'EU warned PA of negative costs of UN bid'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Herb Keinon - October 11, 2012 - 12:00am

The European Union is advising the Palestinian Authority to “be careful” regarding its stated plan to ask the UN for non-member state observer status at its General Assembly, Deputy Greek Foreign Minister Dimitris Kourkoulas said Wednesday. Kourkoulas, on a one day trip to Israel where he met his counterpart Danny Ayalon and National Security Adviser Yaakov Amidror, told The Jerusalem Post that while there has not been any formal EU discussion on the matter, informal deliberations are ongoing.

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ADL pulls out of interfaith talks over Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Religion News Service
by Michele Chabin - October 11, 2012 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM (RNS) The Anti-Defamation League said Thursday (Oct. 11) it has withdrawn from an Oct. 22 U.S. Jewish-Christian interfaith meeting to protest a letter from some Protestant participants that urged Congress to rethink U.S. funding to Israel. Numerous Jewish organizations have condemned the letter, which was signed by leaders of the Presbyterian, United Methodist, Lutheran, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and United Church of Christ denominations, as well as the head of the National Council of Churches.

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‘Holy Jihad’ is the only way to deal with Israel, says Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood chief
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Times of Israel
by Elhanan Miller - October 11, 2012 - 12:00am

Egypt’s foremost Muslim Brotherhood official called on the Arab world Thursday to replace negotiations with Israel with “holy Jihad,” claiming that if Jews are allowed to pray on the Temple Mount they will destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque and supplant it with the third temple.

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Occupation Tourism
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from International Herald Tribune
by Shmuel Rosner - (Blog) October 11, 2012 - 12:00am

MOUNT GERIZIM, West Bank — Last week, with family in tow, I took the day off to go on an organized tour of the West Bank. The trip started in Peduel, a Jewish settlement half an hour from central Tel Aviv. It’s a scenic spot. Ariel Sharon used to call it “the balcony of Israel”: located on top of a mountain in the Samaria region, Peduel reveals below the big cities of Israel that lie near the Mediterranean shore.

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Report: Abbas to propose peace talks after UN vote
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
October 10, 2012 - 12:00am

NEW YORK (Ma'an) -- President Abbas told European diplomats on Tuesday that he will resume peace talks with Israel after a UN vote on the Palestinian request for non-member status in the world body, The Associated Press reported. Abbas believes that a freeze on illegal settlement building may not be necessary to engage in talks if the UN recognizes a Palestinian state which includes all of the West Bank, AP reported.

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West Bank cash crisis as donors fail to pay
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent
by Matthew Kalman - October 10, 2012 - 12:00am

The Palestinian Authority, facing a major cash crisis, has warned 150,000 employees it does not know when they will receive their September salaries.

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Erekat: UNGA bid the only way to stop settlements
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Tovah Lazaroff - October 9, 2012 - 12:00am

Palestinian Authority chief negotiator Saeb Erekat said Monday that the Palestinian bid for non-member status at the United Nations is the only way to stop the expanding Israeli settlement enterprise in the West Bank, official PA news agency WAFA reported. Speaking after meetings with foreign diplomats, Erekat called on the international community to support the Palestinian UN maneuver when it comes to a vote in the UN General Assembly, likely in November.

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Not Trying To Cause A Big Sensation
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast
by Jacob Silverman - (Opinion) October 8, 2012 - 12:00am

Alan Dershowitz would have been disappointed. Not only did Dershowitz's occasional debating partner, Noam Chomsky, have to cancel his New School appearance on Saturday (laryngitis, we were told), but his adversary, the controversial scholar Norman Finkelstein, was positively mainstream in his own remarks. Those who are quick to vilify Finkelstein—variations on “self-hating Jew” represent the typical charge—might do well to listen again.

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Anti-Semitism—Bad for Palestinians, Too
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast
by Emily L. Hauser - (Opinion) October 5, 2012 - 12:00am

Pro-tip: If your goal is to help the Palestinian people, anti-Semitism is a really poor tool. I happen to be among those who feel that the anti-Semitism accusation is often made far too lightly, flung about at the drop of a settlement boycott or a Goldstone Report, as if any criticism of anything that any Israeli ever does is, by definition, gratuitous Jew hatred.

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Palestinian UN status likely to be debated in November
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
October 4, 2012 - 12:00am

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) -- The United Nations is likely to hold a debate on whether to upgrade the Palestinians' UN status to a sovereign country in mid-November -- after the US election, the president of the 193-member UN General Assembly said Wednesday. Having failed last year to win recognition of full statehood at the United Nations, President Mahmoud Abbas said last week he would seek a less-ambitious status upgrade at the world body to make it a "non-member state" like the Vatican.

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