November 29th

Palestinians' UN bid confirms Israel's isolation ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National (Editorial) November 29, 2012 - 1:00am   Today in New York, the United Nations General Assembly is scheduled to vote on upgrading the status of Palestine at the international body. The numbers look good and short of an unexpected upset, Palestinians will probably be granted "observer" status at the world body, similar to the Vatican. » Read more

Hamas Chief Revives Talk of Reuniting With P.L.O. ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Anne Barnard - November 28, 2012 - 1:00am BEIRUT, Lebanon — On the eve of the United Nations vote on whether to declare the Palestinian Authority a nonmember state, the leader of Hamas revived a long-percolating proposal for his militant party to join the Palestine Liberation Organization, the group that, with Israel, signed the Oslo Accord, which Hamas has long derided. » Read more

Why Jews Should Back Palestinian U.N. Bid ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Leonard Fein - (Opinion) November 28, 2012 - 1:00am I rather doubt that more than a few of those whose knees have jerked in opposition to the planned request by the PLO that its status at the United Nations be upgraded have actually read the resolution. Instead, they rely on Israel’s bitter opposition and on America’s predictable opposition. » Read more

Who Stands Against Peace? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by J.J. Goldberg - (Opinion) November 29, 2012 - 1:00am The last days of November 2012 were an awkward time for Israel in the international arena. After years of presenting itself as the reasonable party in the conflict, saddled with a Palestinian negotiating partner that won’t negotiate, its ruling Likud party wound up a two-day Knesset primary vote on November 26 by choosing a slate of candidates dominated by hard-line rightists who oppose Israeli-Palestinian compromise and reject Palestinian statehood. » Read more

GOP senators introduce proposed penalties for enhanced Palestinian status ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) November 29, 2012 - 1:00am WASHINGTON (JTA) -- Republican U.S. senators introduced the first efforts to penalize the Palestinians and the United Nations should the body affirm enhanced Palestinian status. Language proposed this week as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act would cut assistance to the Palestinians by 50 percent and U.S. fees to the United Nations by the same amount should the effort by the Palestinians to gain recognition as a non-member observer state succeed in the General Assembly. It would also cut by 20 percent U.S. aid to any country voting to approve. » Read more

Settlers: Annex Area C in response to PA's UN bid ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Tovah Lazaroff - November 29, 2012 - 1:00am Settlers and right-wing activists called on Israel to annex Area C and threatened to burn the Palestinian flag, in response to Palestinian plans to Thursday to ask the UN General Assembly to grant it the status of non-member state. Left-wing Israelis, in turn, planned to rally in Tel Aviv in support of the Palestinian move, which constitutes a de facto UN recognition of Palestinian statehood. Settlers argued that now was the moment to strengthen Israel’s hold on the West Bank, particularly since the Palestinian bid was an abrogation of the 1993 Oslo Accord. » Read more

Former Israeli PM Olmert Supports Palestine U.N. Bid ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast by Bernard Avishai - November 28, 2012 - 1:00am Tomorrow, Mahmoud Abbas stands before the U.N. General Assembly and presents a resolution to upgrade Palestine’s membership to the status of an “observer-state.” The Obama administration has signaled that it will oppose this resolution, as it vetoed a Security Council condemnation of settlements last year—putatively to emphasize the need for direct negotiations between the parties. » Read more

Rival Palestinian groups show support for UN bid ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Amy Teibel - November 29, 2012 - 1:00am JERUSALEM —Israel's leader, having failed to block the Palestinians from taking their quest for a state to the U.N., defiantly declared Thursday that they would have to back down from long-held positions if they ever hope to gain independence. Ahead of Thursday's vote, thousands of Palestinians from rival factions celebrated in the streets of the West Bank. In a departure from its previous opposition, the Hamas rulers of the Gaza Strip said they would not interfere with the U.N. bid, and its supporters joined some of the celebrations. » Read more

Abbas to address UN ahead of upgrade vote ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency November 28, 2012 - 1:00am BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- President Mahmoud Abbas will address the UN General Assembly in New York before it votes on upgrading the PLO's status on Thursday, a Foreign Ministry official said Wednesday. Omar Awadallah, who heads the ministry's UN department, told Ma'an the vote was expected at around midnight Jerusalem time. Representatives of some member states will also address the assembly before voting to explain their positions, Awadallah said. » Read more

Falling for Hamas’s media manipulation ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Michael B. Oren - (Opinion) November 28, 2012 - 1:00am What makes better headlines? Is it numbing figures such as the 8,000 Palestinian rockets fired at Israel since it unilaterally withdrew from Gaza in 2005, and the 42.5 percent of Israeli children living near the Gaza border who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder? Or is it high-resolution images of bombed-out buildings in Gaza and emotional stories of bereaved Palestinians? The last, obviously, as demonstrated by much of the media coverage of Israel’s recent operation against Hamas. » Read more