Despite it all, still committed to peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Gershon Baskin - (Opinion) June 12, 2012 - 12:00am

Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas told the French President Francois Hollande that if Israel releases weapons for his security forces and releases Palestinian prisoners he would be willing to meet in public with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. This statement is very peculiar. Both the demands and the promised outcome require a bit of analysis and inquiry.

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Interview: Israeli-Palestinian security coordination in low levels: official
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
June 10, 2012 - 12:00am

A senior Palestinian security official on Sunday told Xinhua in an interview that the security coordination between Israel and the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) in the West Bank has been declining over the past two years. Adnan Damiri, spokesman of the PNA security apparatuses, told Xinhua at his office in the West Bank city of Ramallah that Israel has been attempting to undermine the security coordination in the West Bank with the PNA, adding that "the stalled peace talks are the main reason behind this decline."

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Israel to decide on settlement university
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman
by Diaa Hadid - June 9, 2012 - 12:00am

In the fraught atmosphere of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, an approaching decision on whether to award coveted university status to a college has taken on powerful political overtones. For critics of Israel's policy of settling Jews in the West Bank, the upgrade of the "Ariel University Center of Samaria" into a permanent university would be a strong signal of what they say is creeping annexation of the hilly territory.

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The Time for a Palestinian State Is Now
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Wall Street Journal
by Maen Areikat - (Opinion) June 8, 2012 - 12:00am

This week marks the 45th anniversary of the Arab-Israeli War, when Palestinians living in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip fell under Israel's occupation. Since 1967, the power relationship that ensued has had deep and wide ramifications. What is remarkable is how each side has observed the anniversary.

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Palestinian President Abbas 'would accept' UN upgrade
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC World News
June 8, 2012 - 12:00am

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas says he is ready to accept "non-member state" status at the United Nations, if Israel does not resume peace talks. He made the comments as French President Francois Hollande lent his support to Palestinian aims for UN state recognition. Last September the Palestinian bid for full member status fell apart when the United States said it would veto it. Security Council backing is required for bids for full UN membership.

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Learning from the Nakba
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Common Ground News Service
by Ziad Asali - (Opinion) June 5, 2012 - 12:00am

I do not need anyone to teach me about the Palestinian Nakba. It is the defining moment of my existence. During the war in 1948, my family had already fled our home in Talpiot in southeast Jerusalem and taken shelter in a monastery. We quickly gathered some possessions and climbed down and up the mountain to Bethany, and then to Jericho.

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Abbas renews threat to seek Palestinian statehood at UN
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
May 23, 2012 - 12:00am

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday renewed his threat to unilaterally seek UN recognition of a Palestinian state in response to Israel's refusal to accept his conditions for resuming the peace talks. Abbas, meanwhile, met with US Consul-General Daniel Rubinstein and discussed with him the latest developments surrounding efforts to resume the stalled peace talks.

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Resuming Palestinian Airlines flights sign of future state sovereignty
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
by Emad Drimly, Osama Radi - (Analysis) May 22, 2012 - 12:00am

RAMALLAH, May 22 (Xinhua) -- At his office in Ramallah, captain Zeyad al-Badda, director of the Palestinian Airlines "al- Falastinia" runs coordination of flights with officials at the airports of al-Arish in the Egyptian Peninsula of Sinai and Marka Airport in Jordan for Palestinian passengers.

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Palestinians see settlements thwarting state
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Samia Nakhoul - May 18, 2012 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM, May 18 (Reuters) - Surrounded by aides, including one whose only task seems to be light his cigarettes, Mahmoud Abbas sits in a vast presidential office and speaks of his ambition to create a Palestinian state. But outside his sprawling compound on the hills of the West Bank town of Ramallah reality on the ground is different - his dream is being built over by ever-expanding Jewish settlements.

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The Palestinian struggle persists
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
by Rami Khouri - (Opinion) May 16, 2012 - 12:00am

Yesterday marked the 64th anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba of May 1948, when Israel was established and Palestinians experienced the combination of exile and occupation that still defines them today.

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