Is Abbas going for broke?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
by Walid Awad - (Analysis) September 20, 2011 - 12:00am

Soon after his inauguration as president of the United States, Barack Obama embarked on important visits to capitals of Arab and Muslim nations. He made speeches in Cairo and Istanbul to try and persuade Arabs and Muslims to alter their negative views of the US and its policies in the region. To an extent, he succeeded. American flags were raised and even embraced by Libyan demonstrators, and US flags are no longer burned when Arab masses demonstrate to demand freedom and liberty.

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The Palestinian Statehood Gambit
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Wall Street Journal
(Analysis) September 20, 2011 - 12:00am

Are Palestinians entitled to a state? Before certain readers erupt at the mere suggestion that Palestinians may not be so entitled, we'd note that the Kurds—one of the oldest ethnic groups in the world—don't have a state. Neither do the Tamils of Sri Lanka, the Uighurs and Tibetans of China, the Basques of Spain, the Chechens of Russia or the Flemish of Belgium. The list of peoples with plausible claims to statehood is as long as the current number of U.N. member states, if not longer.

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Capitol Letter / Obama is stuck between a veto and a hard place
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Natasha Mozgovaya - (Blog) September 20, 2011 - 12:00am

As President Barack Obama prepares to address the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday, many recall what he said to the body last year when he devoted over a quarter of his speech to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. One particular phrase drew much attention: "When we come back here next year, we can have an agreement that will lead to a new member of the United Nations - an independent, sovereign state of Palestine, living in peace with Israel."

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Journey from Oslo to New York after 20 Years
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat
by George Semaan - (Opinion) September 20, 2011 - 12:00am

All the efforts to prevent the Palestinian authority from heading to the United Nations to ensure the proclamation of the state were expected to fail. The Israeli prime minister who kept knocking on Europe’s doors among others after he knocked on the United States’ doors to thwart this step maintained his position. He wants unconditional negotiations. This is the same position that froze the talks over a year ago, and the one that foiled all the American efforts to activate the settlement and reach the promised Palestinian state.

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Palestine UN bid difficult, says Nick Clegg
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent
by Joe Churcher, Sam Lister - (Analysis) September 20, 2011 - 12:00am

Britain faces a "difficult judgment" over whether to back Palestinian statehood at the United Nations, Nick Clegg said today amid reports of a coalition split on the issue. The Deputy Prime Minister said there had been "debates" at the top of Government over the position to adopt but said it would be unhelpful to air them in public. Diplomatic efforts are under way to persuade Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas not to table a Security Council statehood bid - which is opposed by the US and Israel.

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Palestine between fact and fiction
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from NOW Lebanon
by Hussein Ibish - (Opinion) September 20, 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.

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The Tsuris
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from New York Magazine
by John Heilemann - (Opinion) September 20, 2011 - 12:00am

The last time Barack Obama and Benjamin Netanyahu shared each other’s company, you could say that the encounter did not go well—if by “not well” you mean abysmally. This was on May 20, the day after Obama gave his big speech on the Arab Spring, in which he unleashed a tsunami of tsuris by endorsing the use of Israel’s 1967 borders “with mutually agreed [land] swaps” as the basis for a two-state solution with the Palestinians.

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Prosor: Security Council vote on PA state bid unclear
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Herb Keinon - (Analysis) September 19, 2011 - 12:00am

Israeli envoy to UN says Portugal undecided on resolution vote, key to US efforts to vote down bid without using veto. Israeli ambassador to the United Nations Ron Prosor on Monday said that it was still unclear if the UN Security Council would vote to recognize a Palestinian state because Portugal remained undecided on the issue.

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Palestinians may delay vote
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Politico
by MJ Lee - (Analysis) September 19, 2011 - 12:00am

The United States is working on a last-ditch plan to head off a vote on Palestinian statehood this week by having Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas submit a letter for recognition to the United Nations Security Council without actually holding a vote, CNN reports.

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Palestinian leader's path to statehood is a dangerous road to nowhere
Media Mention of Ziad Asali In The Augusta Chronicle - September 19, 2011 - 12:00am

This week, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas intends to propose a resolution requesting admission for a Palestinian state to the United Nations. Refusing to return to direct negotiations with Israel, Abbas has chosen instead to pursue a unilateral declaration of independence, ceasing all efforts to reach an agreement through negotiations. Unfortunately, if Abbas goes ahead with his plan at the United Nations, no one will suffer more than the Palestinian people themselves.

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