The Mideast blame game
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Aaron David Miller - (Opinion) August 19, 2011 - 12:00am

When Secretary of State James Baker was organizing the Madrid peace conference in 1991, he resorted to a device he called the dead cat on the doorstep. Simply put, Baker threatened to publicly blame Israeli, Palestinian and Syrian leaders if they didn’t accept the terms and attend the conference. It worked. Ironically, the dead-cat routine also explains the current state of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process — but in reverse.

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Palestinians talk of protest, little sign of action
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Alertnet
(Analysis) August 18, 2011 - 12:00am

Calls for Palestinian protests to back a diplomatic push for statehood at the United Nations next month have put Israel on guard; the peace process in deep crisis, some see a violent September, inspired by the Arab Spring. Yet to many, a sustained Intifada, or uprising, appears unlikely, at least for now. To ordinary Palestinians, the significance of U.N. manouvres in New York is hard to fathom, their leaders in the West Bank are wary of violence with Israel and their national movement remains weakened by a deep schism.

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Abbas inaugurates Palestinian Embassy in Beirut
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
by Van Meguerditchian - August 18, 2011 - 12:00am

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas raised his country’s flag for the first time at an official embassy in Beirut Wednesday, as hundreds of Palestinians looked on and cheered the historic event. For decades, official ties have been carried out by the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Lebanese government. But in a government decision in 2008, Lebanon decided to establish formal diplomatic ties with Palestinians.

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Washington Watch: Is Bibi bluffing on borders?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Douglas Bloomfield - (Opinion) August 18, 2011 - 12:00am

Leaks from unnamed aides to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu claim he has shifted positions on another critical peace process issue – borders – but so far there’s no official confirmation. It appears to be a tactical move to derail the Palestinian strategy for a UN statehood resolution next month, and it could work if the Israeli leader can convince Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas that he is serious.

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Palestinians can still negotiate after the UN declaration
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by Daoud Kuttab - (Opinion) August 18, 2011 - 12:00am

In their frantic efforts to stop the Palestinian leadership from going to the UN, Israeli officials and propagandists pose what appears to be a mistaken choice. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on Palestinians to have direct talks, and even offered to meet Palestinian officials anywhere if they choose what he called direct talks instead of unilateral action. On the surface of it, this position seems logical, but if one digs just beneath the rhetoric, it becomes obvious that the position is a continuation of Israel’s policy of obfuscation and political manoeuvring.

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A Pyrrhic victory for the Palestinians
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Boston Globe
by Shai Bazak - (Opinion) August 18, 2011 - 12:00am

The Palestinian leadership has made clear its intentions to declare statehood unilaterally and seek admission to the United Nations this fall. While such a move might score the Palestinians a political win by serving to isolate Israel even further in the international arena, any victory will be symbolic at best.

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Palestinian leadership studies where to go for UN vote
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
August 17, 2011 - 12:00am

The Palestinian leadership has not yet decided to which body of the United Nations it should submit a request to recognize the Palestinian as an independent state, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Al-Maliki said Wednesday. "The decision to go to the Security Council first or the General Assembly would be made soon," Al-Maliki told the Voice of Palestine radio, adding discussions with the Arab states are needed before making the decision.

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Israeli army mulls letting Palestinians get more guns by September
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
August 17, 2011 - 12:00am

Senior Israel military officials are considering what one termed "confidence-building measures," to convince Palestinian leaders not to continue with their planned statehood bid at the UN General Assembly next month, including allowing the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) security services in the West Bank to procure more weapons. The arms would be brought in via Jordan, according to the recommendations, which were listed in a brief that has been forwarded to the government, the Ynet news reported Wednesday.

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Sleiman tells Abbas Lebanon will back Palestinian statehood
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
August 17, 2011 - 12:00am

President Michel Sleiman promised Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Tuesday that Lebanon will back their bid for U.N. recognition of a Palestinian state. Abbas, meanwhile, declared that the Palestinians in Lebanon’s 12 refugee camps do not need arms to defend themselves because the Lebanese people and government can protect them. Abbas’ remarks amounted to lifting legitimacy over arms in and outside the Palestinian refugee camps throughout the country.

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A non-violent path should precede UN recognition
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
(Opinion) August 17, 2011 - 12:00am

Nonviolence is a way of life that will guarantee peaceful coexistence in the future and the eventual goal of a demilitarized region. Talkbacks (30) I, along with nearly two dozen of my US congressional colleagues, have just concluded a 10-day fact-finding trip to Israel and the Palestinian territories. We had formal meetings with many leaders, including President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, and President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad of the Palestinian Authority, as well as informal talks with average Israelis and Palestinians.

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