Ready for Statehood
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from International Herald Tribune
by Jonas Gahr Store - (Opinion) September 22, 2011 - 12:00am

The main issue before the United Nations General Assembly this week is the Palestinian quest for recognition. Less attention is being paid to a related, and no less important question: Are the Palestinians capable and ready to run a state?

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Obama at the UN on Israel-Palestine: Good Politics, Poor Diplomacy
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Atlantic
by Hussein Ibish - (Opinion) September 22, 2011 - 12:00am

If you'd wanted to gauge how strained relations between the Obama administration and the Palestinian leadership have become, all you'd need do is watch the shaking heads of the Palestinian representatives at the United Nations General Assembly during the U.S. President's speech there on Wednesday. Obama reiterated the American commitment to a two-state solution and the creation of an independent Palestine, both established U.S. policy. Rhetorically, however, his speech recognized most of the core elements of the Israeli narrative but virtually none of the Palestinian one.

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Palestinians' U.N. gamble could backfire
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Saree Makdisi - (Opinion) September 22, 2011 - 12:00am

It goes without saying that Palestinians and Arabs are outraged by the idea that the United States is threatening to block recognition of a Palestinian state at the United Nations. What is less obvious, perhaps, is that some of the most vociferous critics of the Palestinian bid for upgraded U.N. recognition are Palestinians themselves. How could it be that advocates of Palestinian rights could be suspicious of, if not altogether opposed to, the U.N. gambit? Isn't the creation of an internationally recognized independent state the goal shared by all Palestinians?

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The Palestinians are the new Jews
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from
by Gideon Levy - (Opinion) September 22, 2011 - 12:00am

Look at the Palestinians and look at us. Look at their leaders and recall ours. Not, of course, those we have today, but those we once had, the ones who established the state for us. The Palestinians are the new Jews and their leaders are amazingly similar to the former Zionist leaders.

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Palestine an Israeli interest
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Frances Raday - (Opinion) September 22, 2011 - 12:00am

The Israeli government has brought us to absurdity, using all its powers of diplomatic persuasion to preempt UN recognition of a Palestinian state, when it is in Israel’s strategic interest that Palestine should be recognized as a state. A march of folly has brought us to this point: the settlement policy of this and previous governments and Netanyahu’s failure to promote genuine negotiations with the moderate leadership of Abbas and Fayyad, to make concessions, which are in any case foregone conclusions, or to freeze building in occupied areas.

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Defending Obama’s pro-Israel credentials
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Robert Wexler - (Opinion) September 22, 2011 - 12:00am

It is ironic that Republican presidential candidates Rick Perry and Mitt Romney, as well as numerous other Republican groups and individuals, have chosen this month to escalate their smear campaign against President Obama’s pro- Israel record. While President Obama has consistently acted to protect Israel’s safety and interests over his entire time in office, the events of this month in particular – both in the US and in the Middle East – serve as a sharp rebuttal to these partisan efforts to spread misrepresentations and falsities.

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Time is running out for Israel to salvage a two-state solution
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Taufiq Rahim - (Opinion) September 22, 2011 - 12:00am

In the fall of 2002, Prof Sari Nusseibeh, now the president of Al Quds University in Jerusalem, argued that Palestinians needed to adjust to practical realities on the ground, and should avoid living in the dream of a greater Palestine. It was a comment that went to the heart of the right of return for Palestinians to modern-day Israel, which continues to be a contentious point.

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The "Abu Mazen Spring" in the Security Council
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat
by Randa Takieddine - (Opinion) September 22, 2011 - 12:00am

Salam Fayyad has been the prime minister of the Palestinian government since 2009, and tasked with the seeming "mission impossible" of building all of the institutions needed to prepare for the establishment of a Palestinian state. Fayyad has succeeded, despite the huge difficulties resulting from Israeli occupation, settlement and other policies.

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Why Palestinian leadership should remain firm
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
by John V. Whitbeck - (Opinion) September 22, 2011 - 12:00am

Let us think out loud as Palestine President Mahmoud Abbas plans to give UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon a letter tomorrow seeking full membership for his state: The normal, orthodox road map to UN membership comprises two steps: (1) a recommendation to the General Assembly by the Security Council (requiring nine affirmative votes and NO negative vote — “veto” — by one of the five permanent members) followed by (2) approval by the General Assembly (requiring a two-thirds majority of those voting — i.e., ignoring abstentions and no-shows).

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PLO to give UN council time to mull bid
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
September 22, 2011 - 12:00am

The Palestinian leadership -- despite firm US and Israeli opposition -- will give the UN Security Council "some time" to study their application for full membership in the United Nations, a senior Palestinian official said on Wednesday. He also said the Palestinian delegation would politely reject US President Barack Obama's demand in his UN General Assembly speech on Wednesday that the Palestinians drop their bid for membership in the United Nations, a plan that is doomed to failure if Washington keeps its promise to veto it.

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