Amid Euphoria Over U.N. Vote, Palestinians Still Face Familiar Challenges
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - December 2, 2012 - 1:00am

RAMALLAH, West Bank — “Now we have become a state!” Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, announced Sunday to a crowd of thousands in the courtyard of his headquarters in this Palestinian city.

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Collaboration in Gaza Leads to Grisly Fate
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Jodi Rudoren - December 2, 2012 - 1:00am

RAFAH, Gaza Strip — When Fadel Shalouf’s family went to pick up his body at the morgue the day after he was executed on a busy Gaza street corner, they found his hands still cuffed behind his back. Hamas, the militant faction that rules Gaza, did not provide a van to carry the body to burial, so they laid him on two men’s laps in the back of a sedan.

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Israel: E1 Zone No-Build Policy 'No Longer Relevant'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Monitor
by Laura Rozen - December 2, 2012 - 1:00am

As Israel announced that it was withholding tax payments to the Palestinian Authority on Sunday, an Israeli official told Al-Monitor that Israel considers its 2009 understanding with the Americans that it would not build in the sensitive E1 zone of East Jerusalem “no longer relevant.”

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Palestinians See UN Gambit as Step Toward Reconciliation
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line
by Diana Atallah - November 30, 2012 - 1:00am

[Ramallah] – Palestinians took to the streets of Ramallah on Thursday night and into the early hours of Friday morning to celebrate the UN General Assembly vote bestowing non-member status to “Palestine.” Celebrants expressed hope that their newfound recognition at the United Nations is a step closer to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state and many expressed belief that this diplomatic success was empowered by the recent military confrontation in the Gaza

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Palestinians certain to win recognition as a state
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Edith M. Lederer - November 29, 2012 - 1:00am

UNITED NATIONS —The Palestinians are certain to win U.N. recognition as a state Thursday but success could exact a high price: Israel and the United States warn it could delay hopes of achieving an independent Palestinian state through peace talks with Israel. The United States, Israel's closest ally, mounted an aggressive campaign to head off the General Assembly vote. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defiantly declared Thursday that the Palestinians would have to back down from long-held positions if they ever hope to gain independence.

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Germany to abstain from UN Palestine vote
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
November 29, 2012 - 1:00am

BERLIN (Reuters) -- Germany said it would abstain in a vote on Thursday at the UN General Assembly on changing the Palestinian Authority's diplomatic status, citing fears that it could be counterproductive to the peace process. "We did not take this decision lightly. Germany shares the goal of a Palestinian state ... but the decisive steps towards real statehood can only be the result of negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians," Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said in a statement.

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Germany backtracks on Palestinian bid; Israeli official: 'We lost Europe'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - November 29, 2012 - 1:00am

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian people are enjoying sweeping support in the lead up to Thursday night's vote at the UN General Assembly over whether to upgrade the Palestinians' standing to non-member observer status. By Thursday morning Israel time, that support had turned into a full-on landslide, as more European nations decided to alter their positions, essentially leaving Israel to fend for itself.

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U.S. and Israel Look to Limit Impact of U.N. Vote on Palestinian Authority
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Michael R. Gordon - November 28, 2012 - 1:00am

WASHINGTON — After failing to head off a vote in the United Nations on Thursday that would upgrade the Palestinian Authority’s status, the United States and Israel are looking ahead to how they can contain the damage from the approval of a resolution that even some European allies have signaled they will support.

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Strong European support for Palestinian statehood move
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Louis Charbonneau - November 28, 2012 - 1:00am

UNITED NATIONS, Nov 28 (Reuters) - A Palestinian bid for indirect U.N. recognition of statehood received vows of support from more than a dozen European nations as of Wednesday, and diplomats said this backing may deter Israel from harsh retaliation against the Palestinian Authority for seeking to upgrade its U.N. status.

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Abbas to address UN ahead of upgrade vote
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
November 28, 2012 - 1:00am

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- President Mahmoud Abbas will address the UN General Assembly in New York before it votes on upgrading the PLO's status on Thursday, a Foreign Ministry official said Wednesday. Omar Awadallah, who heads the ministry's UN department, told Ma'an the vote was expected at around midnight Jerusalem time. Representatives of some member states will also address the assembly before voting to explain their positions, Awadallah said.

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