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.

»

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.

»

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.

»

Gazans have mixed feelings over Abbas U.N bid
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Alertnet
by Nidal al-Mughrabi - September 14, 2011 - 12:00am

President Mahmoud Abbas's bid to seek U.N. recognition of a Palestinian state is not generating much enthusiasm in the isolated Gaza Strip, where internal political divisions run deep. The Islamist Hamas movement, which seized the territory from forces loyal to Abbas's Fatah group in 2007, sees the move as an exercise in futility in a quest for statehood.

»

Palestinians trying to dodge pre-UN vote face-off with Obama
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Avi Issacharoff - September 14, 2011 - 12:00am

Statements made Tuesday by Mohammad Shtayyeh, a member of Fatah's Central Committee, regarding the Palestinian Authority's intention to address the UN Security Council, in addition to its General Assembly, were not surprising. Just three days ago Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas himself said that the Palestinians will turn to the Security Council, and will not be content to deal with the General Assembly.

»

Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen tells Haaretz: We must stop Palestinians' ‘dangerous scheme’
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Natasha Mozgovaya - (Blog) September 14, 2011 - 12:00am

Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Representative for Florida and chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, is one of the loudest voices in Congress opposing the Palestinian plan to secure United Nations recognition for statehood. A bill she introduced earlier this month would cut funding to any UN body that supports the Palestinian bid. The initiative was criticized by Obama administration officials and Ros-Lehtinen’s Democratic colleagues in Congress, but the Congresswoman made it clear on Tuesday that she has no intentions of backpedalling on the issue.

»

Keep the peace between Israel and Egypt
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Chuck Freilich - (Opinion) September 14, 2011 - 12:00am

My fingers burned with excitement. It was just weeks after Egyptian President Anwar Sadat's dramatic trip to Israel in November 1977 and my boss had just returned from Egypt, the first Israel Defense Forces officer ever to visit that nation. I was a young officer, and the "present" he brought me — a standard tourist postcard — was the most precious one I could imagine. It was something from Egypt, and it was not going to explode. Until Sadat's trip, and the 1979 Israel-Egypt peace treaty that followed, that sort of contact had been as tangible to Israelis as the moon.

»

A weak Palestinian Authority might lose control after vote
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Tony Karon - (Opinion) September 14, 2011 - 12:00am

The Arab Spring may have had little effect on the governance of the Palestinian territories, save for a few demonstrations that sparked a patently insincere unity agreement between Fatah and Hamas, both of which have been preoccupied with avoiding blame. But the Arab Fall may yet bring the collapse of the Palestinian Authority.

»

Palestinians Pressured to Seek General Assembly Vote on Statehood
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by David Kirkpatrick - September 13, 2011 - 12:00am

A top negotiator for the Palestinian Authority said Tuesday night that its leadership was weighing the strong urging of both the Arab states and the Europeans to turn to the General Assembly of the United Nations — and not its Security Council — in a bid to win international recognition as a state.

»

18 years after Oslo, Palestinians try a new tack
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Maher Abukhater - (Blog) September 13, 2011 - 12:00am

On Sept. 13, 1993, current Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and current Israeli President Shimon Peres signed at the While House the so-called Oslo Accords, ushering in a new era and hopes of peace in the decades-old Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The agreement was signed in the presence of President Bill Clinton, former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.

»


American Task Force on Palestine - 1634 Eye St. NW, Suite 725, Washington DC 20006 - Telephone: 202-262-0017