News Analysis: Various scenarios await Abbas amid a series of Palestinian crises
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
September 18, 2012 - 12:00am

RAMALLAH, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is nowadays busy with preparing to go for a second risky trip to the United Nations in New York next week for the bid of recognizing a non-member Palestinian state in the UN General Assembly.

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PNA to donors: Status quo cannot continue
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
by Nasouh Nazzal - September 18, 2012 - 12:00am

Ramallah: The Palestinian National Authority will tell a donors conference in New York on September 23 that the status quo in the Palestinian Territories cannot continue. Rather, the PNA will present a plan to take over Zone C which constitutes 65 per cent of the total Palestinian Territories. According to a statement issued by the Palestinian government, Dr Nabeel Qasis, Finance Minister, and Mohammad Abu Ramadan, the State Minister for Planning Affairs will represent the PNA at this key conference.

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Palestinian trade unions divided over strike action
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
September 17, 2012 - 12:00am

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Palestinian trade unions are divided over whether to continue strike action in protest against rising living costs, unionists said Sunday. Transport union leader Nasser Younis told Ma'an that strike action was not a goal in itself but a means to pressure the Palestinian Authority to listen to their demands.

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Financial Strains Said to Threaten Stability of Palestinian Authority
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - September 17, 2012 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM — As the Palestinian Authority marks the 19th anniversary this month of the signing of the Oslo Accords, the agreement with Israel that brought it into existence, the authority is facing a financial crisis that experts say could threaten its future operations and stability.

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Palestinian economic protests point to uncertain future for PA, Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
by Ben Sales - (Opinion) September 16, 2012 - 12:00am

TEL AVIV (JTA) – Could the Palestinian Authority's budget woes end up costing Israel? Growing economic protests in the West Bank could lead to increased regional instability and perhaps even the end of the Palestinian Authority, experts are warning. At this point, however, they say the protests are unlikely to result in an eruption of violence against Israel.

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A new era of discontent
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Avi Issacharoff - (Opinion) September 14, 2012 - 12:00am

RAMALLAH - In many ways, the Palestinian protest movement that swept the West Bank for nearly seven days before fading out late this week symbolizes the end of an era, the era of the Palestinian Authority. Thousands of protesters took to the streets, clashing with Palestinian security forces, hurling shoes at photographs of Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and defacing other PA symbols. In the process, they revealed the pros and cons of the "economic peace" theory espoused by Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.

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EU pledges extra 100 million euros for PA
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
September 14, 2012 - 12:00am

BRUSSELS (Reuters) -- The European Union will double its aid for Palestinian development and the Palestinian Authority to 200 million euros in 2012, the EU executive said on Friday. The development aid will be focused on water, sanitation and support for refugees. A further 100 million euros aid credits unspent last year will be also spent in 2012, the European Commission said in a statement.

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Protests renew in Ramallah despite Palestinian PM's measures to ease economic crisis
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
September 12, 2012 - 12:00am

RAMALLAH, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) -- Despite Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad's declaration to introduce easing measures against the high cost of living, a new demonstration was organized in the city of Ramallah Tuesday night calling for the immediate end of the economic crisis. In Ramallah, hundreds of angry protesters marched towards the headquarters of President Mahmoud Abbas. They held banners calling for a final resolution to the economic crisis.

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Salam Fayyad catches Palestinians' flak as West Bank protests continue
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Hugh Naylor - September 12, 2012 - 12:00am

RAMALLAH // As large protests sweep the West Bank for a second week, no official has faced as much criticism over the ailing economy as Salam Fayyad. Palestinian demonstrators have burnt effigies of the Palestinian Authority (PA) prime minister in previous rallies and yesterday rallied outside his office and called for his resignation. Video from Monday also showed protesters throwing their shoes at a poster of Mr Fayyad.

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Fayyad announces measures to alleviate economic crisis
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
September 11, 2012 - 12:00am

RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad announced several measures on Tuesday to alleviate the economic crisis. VAT will be reduced to 15 percent and diesel, gas and kerosene will revert back to August prices, he said during a Ramallah press conference. Palestinian Authority ministers had met earlier on Tuesday to discuss ways of easing economic hardships as protests erupted across the West Bank this week against rising living costs.

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