November 29th

Abbas to address UN ahead of upgrade vote ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency November 28, 2012 - 1:00am BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- President Mahmoud Abbas will address the UN General Assembly in New York before it votes on upgrading the PLO's status on Thursday, a Foreign Ministry official said Wednesday. Omar Awadallah, who heads the ministry's UN department, told Ma'an the vote was expected at around midnight Jerusalem time. Representatives of some member states will also address the assembly before voting to explain their positions, Awadallah said. » Read more

Falling for Hamas’s media manipulation ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Michael B. Oren - (Opinion) November 28, 2012 - 1:00am What makes better headlines? Is it numbing figures such as the 8,000 Palestinian rockets fired at Israel since it unilaterally withdrew from Gaza in 2005, and the 42.5 percent of Israeli children living near the Gaza border who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder? Or is it high-resolution images of bombed-out buildings in Gaza and emotional stories of bereaved Palestinians? The last, obviously, as demonstrated by much of the media coverage of Israel’s recent operation against Hamas. » Read more

Palestine: theatricals at the UN ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian (Editorial) November 28, 2012 - 1:00am A "crashing wave of applause" filled the hall in which the general assembly was meeting in Flushing Meadow Park, the temporary headquarters of the new United Nations, when the French representative voted for the resolution which partitioned Palestine. The French vote was taken as a signal that the resolution would prevail. "The chamber," wrote Alistair Cooke, our correspondent, "was crackling with currents of elation and despair." » Read more

Germany backtracks on Palestinian bid; Israeli official: 'We lost Europe' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Barak Ravid - November 29, 2012 - 1:00am Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian people are enjoying sweeping support in the lead up to Thursday night's vote at the UN General Assembly over whether to upgrade the Palestinians' standing to non-member observer status. By Thursday morning Israel time, that support had turned into a full-on landslide, as more European nations decided to alter their positions, essentially leaving Israel to fend for itself. » Read more

Supporting Palestine at the UN today is a vote for peace in the Middle East ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Hanan Ashrawi - (Opinion) November 29, 2012 - 1:00am It might seem stating the obvious that Palestinians and Israelis find solutions only through negotiation, until you look at the record. It is a story in which one side makes proposals for nothing in return; one side makes agreements that the other side breaks; and one side keeps commitments that the other side ignores. » Read more

The time is now: Support Palestine’s UN bid ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Nabeel Shaath - (Opinion) November 29, 2012 - 1:00am Today, Palestine will ask the UN General Assembly to vote on a resolution to enhance its status to that of Observer State. This step will be a milestone in realigning international efforts to achieve peace in the region, within the framework of international law and the values embodied in the UN Charter. There should be no doubt: Supporting this initiative will create a new, positive, and effective momentum for a just path to peace in our region.   » Read more

Germany to abstain from UN Palestine vote ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters November 29, 2012 - 1:00am BERLIN (Reuters) -- Germany said it would abstain in a vote on Thursday at the UN General Assembly on changing the Palestinian Authority's diplomatic status, citing fears that it could be counterproductive to the peace process. "We did not take this decision lightly. Germany shares the goal of a Palestinian state ... but the decisive steps towards real statehood can only be the result of negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians," Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said in a statement. » Read more

What will Palestinians do after the U.N. vote? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post (Editorial) November 28, 2012 - 1:00am THE PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY will almost certainly win a vote Thursday in the U.N. General Assembly granting observer status to a state of Palestine. But it will be a pale triumph for President Mahmoud Abbas and his West Bank-based Fatah movement. » Read more

The Palestinians’ U.N. Bid ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times (Editorial) November 28, 2012 - 1:00am On Thursday, a week after the Gaza cease-fire between Hamas and Israel, the Palestinian Authority, which controls parts of the West Bank, is scheduled to ask the United Nations General Assembly to upgrade the Palestinian status to nonmember observer state. » Read more

Strong European support for Palestinian statehood move ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Louis Charbonneau - November 28, 2012 - 1:00am UNITED NATIONS, Nov 28 (Reuters) - A Palestinian bid for indirect U.N. recognition of statehood received vows of support from more than a dozen European nations as of Wednesday, and diplomats said this backing may deter Israel from harsh retaliation against the Palestinian Authority for seeking to upgrade its U.N. status. » Read more