Palestinians to seek UN recognition next month
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Mohammed Daraghmeh - (Analysis) October 29, 2012 - 12:00am

 

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Abbas concerned by Qatar emir visit
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
(Analysis) October 27, 2012 - 12:00am

President Mahmoud Abbas said Friday he was concerned about the Qatari emir's visit to the Gaza Strip, saying it could lead to Gaza's separation from the West Bank.  Abbas made the remarks while visiting the grave of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat on the first day of Eid al-Adha.  The president stressed that his bid to upgrade Palestine's status at the UN was one of the most important things he could do for the Palestinian people.  The UN bid aims to preserve the two-state solution, he said. 

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Ahead of Israel election, PA bid in UN may push Netanyahu to harsh unilateral reaction, diplomats say
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - October 26, 2012 - 12:00am

The Palestinian Authority's bid for UN recognition as a non-member observer state could lead to a new intifada or the PA's collapse, Israeli diplomats are warning countries worldwide as part of an intensive diplomatic campaign against the move.

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Israel: UN bid risks 'far-reaching consequences'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
October 25, 2012 - 12:00am

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Israel on Wednesday threatened "difficult and far-reaching consequences" of plans to upgrade Palestine's status in the United Nations next month. Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman relayed the warning during talks with visiting EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton in Jerusalem, a statement from his office said. If President Mahmoud Abbas "continues unilateral measures against Israel in the UN General Assembly, there will be difficult and far-reaching consequences," Lieberman told Ashton.

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Momentum builds for Gaza to secede, Israel and West Bank to become one
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Christa Case Bryant - October 24, 2012 - 12:00am

After decades of the "two states for two people" blueprint more or less dominating proposals for Israeli-Palestinian peace, a new paradigm is gaining momentum. Under this model, Israel absorbs the West Bank and its 2.5 million Palestinians, while Hamas-run Gaza becomes a separate entity aligned with the Middle East’s rising Islamist powers.

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Israel's missed opportunities
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Khaled Diab - (Opinion) October 22, 2012 - 12:00am

It is 39 years since the 6th October/Yom Kippur war of 1973. After the peace talks in Geneva following the war, Israel’s then-foreign minister, Abba Eban, the ever-articulate founding father of Israeli diplomacy, quipped that, “The Arabs never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.”

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Binational reality
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
(Editorial) October 17, 2012 - 12:00am

With the start of the election campaign, the major parties are displaying a worrying tendency to put social, economic and security issues at the top of the agenda while evading the diplomatic issue at the root of Israel's democratic identity.

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Ulterior motives
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
(Editorial) October 17, 2012 - 12:00am

Palestine has once again faced vocal rejection of its statehood bid, this time in a statement from the United States declaring that such a move would set back the peace process. The U.S. has said the decision must include Israel, and has further warned European countries, in a private memo, not to support Palestine’s bid.

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Palestinians urged by Britain to delay 'non-member state' bid at UN
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Harriet Sherwood - October 17, 2012 - 12:00am

Britain is urging the Palestinian leadership to delay its bid for upgraded status at the United Nations general assembly, warning that the move is likely to be detrimental to US re-engagement with the peace process following next month's presidential election.

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Israeli media misinterpret Abbas' Arabic remarks on Facebook
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
by Abdul-Hakim Salah - October 17, 2012 - 12:00am

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Israeli media on Wednesday misinterpreted a Facebook status by Mahmoud Abbas to suggest the president had abandoned the two-state solution. Discussing the bid to upgrade Palestine to a non-member state at the UN, Abbas posted an Arabic-language status update explaining that recognition of statehood would prove that Palestinian territory is under occupation rather than "disputed" land. The president referred to Palestinian land occupied before 1967 using terminology commonly used to refer to the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

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