Palestine joins UNESCO as full member ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency October 31, 2011 - 12:00am BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- The UN's cultural agency voted to admit Palestine as a full member on Monday, weeks before the Security Council is due to report on Palestine's bid for full membership of the United Nations. Palestine overcame US and Israeli opposition to join the cultural body, with UNESCO saying that 107 member states voted in favor, 14 states voted against, with 52 abstentions. The resolution needed 81 votes to pass, as abstentions are not counted, UNESCO said. » Read more

Iran strike? Just say no ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Daniel Friedmann - (Opinion) October 31, 2011 - 12:00am As expected, the terror regime in Gaza continues to constitute an open, bleeding wound for Israel. Yet according to media reports, Defense Minister Barak, who failed in handling the Hamas rule in Gaza, seeks to engage in bigger issues. The Gaza Strip is a minor issue for him. He has his sights set on Iran and the nuclear bomb threat, and Prime Minister Netanyahu is there with him. The situation reached the point where former Mossad Director Meir Dagan felt the need to openly warn against this dangerous move. » Read more

U.N. agency approves full Palestinian membership ATFP World Press Roundup Article from CNN by Josh Levs - October 31, 2011 - 12:00am (CNN) -- The U.N. agency focusing on education and science voted Monday to accept a Palestinian bid for full membership, in the first vote on the matter by a part of the world body. The vote, which required two-thirds approval by UNESCO members, passed with 107 votes in favor, 14 against, and 52 abstentions. The vote is separate from the Palestinian bid for full membership in the United Nations. Representatives of several countries pointed out that currently that bid is being discussed by members of the U.N. Security Council. » Read more

Israel's radical leaders tempted to drag us into war ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Sefi Rachlevsky - (Opinion) October 31, 2011 - 12:00am Under normal circumstances, the military establishment is to the right of the political establishment. The reason is obvious: The singer wants to sing, the writer wants to write, and the division commander wants to mobilize divisions. When Moshe Dayan said he would rather restrain galloping horses than prod lazy mules, he was not referring only to his generals. It is a common pattern on the world stage. Only rarely are the roles reversed for the military to find itself to be more moderate and circumspect than the political leadership. » Read more

Abbas to dissolve Palestinian Authority ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat by Ali El-saleh - October 30, 2011 - 12:00am London, Asharq Al-Awsat- Despite a number of denials by members of Fatah Movement regarding Israeli press reports that Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas intends on dissolving the Palestinian Authority [PA], sources have stated to Asharq Al-Awsat that President Abbas intends on reverting the situation in the Palestinian territories to what it had been before the creation of the PA in 1994, which means handing over the management affairs of the West Bank to the administration of the Israeli occupation, which means, in other words, dissolving the PA. » Read more

Israel must end the Gaza blockade ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz (Editorial) October 31, 2011 - 12:00am This weekend the bloody ritual in the south exacted the life of a resident of Ashkelon, interfered with the lives of thousands of citizens and caused extensive damage to property. As in previous rounds, after the inhabitants of the region - on both sides of the border - paid the price of the violence a truce was declared, which was violated in short order. The spokesman of the military arm of Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip announced that "the organization reserves the right to react to any aggression from the Israeli side," and boasted that "it is the enemy who will beg for a cease-fire." » Read more

UN envoy: Israel must take Abbas threats to dismantle PA seriously ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Barak Ravid - October 31, 2011 - 12:00am Israel must take heed of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ threats to resign and dismantle the PA, a UN official who is close to the PA president told Haaretz, adding that the deadlock between Israel and the Palestinians could cause violence to erupt in the West Bank, and the rest of the world will not bail out Israel if that happens. » Read more

Israeli ex-soldier jailed for leaking secret papers ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Alertnet October 30, 2011 - 12:00am JERUSALEM, Oct 30 (Reuters) - An Israeli court sentenced a former soldier to four and a half years in prison on Sunday for leaking classified military documents to a newspaper, which later reported allegations of a policy to assassinate Palestinian militants. Anat Kamm, 24, was convicted in February of possessing and distributing secret information, after striking a plea bargain with Tel Aviv District Court, where judges agreed in exchange to drop more serious charges of harming state security. » Read more

Arab League says will look at UN bid alternatives ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency October 31, 2011 - 12:00am DOHA (AFP) -- Arab League foreign ministers said Sunday they would look into alternative action if their efforts fail to secure full Palestinian membership of the United Nations. "We support the Palestinian demand for full UN membership," ministers said in a statement after talks in Doha. But the Arab League agreed to form a "committee of experts to study legal and political alternatives." » Read more

Arab Rejection of ’47 Partition Plan Was Error, Palestinian Leader Says ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times October 28, 2011 - 12:00am The Palestinian president said Friday that the Arab world had erred in rejecting the United Nations’ 1947 plan to partition Palestine into a Palestinian and a Jewish state. The Palestinian and Arab refusal set off widespread fighting, then Arab militaries attacked Israel after it declared independence the following year, a war the Arab states lost. “It was our mistake,” the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, above, said in a rare interview on Israeli television. “It was an Arab mistake as a whole.” Referring to Israel, he added, “But do they punish us for this mistake for 64 years?”