September 29th

UN refers Palestine bid to review panel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency September 28, 2011 - 12:00am The UN Security Council on Wednesday pushed back a decision on a Palestinian bid to join the United Nations in a move that will give more time to international efforts to revive direct talks. But UN envoys for the two foes wrangled over who is to blame for the latest year-old negotiations deadlock, with diplomats warning both sides are hardening their positions. The 15-member Security Council sent the bid made by President Mahmoud Abbas last Friday to a special membership committee to give its verdict. » Read more

Palestinian statehood bid stokes tensions in West Bank ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Joel Greenberg - September 29, 2011 - 12:00am In this village tucked among the rocky hills of the northern West Bank, flags are flying to celebrate the bid for membership of a Palestinian state in the United Nations. A poster in the village center carries a picture of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who is riding a wave of popularity after defying U.S. pressure and submitting the membership application last week. » Read more

Israelis Happy at Home but Glum About Peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Ethan Bronner - September 29, 2011 - 12:00am With the start of the Jewish New Year at sunset on Wednesday, a traditional time for stock-taking in Israel, the public mood seemed paradoxical: a growing disillusionment with the prospect of Middle East peace yet a marked sense of satisfaction with life here. That gap, reflected and discussed in news media commentaries, was evident in a survey of Israeli Jews published on Wednesday in the newspaper Yediot Aharonot. Two-thirds of the respondents said there was no chance — ever — of achieving peace with the Palestinians. But asked if Israel was a good place to live, 88 percent said yes. » Read more

September 28th

‘If Palestinians want to live in peace, it can be achieved' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Herb Keinon - (Interview) September 28, 2011 - 12:00am The most striking thing about meeting Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in his Jerusalem office Monday afternoon – some four hours after he returned from a grueling five-day trip to New York – was the degree to which he didn’t look or act as if he just stepped off a transatlantic flight. He looked relatively fresh and his words were crisp. “Adrenalin,” someone in his office said. » Read more

Why the U.S. Should Support Palestinian Statehood at the U.N. ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New Republic by John B. Judis - September 28, 2011 - 12:00am The Obama administration, after failing to head off a Palestinian request to the Security Council for United Nations membership, is prepared to use its veto against it. In an undistinguished address to the General Assembly on Wednesday, President Barack Obama advised the Palestinians to bypass the UN and to confine their campaign for statehood to negotiations with Israel. » Read more

The new Abbas and the old Netanyahu ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons by Hani al-Masri - September 26, 2011 - 12:00am President Mahmoud Abbas appears to be a new man. What led to this change? Since taking office, he has always said that only negotiations can lead to the establishment of the state. When the talks faltered or faced an obstacle, he often said, "The alternative to negotiations is the negotiations." When President Abbas set conditions for the resumption of negotiations, these quickly became mere demands. Even in recent days, he repeated that negotiations were his first, second, and third choice. » Read more

Israeli agency urges funding to be cut from extremist settler college ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent by Donald MacIntyre - (Analysis) September 28, 2011 - 12:00am Israel's domestic intelligence agency is urging the government to stop funding a religious college in a Jewish West Bank settlement after warning that its senior rabbis are encouraging students to attack Palestinians. The intelligence agency, Shin Bet, pressed a month ago for an immediate block on the annual £226,000 grant for the religious college, or yeshiva, in the notoriously extreme settlement of Yitzhar, near Nablus. The Education Ministry has reportedly yet to take a decision despite two meetings with Shin Bet. » Read more

Abbas’ move was not a gambit, but the right thing to do ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News by Osama Al-Sharif - September 28, 2011 - 12:00am It was described as a gambit, a gamble, a historic bid, a mistake, a unilateral action, a hostile move and a triumph. Regardless of where one stood on the issue of declaring Palestinian statehood; its timing and mode of delivery, its value and outcome and its long-term consequences on the Arab-Israeli conflict and Israel’s occupation of Palestine, Abbas’ move signaled a crucial milestone in the decades-old struggle to fulfill Palestinian right to self-determination as a nation. » Read more

Koch on board with Obama ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) September 27, 2011 - 12:00am WASHINGTON (JTA) -- Ed Koch says he's now on the "Obama Reelection Express." The former New York mayor told supporters in an e-mail Monday that he is backing the president in the wake of his pro-Israel speech last week at the United Nations, among other factors. Koch credited his role in the Democrats' loss of this month's special congressional election in a heavily Jewish Democratic stronghold in New York City. Koch had urged voters to back the Republican candidate to send a message to President Obama, whom he accused of distancing himself from Israel. » Read more

‘Post’ poll finds surge in Obama popularity in Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Gil Hoffman - (Analysis) September 28, 2011 - 12:00am US President Barack Obama succeeded in reaching out to Israelis with his speech last Friday to the General Assembly and his efforts to block the UN from unilaterally declaring a Palestinian state, according to a Keevoon Research poll sponsored by The Jerusalem Post this week. When asked about the Obama administration’s policies, 54 percent said they were more favorable toward Israel, 19% said they were more pro- Palestinian, and 27% called them neutral. » Read more