,” Obama said in the 2010 speech in the clip that is played in the radio ad. » Read more