Netanyahu is burying the two state solution
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Carlo Strenger - (Opinion) August 13, 2012 - 12:00am

Benjamin Netanyahu certainly has remarkable tactical acumen, even though many question his long-term strategic wisdom. In addition he is lucky: he has now found unexpected allies who will make sure that he stays in power for at least another term: Islamic Jihadists in Gaza and Sinai. By the end of his next term, the two state solution will be discarded in the dustbin of history, as he has wished from the outset.

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Palestinian Seeks Diplomatic Allies
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Jodi Rudoren - (Opinion) August 13, 2012 - 12:00am

Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s executive committee, asked diplomats from two dozen countries on Monday to support the Palestinian Authority’s renewed bid for observer-state status at the United Nations, calling it “a test of the whole rule of law.” Speaking in East Jerusalem to envoys from countries in Europe, Latin America, Asia and the Middle East, Ms.

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Israel holding up settlement college upgrade
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
August 13, 2012 - 12:00am

Israel's defense minister is holding up the politically charged upgrade of the only West Bank settlement college to a full-fledged university. A month after a settler council approved the upgrade, a spokesman said Defense Minister Ehud Barak has to study the security and diplomatic implications before signing off on the move. Without his go-ahead, the upgrade cannot be finalized.

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Palestinians send aid to Palestinians in Syria
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Jihan Abdalla - August 5, 2012 - 12:00am

An aid convoy left the West Bank city of Ramallah on Sunday carrying food and medicine in a symbol of support for Palestinian refugees caught up in the crisis in Syria. "Today the first convoy will leave from here, from the West Bank, from Palestinian soil towards Syria," Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said at a press event marking the event. An official donations drive netted around $650,000 worth of food and medical aid from Palestinian companies, businessmen, and individuals during the charitable month of Ramadan.

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Israel Bars Foreign Envoys From West Bank Meeting
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Jodi Rudoren - August 5, 2012 - 12:00am

Israel on Sunday barred the delegations of five countries from attending a diplomatic conference in Ramallah, in the West Bank, upending plans by the Palestinian president to announce his intention to renew the Palestinians’ bid this September for enhanced status in the United Nations.

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Abbas to move on UN membership bid in September
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Mohammed Daraghmeh - August 4, 2012 - 12:00am

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will take a first procedural step toward seeking U.N. recognition of a state of Palestine when he addresses the General Assembly in late September, but has not decided when to ask for a vote on his request, the Palestinian foreign minister said Saturday. Timing is seen as crucial in the Palestinian bid to be recognized as a non-member observer state by the U.N. General Assembly, an upgrade they hope will firmly establish the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, captured by Israel in 1967, as Palestinian territories in the eyes of the world.

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Erekat: No date set for next UN bid
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
August 3, 2012 - 12:00am

PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat said Thursday that no date was set for next steps at the United Nations, where officials are considering a new initiative to seek membership as a state. Erekat said the timing of a draft application for the General Assembly will be discussed at the next cabinet meeting on Tuesday and after consulting with regional leaders. His remarks followed separate meetings with ambassadors from France, Germany, India, Brazil and the United States, Erekat said.

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Upgrading Palestine to non-member state in UN does not contradict with peace plan – Erekat
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)
July 25, 2012 - 12:00am

RAMALLAH, Juky 25 (KUNA) – A member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, Dr. Saeb Erekat, said that approaching the General Assembly of the United Nations to seek a non-member state status for Palestine does not contradict with the peace process of the principle of two-state solution. During interviews conducted in the city of Areeha (Jericho) with the residing consuls, Eekat said that the Palestinian approach is a real focal point for the protection of two-state option.

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Zahhar: Hamas will not separate Gaza from the West Bank
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
July 23, 2012 - 12:00am

Senior Hamas official Mahmoud Zahhar on Sunday denied media reports that the Islamist group is considering declaring the Gaza Strip a separate entity from the Palestinian Authority controlled West Bank. "Such news is being disseminated by the enemies of Hamas seeking to maintain the siege on Gaza," Zahhar told Ma'an. "This issue hasn’t been addressed officially within Hamas, but some people posed it privately on their own," he added.

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The Palestinian problem is gone!
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Gershon Baskin - (Opinion) July 23, 2012 - 12:00am

I am struggling to make sense of the policies being implemented by our prime minister. Binyamin Netanyahu is an intelligent man. In keeping his coalition together and staying in power longer than most past prime ministers, he has proven that he is also a masterful politician. However, I can’t accept that his political strategy is only a game of survival. I believe Netanyahu cares deeply about the country and its people; he adheres to a defined worldview and does not only make difficult decisions under pressure, as many claim.

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