September 14th

Palestinians Pressured to Seek General Assembly Vote on Statehood ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by David Kirkpatrick - September 13, 2011 - 12:00am A top negotiator for the Palestinian Authority said Tuesday night that its leadership was weighing the strong urging of both the Arab states and the Europeans to turn to the General Assembly of the United Nations — and not its Security Council — in a bid to win international recognition as a state. » Read more

U.S. Scrambles to Avert Palestinian Vote at U.N. ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by David Kirkpatrick - September 14, 2011 - 12:00am The United States faced increasing pressure on Tuesday as the Palestinian quest for statehood gained support from Turkey and other countries, even as the Obama administration sought an 11th-hour compromise that would avoid a confrontation at the United Nations next week. With only days to go before world leaders gather in New York, the maneuvering became an exercise in brinkmanship as the administration wrestles with roiling tensions in the region, including a sharp deterioration of relations between three of its closest allies in the region: Egypt, Israel and Turkey. » Read more

September 13th

Humpty Dumpty Palestine ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy by Aaron David Miller - (Opinion) September 12, 2011 - 12:00am In coming weeks, we're going to hear quite a bit at the United Nations and in world capitals about Palestinian rights, unity, and statehood. The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) -- the original organizational embodiment of Palestinian nationalism -- will either succeed in gaining new status as a nonmember U.N. observer state, or win a General Assembly resolution supporting Palestinian statehood. » Read more

Israel's political tsunami is largely of its own making ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Faisal Al Yafai - (Opinion) September 13, 2011 - 12:00am When Recep Tayyip Erdogan stepped off the plane last night in Cairo, the Turkish prime minister stepped into a new political world. This is the first visit of a Turkish leader to Cairo in 15 years and, coming after Turkey expelled the Israeli ambassador from Ankara, is the first time in three decades Israel finds itself without an embassy in the Arab world's largest country. Barely nine months after the Arab Spring began, the region's old certainties are being swept away. » Read more

Palestinian fate rests on strong institutions ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National (Editorial) September 13, 2011 - 12:00am The US and Israel are doing what they can to prevent a United Nations vote to acknowledge Palestinian statehood. This has encouraged many proponents of the plan, which has a good chance of partial success. The initiative is evidence of how sophisticated Palestinian advocates have become. But the gambit is not without risks for the Palestinian Authority. » Read more

Op-Ed: Israel should support the Palestinian statehood push ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) by Michael Weil - (Opinion) September 12, 2011 - 12:00am (JTA) -- Israelis and Jews around the world are awaiting the Palestinians’ push at the United Nations for statehood with trepidation. The official response of the government of Israel and American Jewish groups has been to do everything possible to prevent any action at the U.N. and to line up votes against it. Only America and a few other nations have joined Israel’s side. Most European countries are likely to either support the Palestinians or abstain. The current Israeli strategy seems certain to fail. » Read more

‘Price tag’ – paying for our educational failures ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Rabbi Yosef Blau - (Opinion) September 12, 2011 - 12:00am After the Israeli army destroyed homes in the illegal Migron outpost, the level of tag mechir (price tag) responses escalated. “Tag mechir” is a policy of making others, usually Arabs, pay the price when the government acts to close an unauthorized settlement. Following the home demolitions in Migron, two mosques were vandalized, as was, for the first time, an IDF base. » Read more

Encountering Peace: The view from Cairo ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Gershon Baskin - (Opinion) September 12, 2011 - 12:00am Since Friday I have been in Cairo. This great city is not unfamiliar to me – I’ve been here more than 20 times, although my last visit was five years ago. I came to Cairo to attend a small meeting of MECA – the Middle East Citizens Assembly. This small but important organization was founded by Walid Salem, a Palestinian peace and democracy activist from east Jerusalem who decided that for real democracy to take root in the Arab world, citizens needed to take responsibility, stop acting like subjects and become active participants. » Read more

Netanyahu, living by the sword does not cut it ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Nehemia Shtrasler - (Opinion) September 13, 2011 - 12:00am This year, as always, the big battle is between the treasury and the Defense Ministry. In a normal year, the battle is over the size of the addition to the budget of the Israel Defense Forces. This year, as a result of the social protest movement, the arm wrestling contest is over the size of the reduction. » Read more

The politics of symbolic forms ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Masry Al-Youm by Amr el-Zant - (Opinion) September 12, 2011 - 12:00am Where does Israel live in the Egyptian public imagination? Some unfortunate instances are usefully recalled: Jewish settlement in Palestine; a few wars, and the loss of Palestine; bloody incursions into Lebanon and Gaza; the destruction of Arab cities, including the Suez Canal towns. Then there is the saga of intelligence struggles against the Israeli espionage machine, folklore that captured many an Egyptian mind as it emerged from screens big and small. » Read more