Israelis, Palestinians brace for massive statehood protests
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Edmund Sanders - August 17, 2011 - 12:00am

Palestinians say it will trigger the biggest West Bank demonstrations in years. Israelis are bracing for another intifada. A month before a potentially historic United Nations showdown over Palestinian statehood, the two sides are mobilizing for the possibility of mass street protests that some fear could spiral into a violent uprising.

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Hamas official: Party not moving headquarters to Cairo
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
August 17, 2011 - 12:00am

A senior Hamas leader said Wednesday that the party has no intention of moving its headquarters in exile from Damascus to Cairo. Salah Bardaweil rubbished reports that the recent visit to Egypt by exiled Hamas leader Khalid Mashaal was to discuss moving the party's offices to Cairo. “Hamas has not discussed moving its office from Syria, neither was this the goal of Mashaal’s visit to Cairo,” Bardaweil told Ma'an. The Cairo trip was not a surprise visit, he added, and had been previously scheduled.

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Hamas disperses anti-Assad protest in Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Avi Issacharoff - August 17, 2011 - 12:00am

Protest was meant to show solidarity with Palestinian refugees who have fled their homes due to Syrian government's violent crackdown on demonstrators. Hamas police forces in the Gaza Strip dispersed a protest on Tuesday night against the Syrian government's deadly crackdown on protesters. The protest was meant to demonstrate solidarity with Palestinian refugees who have fled the city of Latakia, which has been under attack by Syrian military forces in recent days.

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PA to soften UN statehood bid?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Attila Somfalvi - August 17, 2011 - 12:00am

The Palestinian Authority has spent the past few days trying to advance a move to soften its bid for recognition at the UN in order to gain wider support among European nations, Ynet has learned. Europe's major powers have yet to decide whether to support the Palestinians' membership bid, to which the US is opposed. Palestinian sources close to negotiations with Europe told Ynet that the PA is conducting secret talks with the European Union and the Arab League aimed at revising their proposed resolution ahead of the General Assembly meeting in September.

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Palestinian leadership studies where to go for UN vote
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
August 17, 2011 - 12:00am

The Palestinian leadership has not yet decided to which body of the United Nations it should submit a request to recognize the Palestinian as an independent state, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Al-Maliki said Wednesday. "The decision to go to the Security Council first or the General Assembly would be made soon," Al-Maliki told the Voice of Palestine radio, adding discussions with the Arab states are needed before making the decision.

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Israeli army mulls letting Palestinians get more guns by September
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
August 17, 2011 - 12:00am

Senior Israel military officials are considering what one termed "confidence-building measures," to convince Palestinian leaders not to continue with their planned statehood bid at the UN General Assembly next month, including allowing the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) security services in the West Bank to procure more weapons. The arms would be brought in via Jordan, according to the recommendations, which were listed in a brief that has been forwarded to the government, the Ynet news reported Wednesday.

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Netanyahu to Clinton: No apology to Turkey
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Attila Somfalvi - August 17, 2011 - 12:00am

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Wednesday that Israel will not apologize to Turkey over the 2010 flotilla incident, despite an earlier demand by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to do so. Clinton spoke with Netanyahu, asking Israel to apologize to Turkey for killing nine of its citizens aboard the Gaza-bound Mavi Marmara ship in May 2010. However, Netanyahu made it clear that given the current situation in the Middle East, Israel will not issue an apology.

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Sleiman tells Abbas Lebanon will back Palestinian statehood
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
August 17, 2011 - 12:00am

President Michel Sleiman promised Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Tuesday that Lebanon will back their bid for U.N. recognition of a Palestinian state. Abbas, meanwhile, declared that the Palestinians in Lebanon’s 12 refugee camps do not need arms to defend themselves because the Lebanese people and government can protect them. Abbas’ remarks amounted to lifting legitimacy over arms in and outside the Palestinian refugee camps throughout the country.

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Syria orders thousands into stadium in Latakia crackdown
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Borzou Daragahi, Roula Hajjar - August 16, 2011 - 12:00am

Syrian security forces seize IDs and cellphones from those gathered at the soccer arena, activists say. Five people are killed, and the U.N. is worried about Palestinian refugees in the area. Syrian security forces cracking down on opposition strongholds in Latakia herded thousands of people into a stadium and took away their identification cards and cellphones, activists said Monday.

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Abbas names PNC speaker to form constitution
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from
August 16, 2011 - 12:00am

Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday nominated Salim Za'noon, speaker of the Palestinian National Council (PNC), as the chairman of a committee to form the Palestinian constitution. Nabil Shaath, a member of Fatah's central committee, was nominated as Za'noon's deputy, the state-run Wafa News Agency reported. The Palestinians will approach the United Nations Security Council and the General Assembly in September to gain a recognition of an independent Palestinian state established in the territories occupied by Israel in 1967.

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