September 19th

WEST BANK: U.S. envoys' paper emboldens Abbas to go before U.N.
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Maher Abukhater - (Analysis) September 17, 2011 - 12:00am


A paper special U.S. peace envoys David Hale and Dennis Ross presented to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday that was supposed to sway him away from going to the United Nations was what caused Abbas to take a final stand in favor of going, according to Nabil Shaath, a member of Abbas’ Fatah Central Committee. Abbas told the Palestinian people on Friday that he is going to the Security Council to ask for membership in spite of strong U.S. objections and attempts to have him change his mind.


U.N. Palestine vote: Time to exhale
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Politico
by Ambassador Wendy Chamberlin - (Opinion) September 19, 2011 - 12:00am


Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas early this week will likely fulfill his longstanding vow to introduce in the U.N. Security Council a resolution to recognize Palestine as the 194th member state. No one should be the least bit surprised.


Cowards and liars
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
(Editorial) September 19, 2011 - 12:00am


The bid for Palestinian statehood, due to be presented this week at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, seems to have taken some world leaders by surprise. It is difficult to see how. For more than a decade, successive United States presidents have voiced their keenness on a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict. Bill Clinton, then George W. Bush, then finally Barack Obama have taken turns delaying a formal application for statehood under the guise of wanting to gain more favorable conditions through a continuation of peace talks.


Palestine at the United Nations: Sidestepped by both Friends and the World's Major Players
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat
by Raghida Dergham - (Opinion) September 16, 2011 - 12:00am


No party is in an enviable position in the current battle over the Palestinian state at the United Nations. Everyone is embarrassed, and some even find themselves caught up in a costly dilemma.


UN vote adds little to 20 years of failure in Middle East peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
(Opinion) September 19, 2011 - 12:00am


Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas's momentous decision to seek statehood at the United Nations has been interpreted in many ways: a bold, decisive move to force Israel's hand and level the playing field in future negotiations; a risky diplomatic gambit that will achieve little in the face of a certain US veto and will fuel tensions in an already volatile environment; a watershed moment in the Palestinian struggle for self-determination. Mostly, however, the move is an acknowledgement of failure.


Playing a dangerous game
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Jeff Barak - (Opinion) September 18, 2011 - 12:00am


When Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu makes his speech to the United Nations General Assembly at the end of the week in New York, he will be facing a much tougher audience than he experienced when addressing the Houses of Congress in Washington on his last trip to the United States.


Dear U.S. Jews, please don't let Netanyahu deceive you
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Yossi Sarid - (Opinion) September 19, 2011 - 12:00am


What follows is an emotional and perhaps late appeal to Israel's friends in America, particularly the Jews among them, who see themselves as people looking out for own welfare. Don't bring us ill instead of good. Don't let Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman deceive you.


Palestinians Turn to U.N., Where Partition Began
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Neil MacFarquhar - September 18, 2011 - 12:00am


UNITED NATIONS — The original two-state solution designed to establish separate countries for Jews and Arabs anticipated the day that both would seek United Nations membership. “When the independence of either the Arab or the Jewish State as envisaged in this plan has become effective,” begins a paragraph deep in General Assembly Resolution 181 from November 1947, then “sympathetic consideration” should be given to the application.


An Israel in trouble makes a peace deal more urgent
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by John Hughes - (Opinion) September 16, 2011 - 12:00am


If the dramatic upheaval taking place throughout the Arab world is to have a constructive outcome, a critical necessity is peace between Arabs and Israelis. On this issue, the world is now at crunch time. The choice is clear: New descent into the senseless antagonism and violence that has bedeviled the Arab- Israeli relationship for decades, or a two-state agreement providing security for Israel and a sovereign homeland for Palestinians.


Abbas' U.N. fantasy
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Ron Prosor - (Opinion) September 19, 2011 - 12:00am


In Lewis Carroll's "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland," the heroine falls down a rabbit hole into a confusing fantasy world. Writing today, Carroll might have placed Alice in the 66th General Assembly of the United Nations, where Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas plans this week to seek U.N. recognition of statehood. If Alice was perplexed by the Mad Hatter or the Queen of Hearts, it would be interesting to see her reaction to a president whose mandate has long expired applying for statehood over territory, part of which he is too afraid to visit.



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