Cracks appear between Britain and France as Palestine vote looms ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent by Stephen Foley, Donald MacIntyre - (Analysis) September 23, 2011 - 12:00am A Franco-British rift was looming last night after David Cameron failed to line up behind President Nicolas Sarkozy's plan to give the Palestinians enhanced status at the United Nations. » Read more

Zakaria: I oppose the Palestinian U.N. bid for practical reasons ATFP World Press Roundup Article from CNN by Fareed Zakaria - (Opinion) September 23, 2011 - 12:00am I am opposed to the Palestinian effort at the United Nations because I think that it is going to get them nowhere. This is not the time for romantic gestures. This is the time for them to do something that will actually help them get a Palestinian state - a goal that I support. » Read more

Support the Palestinian Bid for Statehood ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Keith Ellison - (Opinion) September 23, 2011 - 12:00am The United States should support the Palestinian Authority’s bid for statehood at the United Nations. The Palestinian people deserve a state now. As the current debate unfolds, I am reminded of what the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said in 1965: “The time is always right to do what’s right.” » Read more

The downgrading of the Palestinian UN bid ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Herb Keinon - (Analysis) September 23, 2011 - 12:00am Distinct similarities are beginning to emerge between the “freedom flotilla” that was supposed to set sail for Gaza from Europe this summer with “1,500 activists in 15 ships,” and the Palestinian’s unilateral statehood bid that PA President Mahmoud Abbas is expected to launch Friday at the UN. Both were accompanied by sound and fury and expectations of what these “dramatic, historic” steps would signify. Both were accompanied by nightmare predictions, here and abroad, of the damage that would be caused to Israel, and of how it would further isolate our already badly isolated country. » Read more

The Palestinians' Bid ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times (Editorial) September 23, 2011 - 12:00am Last year, President Obama’s speech to the United Nations was full of promise and determination to advance Palestinian statehood through negotiations with Israel. This year, his address was about lowering expectations and a dispiriting realpolitik as the president spoke of how “peace is hard” and vowed to veto the Palestinians’ bid for statehood if it came to a Security Council vote. » Read more

Netanyahu weakens Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Tzipi Livni - (Opinion) September 23, 2011 - 12:00am Regrettably, remaining at an indecisive junction prompts Israel to slide uncontrollably down a slippery slope. What we argued ever since the government was formed has turned - to my regret as an Israeli citizen - into a fact known to all: The diplomatic impasse is leading to diplomatic isolation. This diplomatic isolation undermines Israel’s security and its ability to defend itself. The attempt to avoid decisions creates a situation whereby the world decides for us, and not in our favor. » Read more

Bill Clinton: Netanyahu killed the peace process ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy by Josh Rogin - (Analysis) September 22, 2011 - 12:00am Who's to blame for the continued failure of the Middle East peace process? Former President Bill Clinton said today that it is Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu -- whose government moved the goalposts upon taking power, and whose rise represents a key reason there has been no Israeli-Palestinian peace deal. » Read more

A dangerous erosion of Israel’s international standing ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Carlo Strenger - (Blog) September 23, 2011 - 12:00am In 1955 Ben-Gurion coined his saying “Um-Shmum”, the expression of disdain against the UN that was followed by: “It doesn’t matter what the Goyim say, but what the Jews do”. This may have been charming when Israel was a young country, and when Dayan’s not wearing a tie was seen as refreshing chutzpah. The disdain for the international community is now turning into Israel’s tragedy and failure with the Palestinian bid for UN recognition. » Read more

Abbas stands to gain from UN gambit ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman by Karin Laub - (Analysis) September 22, 2011 - 12:00am RAMALLAH, WEST BANK — The drama over the Palestinians' bid for U.N. recognition is still unfolding, but President Mahmoud Abbas appears to have won new respect at home for standing up to the United States and moving their decades-long quest for statehood back to the center of the world stage. Recognition of Palestine — even in a possible watered-down form, since full U.N. membership is blocked by a certain U.S. veto — won't bring the Palestinians true independence anytime soon. It might not even be enough to improve their hoped-for leverage in future border talks with Israel. » Read more

U.N.convenient Truth ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy by James Verini - (Analysis) September 23, 2011 - 12:00am In 1988, Abba Eban, perhaps the finest diplomat and one of the sharpest minds Israel has ever produced, got up before a distinguished crowd in London to give an address with the predictable and yet absurd title, "Prospects for Peace in the Middle East." Predictable not just in itself, but because Eban and other Israeli leaders had delivered countless such addresses in the 40 unpeaceful years since the country's creation; absurd because his remarks, which concerned Palestine, came a year into the First Intifada. » Read more