Spain to recognize Palestinian state at UN
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
November 28, 2012 - 1:00am

MADRID — Spain's foreign minister says Spain will vote in favor of recognition of a Palestinian state at the U.N. General Assembly this week.

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Key players and positions on Palestinian statehood
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Lori Hinnant - November 28, 2012 - 1:00am

The vote is largely symbolic, the outcome nearly assured: The Palestinians and Israelis are closely watching the evolving positions of a few key countries in Thursday’s U.N. General Assembly resolution to raise the Palestinians’ status from a U.N. observer to a nonmember observer state. The United States and Israel are strongly opposed, saying they fear it will only slow progress toward a peace deal.

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Israel won't punish Palestinians for UN statehood bid
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - November 28, 2012 - 1:00am

Avigdor Lieberman was asked on Tuesday during a closed meeting what will happen tomorrow night. The questioner hoped to hear the foreign minster's assessment of the vote due to be held in the UN General Assembly on recognizing Palestine as a non-member observer state, but Lieberman replied with typical cynicism: "It will be a good soccer game."

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Turkey's Erdogan considers Gaza visit
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
November 28, 2012 - 1:00am

ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey's prime minister says he may visit the Gaza Strip alongside Hamas' supreme leader, Khaled Mashaal.

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Palestine: theatricals at the UN
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
(Editorial) November 28, 2012 - 1:00am

A "crashing wave of applause" filled the hall in which the general assembly was meeting in Flushing Meadow Park, the temporary headquarters of the new United Nations, when the French representative voted for the resolution which partitioned Palestine. The French vote was taken as a signal that the resolution would prevail. "The chamber," wrote Alistair Cooke, our correspondent, "was crackling with currents of elation and despair."

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Israel’s motto on Palestinian UN bid: Speak loudly, but carry a small stick
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Chemi Shalev - (Analysis) November 28, 2012 - 1:00am

With France supporting, Britain leaning, and even bosom buddy Australia abstaining, the Palestinian request to be recognized as a “non-member observer state” at the United Nations appears to be a done deal and is set to be approved by an overwhelming majority.

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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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Give the Palestinians a state
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Zvi Barel - (Opinion) November 28, 2012 - 1:00am

Exactly 65 years after the United Nations passed the Partition Plan, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will ask the General Assembly to grant Palestine the status of a non-member state. Nineteen years after the signing of the Oslo Accords, 10 years after U.S. President George W.

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Former Israeli PM Olmert Supports Palestine U.N. Bid
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast
by Bernard Avishai - November 28, 2012 - 1:00am

Tomorrow, Mahmoud Abbas stands before the U.N. General Assembly and presents a resolution to upgrade Palestine’s membership to the status of an “observer-state.” The Obama administration has signaled that it will oppose this resolution, as it vetoed a Security Council condemnation of settlements last year—putatively to emphasize the need for direct negotiations between the parties.

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Why U.S., Israel should welcome Palestinian move at U.N.
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from CNN
by Rabbi Michael Lerner - (Opinion) November 28, 2012 - 1:00am

(CNN) -- Israel's security can only be assured when its neighbors believe that it is no longer oppressing the Palestinian people but instead living in peace and harmony with them.

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