Mahmoud Abbas: 'Of whom should I be afraid?'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Raghida Dergham - (Interview) September 30, 2011 - 12:00am

Raghida Dergham, a columnist for the pan-Arab newspaper Al-Hayat, is a contributing correspondent to the Global Viewpoint Network. She met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in New York earlier this week. It was the first interview with Abbas following his historic Sept. 23 speech before the UN General Assembly. Raghida Dergham: Mr. President, how did you feel at the moment you stood before the General Assembly? At that historic moment as you stood there, how did you feel personally?

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Two Weeks at the United Nations: a New Regional Order Taking Shape
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat
by Raghida Dergham - (Opinion) September 30, 2011 - 12:00am

Over the past two weeks, the UN General Assembly witnessed a historic event that soon became the focus of diplomats and the media equally. The event was none other than the address by the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to the international community, demanding full membership for Palestine at the United Nations, in what has proven to be a stand for pride and one that has changed the balance of power at numerous levels, both regionally and internationally. Yet the Palestinian episode did not alone engross the heads of state and ministers.

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Where Do We Go from Here?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy
by Hussein Ibish - (Opinion) September 30, 2011 - 12:00am

In a perfunctory meeting on Wednesday morning, Sept. 28, as expected, and per its usual procedure for dealing with would-be new United Nations members since the late 1960s, the Security Council referred the Palestinian application to one of its standing committees. The committee -- which meets and votes in secret and requires unanimity to refer the matter back to the Security Council -- is scheduled to begin considering the application on Friday morning. The membership process usually takes weeks, but can take only days (as with the most recent U.N.

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Palestinians press Security Council members to back UN statehood bid
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Jack Khoury - (Analysis) September 30, 2011 - 12:00am

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is due to leave for Colombia next week, in an attempt to convince officials in the South American nation to support a bid for Palestinian statehood at the United Nations Security Council. A Palestinian official speaking with Haaretz on Friday, said that "within the Security Council there are nine nations who had already recognized a Palestinian state, so the Palestinians expect those countries to support the [UN] proposal too."

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Europe: Palestinian statehood bid 'legitimate'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
(Analysis) September 29, 2011 - 12:00am

The European Parliament on Thursday passed a resolution calling the Palestinian bid for statehood "legitimate." "The right of Palestinians to self-determination and to have their own state is unquestionable, as is the right of Israel to exist within safe borders", the resolution said.

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A win-win strategy for the Palestinians
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Andrew Kydd - (Opinion) September 29, 2011 - 12:00am

Everyone knows that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' bid for statehood through the United Nations Security Council will fail. Even if the Palestinians get the nine votes needed , the United States will veto it. And yet the strategy is brilliant. Why? Because the Palestinians win even if they lose.

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Palestinian statehood bid stokes tensions in West Bank
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Joel Greenberg - September 29, 2011 - 12:00am

In this village tucked among the rocky hills of the northern West Bank, flags are flying to celebrate the bid for membership of a Palestinian state in the United Nations. A poster in the village center carries a picture of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who is riding a wave of popularity after defying U.S. pressure and submitting the membership application last week.

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Clinton, Egypt FM call for negotiations
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
September 29, 2011 - 12:00am

The Egyptian foreign minister and his US counterpart called on Israelis and Palestinians to resume talks in a joint press conference on Wednesday. "Negotiations should resume as soon as possible between Israelis and Palestinians with clear terms of reference and with a clearly defined time-line," Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr told reporters after a meeting with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Washington. "Israeli illegal settlement activities continue to be an impediment in the road for peace, and we would like to see them stop," he added.

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PA: We are one vote shy of a majority in Security Council
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
September 29, 2011 - 12:00am

Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki said Thursday that the Palestinians have received approval from eight members of the UN Security Council in support of their bid for full membership to the United Nations. If nine members of the Security Council vote in favor of the Palestinian state bid, the the resolution will pass, unless one of the council's five permanent members uses a veto. While the US, one of those five, has said before that it would veto the Palestinian resolution, it has also stated that it would rather not be forced to use the veto.

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Palestinians could pursue war crimes charges without full statehood: ICC prosecutor
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Star
by Olivia Ward - September 29, 2011 - 12:00am

In the fierce debate over the Palestinian bid for UN membership, one unseen presence has cast a long shadow. It’s that of Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court — the body Israel has long feared would take up Palestinian allegations of war crimes if its statehood bid is successful. A few blocks away from the UN this week, the man at the centre of the controversy said if Palestine becomes a member state, or a lower-ranked non-member observer state, it could be eligible to pursue claims against Israel.

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