Palestinian Statehood | The American Task Force on Palestine

Obama at the UN on Israel-Palestine: Good Politics, Poor Diplomacy
In Print by Hussein Ibish - The Atlantic (Opinion) - September 22, 2011 - 12:00am

If you'd wanted to gauge how strained relations between the Obama administration and the Palestinian leadership have become, all you'd need do is watch the shaking heads of the Palestinian representatives at the United Nations General Assembly during the U.S. President's speech there on Wednesday. Obama reiterated the American commitment to a two-state solution and the creation of an independent Palestine, both established U.S. policy. Rhetorically, however, his speech recognized most of the core elements of the Israeli narrative but virtually none of the Palestinian one.

U.S. Jews give Obama mixed reviews for 'pro-Israel' UN speech
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Natasha Mozgovaya - September 22, 2011 - 12:00am

It was quite clear that U.S. President Barack Obama's speech, which Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said he "would sign with both hands," would draw mixed reactions. Its failure to go into details about the Israeli-Palestinian issue was assumed to be due to a combination of re-election concerns and those of slipping Jewish support. But the U.S. Jewish organizations provided varying - in some cases even polar - responses to the speech.

Europe's diluted solution to Palestinian aspirations
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC World News
by Matthew Price - September 22, 2011 - 12:00am

The Palestinians' drive to achieve statehood has had diplomats around the world scrambling to decide their positions - not least within the EU, where it is testing the limits of a common foreign policy. The battle started several months ago, and the battleground was Europe. Cables were sent out across the continent's EU member states. Orders were given: lobby high officials, gather the backing of local supporters, flood the media with sympathetic articles.

Netanyahu, Lieberman praise Obama’s U.N. speech, but Palestinians pan it
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
September 22, 2011 - 12:00am

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked President Obama for his speech at the United Nations General Assembly, but the Palestinians criticized the address. Netanyahu met with Obama at the United Nations on Wednesday afternoon after the president’s speech and reportedly expressed his appreciation for the address. The speech was praised as well by Israel’s hawkish foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman. “I congratulate President Obama, and I am ready to sign on this speech with both hands,” Lieberman said at a news conference.

Ready for Statehood
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from International Herald Tribune
by Jonas Gahr Store - (Opinion) September 22, 2011 - 12:00am

The main issue before the United Nations General Assembly this week is the Palestinian quest for recognition. Less attention is being paid to a related, and no less important question: Are the Palestinians capable and ready to run a state?

Palestinians vent anger at U.S. over statehood issue
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from McClatchy News
by Sheera Frenkel - (Analysis) September 22, 2011 - 12:00am

RAMALLAH, West Bank — Palestinian protesters burned effigies of President Barack Obama and stomped on U.S. flags Thursday in one of the largest recent displays of anti-American sentiment here, sparked by the United States' pledge to veto any request for U.N. membership for a Palestinian state. Gathered outside the residence of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who's expected to address the U.N. General Assembly in New York on Friday, the protesters denounced Obama, whom they accused of siding with Israel in the lengthy impasse over peace negotiations.

Poll: 70% of Israelis say Israel should accept UN decision
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
September 21, 2011 - 12:00am

Israel should accept the decision if the UN recognizes a Palestinian state, about 70 percent of Israelis answered in a recent Hebrew University poll.

Palestine between fact and fiction
Media Mention of Hussein Ibish In NOW Lebanon - September 21, 2011 - 12:00am

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ announcement that he intends to seek full United Nations membership from the Security Council raises a wide range of interesting, and in some ways alarming, scenarios for the coming weeks. However, the move is unlikely to ultimately bring Palestinians any closer to actual independence.

Arafat Aide: Stop the U.N. Vote
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast
September 21, 2011 - 12:00am

A former peace negotiator with Israel who served for years as a top aide to Yasir Arafat says President Mahmoud Abbas’s bid for membership with the United Nations is a mistake that will result in Palestinian suffering. Mohammed Rachid, who left his position with the Palestinian Authority months after Arafat died and rarely gives interviews, told The Daily Beast that, much like the second intifada 11 years ago, the campaign could cost Palestinians their relationship with key allies and their international legitimacy.

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