Arab League backs bid for UN nod to Palestine
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Mohammed Daraghmeh - July 22, 2012 - 12:00am

The Arab League on Sunday backed a Palestinian plan to ask the U.N. General Assembly to recognize a state of Palestine, but stopped short of setting a date for the bid, Palestinian officials said. Instead, Arab League representatives meeting in Doha asked a committee to prepare the U.N. appeal and report back on Sept. 5, said Saeb Erekat, an aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, speaking by phone from Doha. Timing is crucial, with a U.N. bid before November potentially disrupting the U.S. presidential race.

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Palestine Can Wait…For Now
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast
by Nathan J. Brown - (Opinion) July 20, 2012 - 12:00am

If an Israeli Rip Van Winkle had gone to sleep in 1992 and woken up in 2012 to find a news report that Palestinian leader Khalid Mishal had just concluded a meeting at the Egyptian presidential palace with President Muhammad Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood, he might wonder if a previously unknown but particularly jarring piece of apocalyptic literature had somehow found its way into the daily paper.  He might go so far as to frantically turn to the weather page to see if a temperature was still listed for Tel Aviv or i

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Ariel academic center in West Bank expected to be named university in disputed vote
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Talia Nesher - July 17, 2012 - 12:00am

The Judea and Samaria Council for Higher Education is to meet this afternoon at Bar-Ilan University to vote on whether to recognize the Ariel University Center as a full-fledged university. The planning and budget committee of the state's Council for Higher Education had recommended against it at this time.

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Israeli settler population surges under Netanyahu
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Amy Teibel - July 9, 2012 - 12:00am

Since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was elected more than three years ago, the Jewish population in the West Bank has ballooned by 18 percent, drawing tens of thousands of Israelis to the territory the Palestinians claim as the heartland of a future state, according to figures obtained by The Associated Press.

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Palestine’s winter
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
(Editorial) July 4, 2012 - 12:00am

Since the so-called Arab Spring began a year and a half ago, there has been one cause conspicuous by its absence: that of Palestine. This is a subject that was described as the central issue of Arab nationalism and was the inspiration given for revolutions and military movements that have taken place since the great catastrophe of 1948.

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It was Zionism itself that Israel buried this week. Let it go.
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Bradley Burston - (Opinion) July 3, 2012 - 12:00am

It's time to take a lesson from the successful. It's time to begin thinking like Yitzhak Shamir. When he died this week, the first several people I spoke with, knowledgeable people who closely follow politics and the news, all had the same reaction. "I wasn't sure that he was still alive."

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Palestinian dispute hits UN global arms treaty talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP)
July 2, 2012 - 12:00am

Talks on the $70 billion a year global arms trade talks hit deadlock before starting Monday amid a diplomatic battle over Palestinian representation. Arab demands that Palestinians be allowed to take part led to a threat of an Israeli walkout and a block on European Union presence at the conference, diplomats said. Even the Vatican has been drawn into the dispute. "This chaotic start is a tragedy for this event, which is so important," said a minister from a western nation who went to the UN headquarters for the start of the negotiations.

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J14 V. The Occupation: Why Talking About The Occupation Will Only Prolong It
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast
by Ami Kaufman - (Opinion) June 28, 2012 - 12:00am

When I was a teenager back in the 80’s, there was an ad on Israel’s only TV channel about road safety. It urged drivers to use their heads rather than simply rely on driving legally. The catchy slogan was “On the road, don’t be right—be smart!”

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The Palestinians’ best friend
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
by Patrick Seale - (Opinion) June 22, 2012 - 12:00am

No western statesman has done more to promote the cause of Palestinian statehood than the charismatic Foreign Minister of Norway, Jonas Gahr Store, a Labour politician who enjoys unrivalled popularity in his own country. Yet all his efforts over the past several years in favour of the Palestinians have ended in failure. He has been defeated by Israeli intransigence, by US President Barack Obama’s collapse under Israeli pressure, and by Palestinian disunity.

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“Freezing” Palestine – not the Settlements
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Hayat
by Walid Choucair - (Opinion) June 22, 2012 - 12:00am

Eighteen months into the Arab Spring, as expected, the Palestinian situation is being neglected in the Arab world and by the international community. All of the countries concerned with Palestine have been busy tending to their domestic situations, or the regional repercussions of Arab uprisings on other countries, which has allowed Israel to act unilaterally against the Palestinians.

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