News analysis: Palestinian statehood could end agreements with Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
by Adam Gonn - (Analysis) September 2, 2011 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM, Sep. 1 (Xinhua) -- All the agreements between the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) and Israel may end up if the PNA decides to declare an independent state after winning the backing of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly, Israeli Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren warned in a recent interview. Oren argued that "we have a lot of agreements with the Palestinian Authority, we have no agreements with a 'Government of Palestine.'"

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EU foreign ministers to meet on PA statehood bid
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Herb Keinon, Benjamin Weinthal - (Analysis) September 2, 2011 - 12:00am

The EU’s 27 foreign minister’s are scheduled to meet in Poland on Friday, in a session expected to go a long way toward determining how the bloc – whose votes have been courted heavily by both Israel and the Palestinians – will vote on the PA’s UN statehood recognition bid later this month. The meeting comes two days after French President Nicolas Sarkozy told a conference of French ambassadors that it was very important for the EU to speak together on this matter.

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UN ambassador: Efforts for Palestinian state continuing
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Masry Al-Youm
by Gomaa Hamadalla - September 2, 2011 - 12:00am

Diplomatic efforts pushing to have Palestine recognized as a full member state by the UN have been continuing on two fronts, said Maged Abdel Fattah, Egypt's ambassador to the UN, in a press statement Thursday. The first path is to guarantee that two-thirds of the member states of the UN General Assembly vote for the recognition of the state's pre-1967 borders with Israel, giving Palestinians the right to participate in meetings of the UN's international organizations, Abdel Fattah said.

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A State of Palestine would backfire on its own people
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Medhi Hasan - (Opinion) September 2, 2011 - 12:00am

Rejoice! On 20 September, the United Nations will welcome a new member: the "State of Palestine". Senior Palestinian Authority (PA) officials believe they have secured the support of enough countries to pass a resolution in the UN general assembly recognising a Palestinian state. There is, however, little to celebrate. For the first time in my life, I find myself in agreement with Binyamin Netanyahu. The loathsome Israeli prime minister is opposed to the Palestinian bid for statehood – and so, reluctantly, am I. But for very different reasons to "Bibi".

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The Palestinians' Statehood Dilemma: Full U.N. Membership or Observer Status?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Time
by Karl Vick - (Opinion) September 1, 2011 - 12:00am

It looks like a sure loser: the Palestinian bid for admission to the United Nations as a sovereign state. Never mind that a large majority of the U.N. General Assembly would vote "Yes." U.N. rules clearly state that all applications must first pass the Security Council, where the United States stands poised to exercise its veto, at the behest of Israel.

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A bad bill for everyone
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Economist
(Opinion) September 1, 2011 - 12:00am

The big news in Ramallah, where a few extremely generous and well-informed journalists were nice enough to show me around on Sunday, is the expected move by the Palestinian Authority (PA) this month to push for recognition of a Palestinian state at the UN. This is a highly complicated and sensitive issue which many Palestinians view with some trepidation.

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Popular apathy and cumulative skepticism over September
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
by Akram Atallah Alaysa - (Analysis) September 1, 2011 - 12:00am

Most Palestinians, varied as they may be politically, intellectually and socially, often draw a connection between the Declaration of Independence that Yasser Arafat announced in 1988 and the current UN- based battle for statehood.

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Christian group launches fight against U.N. vote on Palestinian state
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
September 1, 2011 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM (JTA) -- An organization that claims to represent 200 million Christians worldwide has launched a campaign opposing a U.N. vote for a unilateral Palestinian state. Proclaiming Justice to the Nations kicked off the drive Thursday with a proclamation that will be presented to the United Nations in September, stating its mission to encourage U.N. member states to rethink their votes in favor of Palestinian statehood, to support the Israeli government's rejection of negotiations based on the pre-1967 lines and to recognize Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people.

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Palestinian statehood opinion causes uproar
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Jazeera English
by Nour Samaha - (Analysis) September 1, 2011 - 12:00am

A legal opinion recently leaked to Al Jazeera highlighting serious ramifications for Palestinians' planned bid for statehood at the UN in September has created further divisions between "pro" and "anti" statehood camps, with each side claiming the other is damaging future prospects for the Palestinians. The leaked opinion, written by Oxford University law professor Guy Goodwin-Gill, was designed to "flag the matters requiring attention, if a substantial proportion of the people are not to be accidentally disenfranchised".

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Diplomats: EU split on support of Palestinians' UN statehood bid
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
September 1, 2011 - 12:00am

The European Union remains undecided whether to recognize the Palestinian push for recognition at the United Nations, diplomats said Thursday. EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said Thursday the question remained "hypothetical" because no resolution had been tabled yet. Ashton said the EU's 28 members were united "over the most critical issue, which is to try to get the talks moving," and reiterated the bloc's position that Israeli settlement-building in the occupied territories is illegal under international law.

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