Palestinian UN Vote No Longer A Certainty
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Week
by Stewart Ain - July 26, 2011 - 12:00am


As the Palestinians prepare to unveil Thursday a draft of their resolution requesting United Nations’ recognition next month of an independent Palestinian state, many analysts believe such UN action is not inevitable.


Debating an extremist Israeli settler
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from NOW Lebanon
by Hussein Ibish - (Opinion) July 26, 2011 - 12:00am


Last week I had a fascinating debate with David Ha’ivri, an extremist Israeli settler—an event loosely connected to a conference of the pro-settler Christians United for Israel organization.


Reading the Conflict - A Quiet Revolution: The First Palestinian Intifada and Nonviolent Resistance
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Americans For Peace Now
by Emily L. Hauser - (Opinion) July 26, 2011 - 12:00am


When the first intifada hit Israel with the shock of a tidal wave, I was living in Tel Aviv. Many of my male friends - including the young man with whom I was in love and living at the time - found themselves called to endless rounds of reserve duty to face off against stone-throwing youth.


September critical for Mideast
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Newsday.com
by Joel Brinkley - (Opinion) July 26, 2011 - 12:00am


HAIFA, Israel -- Around here, everyone is deeply concerned about September. In fact, that's just about the only thing anyone is talking about. For Israelis and Palestinians, September is the universally understood shorthand for the likely United Nations vote that month on whether to recognize Palestine as a sovereign state. Right now, Israeli and Palestinian officials are traveling to European and other capitals, furiously soliciting votes. But no one on either side of the debate doubts that a majority of the U.N.'s 192 member states will vote with the Palestinians.


Security Council Debate Offers Preview of Palestinian Bid
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Neil MacFarquhar - July 26, 2011 - 12:00am


UNITED NATIONS — A preview of the expected showdown over whether to admit a Palestinian state as a full member of the United Nations when world leaders gather here in September played out in the Security Council on Tuesday. Supporters evoked the Arab Spring, in which millions of people across the Middle East sought freedom from oppression, as a fitting backdrop for an endorsement of the Palestinian people’s release from 44 years of Israeli occupation.


Beck and the Jews: Does he get them? Do they get him?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
by Ron Kampeas - (Opinion) July 26, 2011 - 12:00am


It depends on whom you ask – to a degree – but it also seems to depend on the day of the week. Here he is on the night of July 19: “The Jewish people have been chased out of almost every country on this planet,” he told a crowd of thousands at the annual Christians United for Israel gathering in Washington. "This is why the nation of Israel is vital.”


Israel needs a real opposition party
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Oudeh Basharat - (Opinion) July 27, 2011 - 12:00am


What do Rothschild Boulevard in Tel Aviv and Tahrir Square in Cairo have in common? Both are the seeing the creation of authentic mass protest movements, and in both countries there is a lack of formal political opposition. In Cairo the opposition is informal. Here there is a formal body called Kadima, which is not an opposition. The Knesset is likely to become confused here between the opposition and the coalition. MK Shai Hermesh of Kadima found himself this week defending himself against an attack by MK Miri Regev of Likud on the issue of housing prices.



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