In Seeking Statehood, Palestinians Stir Concern
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Ethan Bronner - September 10, 2011 - 12:00am

RAMALLAH, West Bank — Less than two weeks before Palestinians plan to defy the Obama administration by requesting membership and statehood recognition at the United Nations, there is a growing fear that the Arab-Israeli conflict is entering an explosive new phase. A Palestinian decision to shift its statehood quest toward international legal and political pressure on Israel, combined with Israeli fear and truculence at a time of regional upheaval, has many predicting disaster, especially after the storming of Israel’s Cairo embassy and the expulsion of its ambassador from Turkey.

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Blair: Palestinian UN statehood bid is unilateral cry of frustration
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Reuters - (Analysis) September 9, 2011 - 12:00am

A Palestinian bid for greater recognition at the United Nations this month would be a cry of frustration, Quartet Middle East envoy Tony Blair said, calling for a new campaign to get Israeli-Palestinian peace talks back on track. The Palestinians have vowed to upgrade their United Nations status, either by seeking full United Nations membership for a Palestinian state in the Gaza Strip and West Bank or recognition as a "non-member state."

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Turn crisis into opportunity
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
(Editorial) September 9, 2011 - 12:00am

The Americans are making a last-ditch effort to convince Palestinians to halt their plan to ask the UN later this month to recognize a Palestinian state along the 1967 lines. The US – as well as other Western countries such as Italy and Germany, not to mention Israel – would rightly like to see the Palestinians scrap their unilateral push for statehood and replace it with serious dialogue with Israel that leads to a negotiated peace agreement acceptable to both sides. Unfortunately, it appears highly unlikely that Washington’s efforts will succeed.

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A Palestinian September
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat
by Husam Itani - (Opinion) September 9, 2011 - 12:00am

One of the biggest victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks was the second Palestinian uprising.

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Dueling experts discuss UN Palestinian statehood vote
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Brandeis University Crown Center for Middle East Studies
by Adam Cohen - (Analysis) September 9, 2011 - 12:00am

Visiting campus to discuss the U.N. Palestinian vote question taking place later in the month, David Makovsky of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and Ghaith al-Omari of the American Task Force on Palestine wanted to do more than simply examine the current situation. Their goal, according to Makovksy, “is to get college students … to look forward to solutions that give dignity to both sides” in a conflict that tends to “generate more heat and less light.”

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US vows to veto Palestinian statehood bid
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
by Arshad Mohammed - (Analysis) September 9, 2011 - 12:00am

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The United States said explicitly for the first time on Thursday it would veto a Palestinian bid for full UN membership, drawing an immediate rebuff from the Palestinians who vowed to press ahead. George Mitchell, a former US envoy, said he saw little chance of talking the Palestinians out of seeking full UN membership for a state in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, a step requiring a vote in the Security Council where the United States holds a veto.

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UN chief: Palestinian statehood 'long overdue'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
(Analysis) September 9, 2011 - 12:00am

CANBERRA (AFP) -- United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Palestinian statehood was "long overdue", a day after its leadership launched a campaign to become the world body's 194th member state. "The two state vision where Israel and Palestinians can live ... side by side in peace and security -- that is a still a valid vision and I fully support it," he told reporters in Canberra. "And I support also the statehood of Palestinians; an independent, sovereign state of Palestine. It has been long overdue."

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Train Wreck in Turtle Bay
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy
by Ziad Asali - (Opinion) September 8, 2011 - 12:00am

Late September is fast approaching, and the stage seems set for yet another crisis in the Middle East. Palestinian leaders are determined to push for greater international recognition of their state at the upcoming annual session of the U.N. General Assembly. A large number of countries are reportedly poised to vote in Palestine's favor, much to the chagrin of the Israeli government, which has mounted a vigorous lobbying campaign against recognition. COMMENTS (9) SHARE: Twitter Reddit Buzz More...

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Palestinians Seeking Statehood at UN May Get Same Rights as Pope
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bloomberg
by Flavia Krause-Jackson - September 8, 2011 - 12:00am

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas won’t walk away from the United Nations General Assembly this month with the sought-after statehood. More likely, he’ll get parity with the world’s smallest state led by Pope Benedict XVI. Support for the upgrade in Palestinian status at the UN from “entity” to “non-member state” is likely if the matter is brought to a vote in the 193-member assembly, where a two- thirds majority, or 129 votes, is required.

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Palestinians: Differences with US on UN bid 'still wide'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
September 8, 2011 - 12:00am

The differences with Washington over the UN bid are "still wide," a senior Palestinian official said on Wednesday after talks with US envoys in the West Bank city of Ramallah. "The gap between the Palestinian and US positions is still wide after the meeting," presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina told AFP. "There are efforts being made and an agreement to continue communication with the US administration and the (Middle East) Quartet envoy," he said.

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