The day after Palestine
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Avi Yesawich - (Opinion) August 30, 2011 - 12:00am

In three weeks, a sovereign Palestinian state will almost certainly be welcomed into the United Nations – if not by the UN Security Council then as a “non-member state” by the General Assembly. Worldwide celebrations in honor of the new Palestinian state will undoubtedly take place. Unfortunately, this festival will be honoring a superficial development; an illusion of achievement. In reality, recognition of a Palestinian state in the current political climate will not resolve any of the outstanding issues of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, only exacerbate them.

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Netanyahu examining possible future borders of a Palestinian state
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - August 30, 2011 - 12:00am

Colonel Danny Terza, who outlined the map for an Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank for former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, has spent the past few months advising Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the possible future borders of a Palestinian state. The talks between Netanyahu and Terza represent the first time that the prime minister has dedicated official groundwork to the subject of future borders.

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Israel headed for disaster
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Ilan Baruch - (Opinion) August 30, 2011 - 12:00am

Media outlets are reporting that a telegram recently sent by Israel’s UN envoy to Jerusalem reveals that the words uttered by senior officials such as Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon are merely empty talk. The UN ambassador estimated that it’s impossible to curb the international wave of support for the notion of an independent Palestinian state.

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Israeli Amb.: Palestinian statehood vote could end all PA agreements with Israel and the U.S.
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy
by Josh Rogin - (Analysis) August 30, 2011 - 12:00am

If the Palestinians go forward with their drive to seek recognition as a state at the U.N. General Assembly next month, all agreements governing Israeli-Palestinian and U.S.-Palestinian cooperation could become null and void, according to Israel's ambassador to the United States.

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New Palestinian strategy document will make it difficult for U.S. to oppose UN vote
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Akiva Eldar - (Analysis) August 30, 2011 - 12:00am

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is probably aware that when it comes to a media event, like a speech at the UN General Assembly, President Shimon Peres doesn’t have to be asked twice to sacrifice himself for the nation. Someone who has been watching the honorable president for decades once told me that Peres is blessed with a unique characteristic: He always knows how to adjust reality according to his needs at the time.

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Stay the Course on Interfaith Dialogue
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Huffington Post
by Meryl Chertoff, Samah Norquist - (Opinion) August 29, 2011 - 12:00am

If all goes according to current reports, some time in September, the Palestinian Authority will submit a resolution declaring statehood to the Security Council of the United Nations. While the United States and possibly other Council members are widely expected to veto the resolution, the PA may take its case to the General Assembly, where the US does not have a veto. A vote in support of the resolution there, while not binding, would pave the way for member nations to recognize a Palestinian state.

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Analysis: Protecting Palestinians after we join the UN
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
by Francis Boyle - August 29, 2011 - 12:00am

In the Nov. 15 1988 Palestinian Declaration of Independence that was approved by the Palestinian National Council, representing all Palestinians all over the world, the executive committee of the PLO was set up as the Provisional Government for the State of Palestine --pursuant to my advice.

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Ashrawi: UN statehood bid no threat to PLO
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
August 26, 2011 - 12:00am

Palestinian lawmaker Hanan Ashrawi said Thursday that the plan to join the United Nations as a state would not threaten the PLO's rights in the world body. Ashrawi, a senior PLO member, disputed arguments by international law expert Guy Goodwin-Gill, who has informed the Palestinian team that the initiative could terminate the legal status held by the PLO in the UN. Ashrawi said that "this step will not eliminate the role of the PLO," and Palestinian refugees have nothing to fear from the bid to join the UN, which is expected to be submitted in September.

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Q+A-Can Palestine become a United Nations member state?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Alertnet
by Louis Charbonneau - August 26, 2011 - 12:00am

The Palestinians have vowed to seek full U.N. membership for a Palestinian state in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, with East Jerusalem as its capital, ignoring opposition from Washington and Israel. But there appears to be little chance it could succeed at present because the United States would veto it in the Security Council.

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Social justice also means ending the occupation
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Zeev Sternhell - (Opinion) August 26, 2011 - 12:00am

Be the internal ills of Israeli society as they may, and they are too numerous to count, most of them can be treated and even cured; but the occupation and colonialism are terminal illnesses. Therefore anyone who refuses to understand - as did Shelly Yachimovich in her interview with Haaretz's weekend magazine - that the socialism of masters, and on behalf of masters, is no less ruthless and despicable than the neoliberalism of the rich on behalf of the rich, is not worthy of seeking the leadership of a party that has pretensions of charting the future.

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