Only Palestinians can create a new Palestine
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Tareq Baconi - (Opinion) September 15, 2011 - 12:00am

The flurry of activity around the coming UN vote on Palestinian statehood suggests this is a key moment in the struggle for self-determination. While that might be the case, it is not because of the vote itself. Independently of the vote's outcome, the Palestinian move has already had a positive impact on the ground. It has also transformed the way Palestinians are approaching their struggle by precipitating a drive for self-empowerment in anticipation of this moment.

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Abbas to meet U.S. envoy Thursday
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
(Analysis) September 15, 2011 - 12:00am

RAMALLAH, Sept. 15 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will meet U.S. Middle East envoy David Hale Thursday to discuss renewing peace talks with Israel, an official from Abbas' office said. Hale is in the region to try to reach a compromise allowing the negotiations to resume and avoid a Palestinian bid for United Nations membership later this month. "Abbas is still open to study any serious ideas from U.S. officials regarding the launching of a meaningful peace process," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

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Palestinian UN bid puts Obama on defensive
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Alertnet
by Matt Spetalnick - (Analysis) September 15, 2011 - 12:00am

WASHINGTON, Sept 15 (Reuters) - When President Barack Obama brokered the relaunch of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks last September and set a one-year goal for reaching a deal, few thought he would succeed where so many others had failed. But hardly anyone could have predicted that Obama would now be facing one of the sharpest blows to U.S. prestige in decades of Middle East diplomacy -- a Palestinian threat to defy him and push for statehood at the United Nations next week.

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PLO official voices criticism of UN membership plan
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
September 14, 2011 - 12:00am

PLO central council member Nabil Amr said Tuesday that the Palestinian request for full UN membership is not a "bid" but rather a diplomatic activity. The former ambassador to Egypt expressed reservations over the plan to seek state membership of the United Nations at the annual General Assembly meeting in New York, which opens on Monday. Speaking at a seminar in Hebron, Amr said vows by the US President Barack Obama and the Middle East Quartet to establish a Palestinian state were nothing more than promises.

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Pro-Israel groups defend US aid to Palestinian Authority
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
September 14, 2011 - 12:00am

Worried about possible US aid cuts to the Palestinian Authority, some American Jewish groups find themselves in the peculiar position of defending the funding, particularly money that supports PA security forces. The US Congress has threatened to review the roughly $500 million in annual aid to the PA if the Palestinians seek full membership at the United Nations, a step opposed by Israel and the United States.

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Abbas aide: PA will renew talks if 1 of 2 conditions met
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
September 14, 2011 - 12:00am

The Palestinian Authority will agree to return to peace negotiations with Israel if only one of two criteria they had previously set as pre-conditions for talks are reached: an immediate halt to all settlement construction or an Israeli declaration that the borders of the Palestinian state will be based on the pre-1967 lines with mutually agreed upon land swaps, a senior aide to PA President Mahmoud Abbas told Army Radio on Wednesday.

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EU's Ashton extends mediation trip to Middle East
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Alertnet
by Justyna Pawlak - September 14, 2011 - 12:00am

European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton extended a Middle East trip on Wednesday to hold more talks aimed at averting a Palestinian bid for statehood at the United Nations, officials said. Ashton is in the region to meet Israeli and Palestinian leaders as well as diplomats from Arab countries, part of an intense international effort to revive peace talks.

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UN report lauds PA state-building progress
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
September 14, 2011 - 12:00am

A new UN report lauds Palestinian Authority state-building achievements but warns of a widening gap between institutional progress and a stagnant political process. Prepared by the office of the UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, the report follows previous UN assessments that the PA’s state-building progress is on track to deliver the goals it set out to achieve. "The PA has completed what it set out to achieve two years ago to prepare its institutions to be able to assume the responsibilities of statehood," the report, released on Wednesday, states.

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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.

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Israel warns of 'harsh' consequences of Palestinian UN bid
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
September 14, 2011 - 12:00am

Hardline Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman warned Wednesday there will be "harsh and grave consequences" if the Palestinians persist with their plan to seek UN membership as a state. Speaking shortly before a scheduled meeting with EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, Lieberman did not elaborate on the possible consequences. "The moment has not yet come to give details of what will happen," he said. In the past he has called for Israel to sever all relations with the administration of President Mahmoud Abbas should it press on with its UN bid.

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