Palestinian UN bid puts Obama on defensive
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Alertnet
by Matt Spetalnick - (Analysis) September 15, 2011 - 12:00am

WASHINGTON, Sept 15 (Reuters) - When President Barack Obama brokered the relaunch of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks last September and set a one-year goal for reaching a deal, few thought he would succeed where so many others had failed. But hardly anyone could have predicted that Obama would now be facing one of the sharpest blows to U.S. prestige in decades of Middle East diplomacy -- a Palestinian threat to defy him and push for statehood at the United Nations next week.

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Israel prevents Palestinians from free movement
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Google News
by Diaa Hadid - September 15, 2011 - 12:00am

Ahmad Ayyash once had a construction job in Israel, earning good money. Now he is a goat herder struggling to eke out a living, barred from working in Israel and restricted from entering his olive grove next to this West Bank village. Ayyash's story is familiar to Palestinians, who face a complicated system of travel restrictions that Israel mostly developed during the height of violence between them and Palestinians, hoping to prevent militants from reaching the Jewish state and West Bank settlements.

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Israel - ‘Yes’
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Uri Savir - (Opinion) September 15, 2011 - 12:00am

On November 29, 1947, the people of the future Israel were glued to the radio, listening to the United Nations vote on the partition of Palestine into a Jewish state and an Arab state. We can still hear in our collective memory the speaker announce – “Soviet Union – Yes, United States – Yes” and then the majority affirmative vote.

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Israel does not want a Palestinian state. Period.
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Gideon Levy - (Opinion) September 15, 2011 - 12:00am

What will we tell the world next week, at the UN? What could we say? Whether in the General Assembly or the Security Council, we will be exposed in all our nakedness: Israel does not want a Palestinian state. Period. And it doesn't have a single persuasive argument against the establishment and the international recognition of such a state.

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Only Palestinians can create a new Palestine
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Tareq Baconi - (Opinion) September 15, 2011 - 12:00am

The flurry of activity around the coming UN vote on Palestinian statehood suggests this is a key moment in the struggle for self-determination. While that might be the case, it is not because of the vote itself. Independently of the vote's outcome, the Palestinian move has already had a positive impact on the ground. It has also transformed the way Palestinians are approaching their struggle by precipitating a drive for self-empowerment in anticipation of this moment.

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Will the US declare independence at UN?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
by John V. Whitbeck - (Opinion) September 15, 2011 - 12:00am

WHILE many questions relating to the State of Palestine's imminent application for UN membership are being raised and vigorously debated, one relevant question has not been. That question is how American national interests would be harmed if Palestine were to be admitted as the 194th member of the United Nations, as it clearly would be in the absence of an American veto. Perhaps the question is not being raised and debated because no potential adverse consequences — at least for the United States and the American people — can be envisioned and cited to justify a veto.

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Palestinians Resist Appeals to Halt U.N. Statehood Bid
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Ethan Bronner - (Analysis) September 15, 2011 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM — Senior American and European diplomats tried without success on Thursday to persuade the Palestinian leaders to skip or modify their planned United Nations membership bid, officials involved said. Riad Malki, the Palestinian foreign minister, told foreign journalists in Ramallah that the Palestinians would continue to listen to suggestions but that barring something very persuasive, President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority would submit a full membership application to the United Nations Security Council next Friday.

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A weak Palestinian Authority might lose control after vote
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Tony Karon - (Opinion) September 14, 2011 - 12:00am

The Arab Spring may have had little effect on the governance of the Palestinian territories, save for a few demonstrations that sparked a patently insincere unity agreement between Fatah and Hamas, both of which have been preoccupied with avoiding blame. But the Arab Fall may yet bring the collapse of the Palestinian Authority.

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Ten reasons Palestine is right to bring its case to the UN
Media Mention of Hussein Ibish In Haaretz - September 14, 2011 - 12:00am

There's a certain implied danger in the idea of playing darts in the dark. Particularly when there are numerous players in a crowded room, and not one has a well-defined target. For Mahmoud Abbas' Palestine, for Benjamin Netanyahu's Israel, and no less, for the Obama administration, the effort to bring Palestinian statehood to the United Nations for endorsement has raised profound fears, prompting internal debates fully as bitter as they have been largely fruitless, with no dependably favorable outcome in sight – for anyone.

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U.S. Scrambles to Avert Palestinian Vote at U.N.
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by David Kirkpatrick - September 14, 2011 - 12:00am

The United States faced increasing pressure on Tuesday as the Palestinian quest for statehood gained support from Turkey and other countries, even as the Obama administration sought an 11th-hour compromise that would avoid a confrontation at the United Nations next week. With only days to go before world leaders gather in New York, the maneuvering became an exercise in brinkmanship as the administration wrestles with roiling tensions in the region, including a sharp deterioration of relations between three of its closest allies in the region: Egypt, Israel and Turkey.

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