Palestinian leader Abbas to propose early presidential, parliamentary elections: official ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua October 2, 2011 - 12:00am RAMALLAH, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- President Mahmoud Abbas will soon propose to the Islamic Hamas Movement to hold early presidential and parliamentary elections in the Palestinian territories, a senior Palestinian official said Sunday. Jamal Mheisen, member of Abbas' Fatah Party's Central Committee, told the "Voice of Palestine" radio that the idea of holding early elections "aims to get the Palestinian people out of the crisis of internal division." » Read more

Say no to rabbis’ racism ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Avi Yesawich - (Opinion) October 3, 2011 - 12:00am It’s difficult for me not to hold a sense of warped admiration for some of the prominent Orthodox rabbis here in Israel. The level of ignorance that many in the rabbinical establishment display in social, political and military affairs never ceases to astonish. Their indissoluble faith in God, Judaism and the Torah grants them the profound audacity to make declarations that surpass any statement that a well-educated, secular individual would have the courage to say even in the privacy of their closest associates, much less to the international media. » Read more

Abbas to visit Colombia for UN bid talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency October 2, 2011 - 12:00am BOGOTA (AFP) -- President Mahmoud Abbas will visit UN Security Council member Colombia on October 11 to discuss his bid for UN member state status, President Juan Manuel Santos said. "The Palestinian leader had planned to come to Central America and he proposed a visit. We said he would be welcome and he will be here on October 11," Santos said in a statement. Colombian Foreign Minister Maria Angela Holguin had announced the visit on Friday, but said the date was still under discussion. » Read more

Will the U.S. Congress kill the two-state solution? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Bradley Burston - (Opinion) October 2, 2011 - 12:00am Why would an Israeli prime minister mount the podium of the United Nations General Assembly to rebut a historic address over Palestinian statehood, only to sound like a man running for Congress in a Tea Party district? He opens by attacking the United Nations, calling it a place of darkness and quoting a fundamentalist leader as branding it a "house of many lies." » Read more

Report: Ashton tells Abbas no cut in EU aid ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency October 3, 2011 - 12:00am RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton told President Mahmoud Abbas that the EU would not cut aid to the Palestinian Authority after Palestine's bid for UN membership, media reports said on Monday. The Ramallah-based government is facing a financial shortfall after the US Congress declined to transfer $200 million in aid to the Palestinian Authority. The EU will not block aid payments, Ramallah-based daily al-Quds reported, quoting European sources. » Read more

Israel and Palestinians must accept the other's legitimacy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Akiva Eldar - (Opinion) October 3, 2011 - 12:00am The response from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his flock of spokesmen to international criticism regarding the approval of construction plans for Gilo recalls the joke about the servant who pinched the king's behind. En route to the gallows, the servant apologized: He thought it was the queen's behind. » Read more

Israelis and Palestinians embrace only parts of peace initiative ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Edmund Sanders - October 2, 2011 - 12:00am Reporting from Jerusalem— Israelis and Palestinians are struggling to respond to the latest international peace initiative, with each side embracing parts they liked and dismissing those they didn't. More than a week after the group known as the Mideast quartet launched its effort to get the two sides back to the bargaining table, neither Israel nor the Palestinian Authority has formally accepted or rejected the initiative as a whole, reflecting an apparent desire to avoid alienating the body, which is composed of the U.S., European Union, United Nations and Russia. » Read more

Two Weeks at the United Nations: a New Regional Order Taking Shape ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat by Raghida Dergham - (Opinion) September 30, 2011 - 12:00am Over the past two weeks, the UN General Assembly witnessed a historic event that soon became the focus of diplomats and the media equally. The event was none other than the address by the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to the international community, demanding full membership for Palestine at the United Nations, in what has proven to be a stand for pride and one that has changed the balance of power at numerous levels, both regionally and internationally. Yet the Palestinian episode did not alone engross the heads of state and ministers. » Read more

Palestinian Authority risks funding squeeze ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Vita Bekker - October 2, 2011 - 12:00am TEL AVIV // The Palestinian Authority faces possible financial ruin for defying Israeli and American opposition to its quest to seek statehood recognition from the United Nations. Israel's finance minister, Yuval Steinitz, has repeatedly threatened in recent weeks that Israel would stop transferring the customs and tax revenue that it collects on the Palestinian Authority's behalf. That US$1.3 billion (Dh4.8bn) in annual fees is critical to the Palestinian Authority, accounting for about two thirds of its revenue. » Read more

Mahmoud Abbas: 'Of whom should I be afraid?' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Raghida Dergham - (Interview) September 30, 2011 - 12:00am Raghida Dergham, a columnist for the pan-Arab newspaper Al-Hayat, is a contributing correspondent to the Global Viewpoint Network. She met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in New York earlier this week. It was the first interview with Abbas following his historic Sept. 23 speech before the UN General Assembly. Raghida Dergham: Mr. President, how did you feel at the moment you stood before the General Assembly? At that historic moment as you stood there, how did you feel personally? » Read more