The long road ahead for Palestine's statehood aspiration ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Joseph Dana, Omar Rahman - October 7, 2011 - 12:00am On September 23, Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) chairman and PA president, officially submitted Palestine's application for full membership in the United Nations, with a bold speech delivered to the General Assembly. During the address, cities throughout the West Bank were alight with excitement. Young and old celebrated almost as if the UN had already granted Palestine full membership to the international governing body. » Read more

Palestine: A Cause or a State? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat by Amir Taheri - October 7, 2011 - 12:00am Within days, the United Nations’ Security Council is expected to start debating the Palestinian Authority’s demand for recognition as a state. At first glance, this is a straightforward issue. Since its foundation after the Second World War, the UN has admitted as member over 150 countries. There is no reason why the Palestinian demand should pose problems. » Read more

Congress Shows Lack of Leverage With Threat To Cut Off Aid ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Larry Derfner - (Opinion) October 7, 2011 - 12:00am As an Israeli who sees the occupation as a plague both on Palestinians and on Israelis, I think it’s a good thing that Congress just held back $200 million in economic aid to the Palestinians as punishment for their statehood bid at the United Nations. It’s a good thing, because now that the Republican Party (and much of the Democratic Party) is indistinguishable from Likud USA, American involvement only makes the Israeli-Palestinian conflict worse, so the less influence America has over here, the better. » Read more

A State is Born in Palestine ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Ronen Bergman - (Opinion) October 7, 2011 - 12:00am Sixty-four years ago, in August 1947, the United Nations Special Committee on Palestine presented to the General Assembly a startling and unexpected report, calling for an end to the British Mandate of Palestine and division of most of the territory into two independent states, with the Jewish state occupying the majority of the land. What came next, of course, is well known — a vote in the General Assembly on Nov. 29, 1947, in favor of partition, and the war that immediately followed. » Read more

It’s about peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Uri Savir - (Opinion) October 7, 2011 - 12:00am We are inundated with analysis in these days of soul-searching, regarding all the important issues that determine our well-being as a country in crisis in a tumultuous Middle East. Everyone seems to have a recipe for a better tomorrow. For Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu the magic wand is better hasbara – if we would just succeed to tell the world the “truth,” we would convince it to support Israel, except for Muslims and anti-Semites of course. From foreign policy to speechology. » Read more

Standing up for the Palestinians just got a lot more expensive ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy by Colum Lynch - (Blog) October 6, 2011 - 12:00am The U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's 58 member executive board voted on Wednesday to recommend the Palestinians as a new member, setting the stage for a high-stakes vote on the Palestinians admission later this month. But U.S. law prohibits funding for U.N. bodies that grant membership to entities without "internationally recognized attributes of statehood." » Read more

Standing up for the Palestinians just got a lot more expensive ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy by Colum Lynch - (Blog) October 6, 2011 - 12:00am The U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's 58 member executive board voted on Wednesday to recommend the Palestinians as a new member, setting the stage for a high-stakes vote on the Palestinians admission later this month. But U.S. law prohibits funding for U.N. bodies that grant membership to entities without "internationally recognized attributes of statehood." » Read more

Lynch the leftists ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Yishai Rosen-Zvi - (Opinion) October 7, 2011 - 12:00am So what happened around here this past week? Tnuva’s chairwoman quit, Merkel was insulted, the Quartet is nagging, and, oh yeah, some leftists were beaten up. No big deal. How easy it is to get used to it. And how much they help us get used to it. » Read more

Does Israel Actually Want the U.S. to Defund the UN? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Atlantic by Zvika Krieger - (Opinion) October 6, 2011 - 12:00am One of the many effects of the Palestinians' bid for statehood at the United Nations is a renewed campaign for the U.S. to withdraw its financial support of the institution and downgrade its engagement. "I would tell the other 190-plus members of the United Nations: If you vote for a declaration of Palestinian statehood, the United States will defund the United Nations, period, close quote," Bush-era UN ambassador John Bolton recently said on Fox News. » Read more

The settler leader who led Israelis to disaster ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Nehemia Shtrasler - (Opinion) October 7, 2011 - 12:00am There were so many accolades and so much praise that I found myself getting confused. Was this the same Hanan Porat that I also knew? True, he was an idealist, and charismatic, and modest, and he always said what he felt in his heart. True, also, that he was the great leader of Gush Emunim. But we must not forget, and this is the tragic part of the story, that his biggest success - covering the West Bank with a carpet of Israeli settlements - was also the greatest disaster that befell the people of Israel. » Read more