Palestinian UN bid enters unknown territory
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Karin Laub - May 23, 2011 - 12:00am

President Barack Obama threw down a gauntlet this weekend: no vote at the United Nations, he asserted, would ever create a Palestinian state. The Palestinians hope to prove him wrong. But their planned bid for U.N. recognition this fall of a state in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem — territories occupied by Israel since the 1967 Mideast war — enters largely unknown legal ground, and the Palestinians are still trying to work out how best to work the U.N. labyrinth.

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Palestinians can take the initiative after Israel balks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
(Editorial) May 22, 2011 - 12:00am

If the White House was trying to fire a warning shot at the United States' "unshakeable" ally in the Middle East, it hit its target. Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister, at the weekend responded defensively to President Barack Obama's suggestion that peace with the Palestinians depended on a return to pre-1967 borders. "Israel is prepared to make generous compromises for peace," Mr Netanyahu said in Washington, but "it cannot go back to the 1967 lines. These lines are indefensible".

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PM's Office okays Har Homa debate
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Yair Altman - May 19, 2011 - 12:00am

Settlers are planning to erect three new outposts in the West Bank on the eve of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech before the US Congress, Ynet learned on Thursday. In addition, the Interior Ministry's planning and construction committee has approved a discussion on large-scale construction plans in Jerusalem's Har Homa neighborhood on the eve of Netanyahu's departure Hundreds of members of the Hilltop Youth have completed preparations for constructing the new outposts on the night between Monday and Tuesday, during Netanyahu's scheduled speech before AIPAC.

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Abbas calls meeting to discuss Obama speech
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
May 19, 2011 - 12:00am

President Mahmoud Abbas has called an urgent meeting following US President Barack Obama’s speech on the Middle East on Thursday, a PLO official said. Saeb Erekat said Abbas appreciated Obama's efforts to reach a comprehensive solution to the conflict and his remarks on the right to self-determination and dignity. Erekat said the Palestinians remained committed to all previous agreements with Israel, "hoping that the Israeli government will do the same, to give the peace process the chance it deserves."

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Palestinians launch diplomatic campaign at U.S. Congress before Israeli PM's visit
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
May 17, 2011 - 12:00am

The Palestinian leadership started a diplomatic campaign to promote stances at the U.S. Congress before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits Washington this week, official Palestinian news agency reported Tuesday. The campaign aims to respond to calls by members of the U.S. Congress to boycott the Palestinian National Authority after President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party signed a reconciliation agreement with Islamic Hamas movement.

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Salary crisis to be resolved soon, Fayyad says
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
May 12, 2011 - 12:00am

Prime Minister in Ramallah Salam Fayyad said Thursday that Israel was trying to break the will of the Palestinian people by seizing their tax revenues through an "act of piracy." The Palestinian Authority is trying to regain the revenues frozen by Israel in response to the Palestinian unity agreement, Fayyad said during a visit to a refugee camp in Bethlehem. "The will of people will not be broken; they are determined to gain their freedom and independence by September," he said. "Suspending their tax revenues is simply an act of desperation.”

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Fayyad could yet survive as Palestinian PM
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Tom Perry - May 12, 2011 - 12:00am

Salam Fayyad could survive as prime minister of a new Palestinian government to be agreed by Fatah and Hamas if the rival groups continue to show the flexibility that brought about their surprise unity deal. While the Islamist Hamas has expressed opposition to his leadership, at least one senior Hamas official, Izaat al-Rishq, has been quoted as saying that the idea of him remaining prime minister in the new government would be studied. Removing the internationally respected former World Bank economist from office now makes no sense to his supporters.

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Acknowledging Abbas’ consistency
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by Daoud Kuttab - (Opinion) May 12, 2011 - 12:00am

Say what you may about the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, but supporters and opponents agree on one thing: he is consistent. Abbas might lack of charisma and the ability to drastically change public opinion or the direction of world leaders, but everyone today can attest to the man’s consistency. He is consistently against violence, in favour of the two-state solution and generally a democrat at heart. His word is his honour. What he says he fulfills and his political philosophy and methodology do not include the typical game politicians play: saying one thing and meaning another.

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Source: Abbas new PM, Fayyad, Haniyeh deputies
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
May 12, 2011 - 12:00am

President Mahmoud Abbas will hold the post of prime minister in the coming technocrat transitional government, sources close to the matter have told Ma'an. Current caretaker Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, and Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh - or an alternate Hamas figure chosen by the party - will both act as deputies to Abbas, the source revealed Wednesday night, adding that Fayyad will also assume the role of Minister of Finance.

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In Fatah-Hamas Deal, What Role for Salam Fayyad?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by Nathan Jeffay - (Opinion) May 11, 2011 - 12:00am

It may turn out to be one of the strangest political revivals on record — a comeback without the protagonist having gone anywhere.

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