September 26th

Plan for Mideast talks gets mixed reception ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Joel Greenberg - September 25, 2011 - 12:00am JERUSALEM— With a Palestinian application for UN membership under consideration by the Security Council, a proposal by international mediators to renew peace negotiations has received guarded Israeli approval and a cool reception from the Palestinians. The Israeli government and Palestinian leadership are expected to respond to Friday’s proposal by the Quartet of Middle East mediators — the United States, United Nations, European Union and Russia — in the coming days, but early signals suggest different approaches to the initiative. » Read more

Europe must save the two-state solution ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Carlo Strenger - (Blog) September 24, 2011 - 12:00am The speeches have been given, and each leader pandered to his audiences. Netanyahu scolded the UN for singling out Israel unfairly for decades, quoting the Lubavicher Rebbe calling the UN house of lies. This was obviously not meant to gain him friends in the UN, but to show how connected he was to Jewish tradition. He put the blame on failed negotiations completely on the Palestinians, emphasizing the destructive impact of radical Islam. » Read more

Palestinians Roll Out Hero’s Welcome for Abbas ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Ethan Bronner - September 25, 2011 - 12:00am RAMALLAH, West Bank — Two days after seeking full membership for a State of Palestine in the United Nations, President Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian leader, returned to a hero’s welcome here on Sunday, telling supporters that they were part of a “Palestinian Spring” and that he would resume peace talks with Israel only if it stopped building settlements. » Read more

Netanyahu's speech of lies ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Akiva Eldar - (Opinion) September 26, 2011 - 12:00am Bertolt Brecht wrote, in his poem "The Necessity of Propaganda," "Even the hungry must admit that the Minister of Nutrition gives a good speech." (Translation from the German, Jon Swan. ) It must be admitted that Benjamin Netanyahu gave a good speech at the UN General Assembly. His English was polished, his hand gestures precise and his body language perfect. His propaganda was sweet as honey dripping from his lips. It improves from speech to speech. But the prime minister promised that this time he would feed us the truth, not another campaign speech. A test of this promise seems apposite. » Read more

Netanyahu, Abbas Emerge Unscathed at UN ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bloomberg by Calev Ben-David - September 26, 2011 - 12:00am Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas emerged from their showdown at the United Nations buttressed domestically though no closer to peace talks. » Read more

Obama veto of Palestinian statehood: What can he do after that? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor (Editorial) September 22, 2011 - 12:00am During his nearly three years in office, President Obama has tried a new type of American leadership in the Middle East, one that is more moral than muscular, less unilaterally assertive and more humbly collaborative. While he’s been mostly successful and consistent, all that may now be viewed in the region as meaningless if the United States effectively vetoes a request by the Palestinians for the United Nations Security Council to recognize their homeland as a state. » Read more

September 23rd

Cracks appear between Britain and France as Palestine vote looms ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent by Stephen Foley, Donald MacIntyre - (Analysis) September 23, 2011 - 12:00am A Franco-British rift was looming last night after David Cameron failed to line up behind President Nicolas Sarkozy's plan to give the Palestinians enhanced status at the United Nations. » Read more

Zakaria: I oppose the Palestinian U.N. bid for practical reasons ATFP World Press Roundup Article from CNN by Fareed Zakaria - (Opinion) September 23, 2011 - 12:00am I am opposed to the Palestinian effort at the United Nations because I think that it is going to get them nowhere. This is not the time for romantic gestures. This is the time for them to do something that will actually help them get a Palestinian state - a goal that I support. » Read more

Support the Palestinian Bid for Statehood ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Keith Ellison - (Opinion) September 23, 2011 - 12:00am The United States should support the Palestinian Authority’s bid for statehood at the United Nations. The Palestinian people deserve a state now. As the current debate unfolds, I am reminded of what the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said in 1965: “The time is always right to do what’s right.” » Read more

The downgrading of the Palestinian UN bid ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Herb Keinon - (Analysis) September 23, 2011 - 12:00am Distinct similarities are beginning to emerge between the “freedom flotilla” that was supposed to set sail for Gaza from Europe this summer with “1,500 activists in 15 ships,” and the Palestinian’s unilateral statehood bid that PA President Mahmoud Abbas is expected to launch Friday at the UN. Both were accompanied by sound and fury and expectations of what these “dramatic, historic” steps would signify. Both were accompanied by nightmare predictions, here and abroad, of the damage that would be caused to Israel, and of how it would further isolate our already badly isolated country. » Read more