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.

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High-stakes diplomacy to avoid UN showdown
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
(Analysis) September 19, 2011 - 12:00am

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) -- Top Palestinian and Israeli leaders held talks in New York amid frantic diplomatic efforts to avoid a showdown over a Palestinian bid to seek full UN membership as a state. Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and Israel's Defense Minister Ehud Barak held an unannounced meeting a day ahead of the UN General Assembly, which is being dominated by a Palestinian bid for UN recognition that the United States has threatened to veto.

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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.

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Palestinian Options at U.N. Lead to Legal Threat to Israel's Military
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Wall Street Journal
by Joe Lauria - (Analysis) September 17, 2011 - 12:00am

UNITED NATIONS—If the Palestinian Authority succeeds in winning even an incremental upgrade of its status at the U.N, it could subject Israel's military to international courts for actions in Palestinian territory—as well as allow Palestinian control of its Israeli-patrolled air space and national waters off Gaza. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said Friday he would seek full U.N. membership through the Security Council. If the U.S. vetoes that effort, as it has vowed to do, the Palestinians have a second option for membership: go to the General Assembly.

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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.

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Avoiding an Israeli-Palestinian 'Train Wreck'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Council On Foreign Relations
by Bernard Gwertzman - (Interview) September 16, 2011 - 12:00am

Though Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas plans to seek Palestinian statehood status at the UN General Assembly meeting next week, efforts are underway by the United States, Israel, and the Palestinians to avoid a major collision on the issue, says Ziad J. Asali, president of the American Task Force on Palestine.

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"Progress" in Euro-diplomacy for limited UN upgrade
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
(Analysis) September 16, 2011 - 12:00am

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- European diplomats trying to persuade Palestinian leaders to seek an upgrade of their UN status without full membership have had "meaningful progress," Israeli media said. Hebrew-daily Yedioth Ahronoth quoted a senior Israeli source on Thursday saying Palestinians' acceptance of this proposal will improve their UN standing, while allowing Israel to coexist with the new status.

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EU seeks limited upgrade of Palestinians' UN status
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Alertnet
by Justyna Pawlak - (Analysis) September 16, 2011 - 12:00am

BRUSSELS, Sept 15 (Reuters) - - The European Union hopes to persuade Palestinian leaders to drop plans for full United Nations membership this month in return for a nuanced upgrading of their U.N. observer status, EU diplomats said on Thursday. The EU's foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, went to the Middle East this week to mediate between Israel and the Palestinians with the aim of reviving peace talks and averting a Palestinian statehood bid at the U.N. General Assembly, which begins its annual gathering on Sept. 21.

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Palestinian officials foresee secular, pluralistic state
Media Mention of Hussein Ibish In USA Today - September 16, 2011 - 12:00am

Palestinian leaders say a future Palestinian state would be secular and open to all religions — even Jews — if they are willing to follow their laws as Palestinian citizens. The Palestinians say they'll seek a vote on Palestinian statehood in the United Nations this month.

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Netanyahu: Israel will agree to upgrade of Palestinian status, not statehood
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - (Analysis) September 16, 2011 - 12:00am

Israel would agree to upgrade the Palestinian Authority's status at the United Nations as long as it is not declared a state, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in talks with Catherine Ashton, the European Union's foreign policy chief, over the past few days. On Thursday Netanyahu decided to address the UN General Assembly next Friday, the day the Palestinians will submit their statehood bid. Meanwhile, the Foreign ministry summoned the ambassadors of five key EU members Thursday to rebuke them over their countries' policy on the Palestinians' bid for UN recognition as a state.

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