Editorial: The UN tactic
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
(Editorial) August 11, 2011 - 12:00am

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has provided no evidence to back his recent claim that the Palestinians were planning “bloodshed and violence the like of which we have never seen” in September as they push for UN recognition of an independent state. But when Lieberman said he feared the Palestinians could organize marches to coincide with the UN General Assembly in September, he was right. Palestinian leaders have drawn up a plan to stage rallies that would boost their drive for UN recognition.

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Penniless Palestine
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Affairs
by Hussein Ibish - (Opinion) August 11, 2011 - 12:00am

The financial crisis currently facing the Palestinian Authority is not just economic; it is also a symptom of the deep political problems facing the leadership in Ramallah. The PA has based its appeal to the Palestinian public on a strategy that combines working with Gulf Arab states, Israel, and the West to produce improvements in the quality of life for Palestinians under occupation, while at the same time pursuing independence through international diplomacy.

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Hoyer: Abbas, Fayyad sent mixed messages on UN bid
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Herb Keinon - August 11, 2011 - 12:00am

PA prime minister tells visiting US lawmakers no final decision yet made on statehood bid, while Abbas talks as if deal is done. The Palestinian leadership sent mixed messages to a Democratic Congressional delegation visiting Ramallah, with Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad saying that no decision on the UN bid in September has been finalized, while PA President Mahmoud Abbas gave the impression that going to the UN was a done deal.

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The road to New York goes through Lebanon and Qatar
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
by Bassam Abu Eid - August 11, 2011 - 12:00am

As the Palestinian UN bid for recognition approaches in September, two Arab countries will hold key positions in both the Security Council and General Assembly, adding momentum to Palestinian diplomatic efforts to gain statehood. Lebanon is set to head the Security Council and Qatar will be rotating president of the General Assembly.

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Barak warns Israeli ministers: Sanctions could lead to the Palestinian Authority's collapse
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - August 11, 2011 - 12:00am

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened his senior ministers on Wednesday to discuss how Israel plans to cope with Palestinian efforts to secure UN recognition of a Palestinian state in September. Several of the ministers urged preemptive sanctions against the Palestinian Authority in an effort to pressure PA President Mahmoud Abbas to back down, but Defense Minister Ehud Barak objected, warning that it could lead to the collapse of the PA.

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Unbridled bias
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
(Editorial) August 11, 2011 - 12:00am

Next month Palestine goes to the United Nations in New York to request recognition of its own state. Globally, this is a far from unpopular motion, with most General Assembly members staying true to their own moral standards in agreeing that the Palestinian people have a right to a country they can officially term their own. It is unfortunate that the staunchest opponent to the notion of Palestinian statehood – Israel aside, obviously – is also the most powerful.

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Marwan Barghouti warns of protests if US wields veto
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
August 10, 2011 - 12:00am

CAIRO (AFP) -- A Palestinian leader jailed in Israel has warned Washington that vetoing a Palestinian state at the United Nations would spark huge regional protests, Egypt's official MENA news agency reported Wednesday. Marwan Barghouti, a leading member of the dominant Fatah party convicted of organizing attacks against Israelis during the second intifada, gave an interview to MENA through his lawyer from an Israeli prison.

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Western diplomat: UN statehood bid will harm U.S.-Palestinian Authority ties
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - August 10, 2011 - 12:00am

Cooperation between the U.S. and the Palestinian Authority will be harmed if the PA goes through with its plan to seek United Nations recognition of a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly session in September, a senior Western diplomat told Israeli journalists on Wednesday during a briefing in Tel Aviv.

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Beyond September: Lessons from Failed Mideast Diplomacy
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Brandeis University Crown Center for Middle East Studies
by Shai Feldman - (Analysis) August 10, 2011 - 12:00am

There seems to be a broad consensus that the Palestinian Authority’s strategic decision to seek a declaration of independent statehood at the United Nations this coming September resulted from deep frustration if not complete hopelessness regarding the prospects for a negotiated resolution of the conflict. PA President Mahmoud Abbas has made this clear on a number of occasions, emphasizing that a negotiated resolution of the conflict remains his preferred option but that no acceptable negotiating terms have been presented to him.

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Reinforcing support
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
(Editorial) August 10, 2011 - 12:00am

His Majesty King Abdullah held talks with visiting Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, reiterating Jordan’s support for the Palestinians’ quest for statehood and freedom. Jordan has legitimate concerns about an eventual “deal” on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict which, as our foreign minister underscored, can best be reached through negotiations. In the absence of talks, however, which Israel shows no interest in, continuing to hang on to its intransigent stand, the options are limited and the Palestinians’ statehood bid will have to be pursued at the UN.

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