September 22nd, 2011

PLO to give UN council time to mull bid ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency September 22, 2011 - 12:00am The Palestinian leadership -- despite firm US and Israeli opposition -- will give the UN Security Council "some time" to study their application for full membership in the United Nations, a senior Palestinian official said on Wednesday. He also said the Palestinian delegation would politely reject US President Barack Obama's demand in his UN General Assembly speech on Wednesday that the Palestinians drop their bid for membership in the United Nations, a plan that is doomed to failure if Washington keeps its promise to veto it. » Read more

Taking a Stand, and Shedding Arafat’s Shadow ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Ethan Bronner, Neil MacFarquhar - September 21, 2011 - 12:00am At the baronial Morgan Library in Midtown Manhattan the other night, President Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian leader, stood quietly along the edge of a diplomatic reception, avoiding the animated gossip and flowing Champagne. Only when the host noted that Mr. Abbas was in the room, and expressed hope that his quest for Palestinian membership in the United Nations would produce real sovereignty, did the crowd take notice. » Read more

Obama Rebuffed as Palestinians Pursue U.N. Seat ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Helene Cooper, Steven Lee Myers - September 21, 2011 - 12:00am A last-ditch American effort to head off a Palestinian bid for membership in the United Nations faltered. President Obama tried to qualify his own call, just a year ago, for a Palestinian state. And President Nicolas Sarkozy of France stepped forcefully into the void, with a proposal that pointedly repudiated Mr. Obama’s approach. The extraordinary tableau Wednesday at the United Nations underscored a stark new reality: the United States is facing the prospect of having to share, or even cede, its decades-long role as the architect of Middle East peacemaking. » Read more

September 21st

Arafat Aide: Stop the U.N. Vote ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast September 21, 2011 - 12:00am A former peace negotiator with Israel who served for years as a top aide to Yasir Arafat says President Mahmoud Abbas’s bid for membership with the United Nations is a mistake that will result in Palestinian suffering. Mohammed Rachid, who left his position with the Palestinian Authority months after Arafat died and rarely gives interviews, told The Daily Beast that, much like the second intifada 11 years ago, the campaign could cost Palestinians their relationship with key allies and their international legitimacy. » Read more

Abbas rejects US corruption allegations ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat by Ali El-saleh - September 20, 2011 - 12:00am New York, Asharq Al-Awsat – Asharq Al-Awsat spoke to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas as he prepares for the most important battle of his life, namely the battle to convince the UN to recognize the Palestinian State. » Read more

Poll: 70% of Israelis say Israel should accept UN decision ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post September 21, 2011 - 12:00am Israel should accept the decision if the UN recognizes a Palestinian state, about 70 percent of Israelis answered in a recent Hebrew University poll. » Read more

How The Palestinian Statehood Bid May Backfire ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty by Hussein Ibish - (Opinion) September 20, 2011 - 12:00am On September 19, Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas formally told United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon that he would be submitting an application for full UN membership for the state of Palestine after his speech to the General Assembly on September 23. This reiterates the plan outlined by Abbas in a speech to the Palestinian people last week. » Read more

Palestinians Back Statehood Bid With West Bank Rallies as Israel Resists ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bloomberg by Bili Varner - September 21, 2011 - 12:00am Tens of thousands of Palestinians rallied in Ramallah’s Yasser Arafat Square and other cities across the West Bank to support their campaign for statehood at the United Nations. The festive crowds waved Palestinian flags and chanted independence slogans as speakers pledged backing for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas two days before he speaks at the UN General Assembly and is expected to ask for membership. A masked youth set fire to a U.S. flag after the speeches and was detained by police. » Read more

Palestine between fact and fiction ATFP World Press Roundup Article from NOW Lebanon by Hussein Ibish - (Opinion) September 20, 2011 - 12:00am Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ announcement that he intends to seek full United Nations membership from the Security Council raises a wide range of interesting, and in some ways alarming, scenarios for the coming weeks. However, the move is unlikely to ultimately bring Palestinians any closer to actual independence. » Read more

Israel May Hold Palestinian Taxes on UN Vote Move, Steinitz Says ATFP World Press Roundup Article from SFGate by Flavia Krause-Jackson - September 20, 2011 - 12:00am Sept. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Israel may withhold as much as 40 percent of Palestinians' financial revenue should they persist in pushing for a vote on statehood at the United Nations, Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz said. "It will be very difficult for us to continue to collaborate with a hostile Palestinian entity," Steinitz, 53, said in an interview yesterday at Bloomberg's headquarters in New York. "Maybe we will tell the Palestinians 'Okay, collect your own tax. Why should we do it for you?'" » Read more