UN recognition
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
(Editorial) September 8, 2011 - 12:00am

On Sept. 20, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is expected to ask the UN General Assembly to recognize Palestinian statehood and give it a seat at the organization. As things stand, that will not happen. Although the Palestinians can count on the support of a handsome majority among the 193 members of the UN, Washington is opposed and threatens to use its veto in the Security Council to block the request. (It is with the Security Council, not the General Assembly, that the decision to grant UN membership rests.)

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US and Israel step up efforts to block Palestinian statehood bid
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Vita Bekker - September 8, 2011 - 12:00am

Israel and the US are drawing on every weapon in their diplomatic armoury to prevent Palestinians taking their statehood bid to the United Nations this month. Their efforts to stop the Palestinians from pursuing UN recognition include dispatching a US diplomatic team to hold talks with Palestinian leaders, peppering the media with Israeli pledges of a renewal of talks and issuing warnings that UN recognition would be a blow to peace. Nevertheless, there is a gathering sense that the Palestinian bid may go forward despite the odds it has faced from the start.

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Palestine statehood won’t cancel right of return
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
by Annie Slemrod - (Opinion) September 8, 2011 - 12:00am

A successful statehood bid at the United Nations would not stand in the way of Lebanon’s Palestinian refugees eventually exercising their right of return, Palestine’s Social Affairs Minister said Wednesday. In an interview with The Daily Star, Majeda al-Masri discussed some of the stickier aspects of the potential Palestinian state, and how it might affect the future of Lebanon’s approximately 400,000 Palestinian refugees.

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PM takes wrong course on Palestinian statehood
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Canberra Times
by Peter Rodgers - (Opinion) September 8, 2011 - 12:00am

Julia Gillard's apparent opposition to the looming United Nations General Assembly resolution on a Palestinian state may all but sink Australia's hopes for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council. If the resolution eventuates, and if Australia votes no, Australia's claims to be an independent player on the world stage will be a mockery. Once more, the country will have publicly bedded down with Israel and the US and a handful of the latter's irrelevant mendicants.

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Palestinian Statehood and the International Law of Democracy
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jurist
by Guy Goodwin Gill - (Opinion) September 8, 2011 - 12:00am

In August 2011, I drafted an opinion on certain legal questions put to me regarding the issue of "popular representation," so far as they might arise in the context of the push to have the State of Palestine admitted as a member of the UN. The opinion provoked considerable comment, including by those who admitted to not having read it, but the overall result appears to have been a stimulating debate about the linkages between statehood, UN membership and representation of the people of Palestine.

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Palestinians Seeking Statehood at UN May Get Same Rights as Pope
Media Mention of Ghaith al-Omari In Bloomberg - 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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Train Wreck in Turtle Bay
In Print by Ziad Asali - Foreign Policy (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.

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Palestinian Leader Says U.S. Is ‘Too Late’ on U.N. Bid
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - (Analysis) September 8, 2011 - 12:00am

RAMALLAH, West Bank — The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, said Thursday that last-ditch American and international efforts to prevent the Palestinians from applying for membership in the United Nations this month were “too late.” He said the Palestinians still intended to submit an application for recognition of Palestinian statehood to the Security Council as a first step, at risk of a confrontation with the United States.

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'What's Wrong with the Palestinians Appealing to the UN?'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Speigel International
by Christoph Sydow, Volkhard Windfuhr - (Interview) September 7, 2011 - 12:00am

Pro-democracy uprisings are continuing in the Middle East and the Palestinians could soon declare statehood. SPIEGEL spoke with Arab League General Secretary Nabil Elaraby about the Syrian regime's use of violence against protesters and how the US has failed to force Israel to negotiate in good faith. SPIEGEL: Libya has been liberated from Moammar Gadhafi's autocratic rule. Tensions in Syria, meanwhile, have already claimed more civilian lives than the revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia combined, and yet the Arab League is holding back. Why are you going easy on the Syrian regime?

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Israel faces growing isolation with key UN vote on Palestinian statehood looming
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
September 7, 2011 - 12:00am

Rising tensions with some of its closest and most important allies have left Israel increasingly isolated ahead of a momentous vote on Palestinian independence at the United Nations. Troubles with Turkey, Egypt and even the U.S. are adding to Israel’s headaches ahead of the vote, which is shaping up to be a global expression of discontent against the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

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