Palestine's U.N. bid: Between history and hot air
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Tom Perry - (Analysis) August 4, 2011 - 12:00am

RAMALLAH, West Bank, Aug 4 (Reuters) - President Mahmoud Abbas' attempt to upgrade the Palestinians' status at the United Nations, despite U.S. and Israeli opposition, signals a bolder approach by a leader keen to forge a legacy after years of failed peace talks. But Palestinians are divided on the merits of the diplomatic offensive. In the West Bank, Abbas' Fatah movement bills it as a turning point in the Palestinian struggle, while in Gaza, a politician from rival Islamist Hamas dismissed it as hot air.

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Israel's Beef With Honduras: Who Stabbed Who?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Honduras Weekly
by Roberto Quesada - (Opinion) August 4, 2011 - 12:00am

Palestine will undoubtedly again be the center of attention at the United Nations' upcoming General Assembly, as in the days when Yasser Arafat would arrive in New York City to make the case for the Palestinian struggle before that international body. Already, you can start to feel a climate of "arm twisting" taking hold, especially against the poorer and weaker member nations.

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Palestinians will soon come full circle
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Sam Bahour - (Opinion) August 4, 2011 - 12:00am

The Palestinian national liberation movement has reached its end. As the Palestinian leadership – if there is such a legitimate body today – prepares to bring the issue of statehood to the UN this September, the weeks and months ahead will witness the last desperate attempt to get the international community to assume their responsibilities and ensure that a Palestinian state becomes a reality in the occupied territories.

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Arab League finalizing PA statehood application for UN
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Khaled Abu Toameh - August 4, 2011 - 12:00am

Representatives of the Arab League were scheduled to meet in Doha, Qatar on Wednesday night to lay the final touches on the Palestinian Authority’s application to the UN for recognition of a Palestinian state on the pre-1967 lines. The meeting comes as the PA leadership in Ramallah continues to face pressure from the US and EU to abandon its statehood plan and return to the negotiating table with Israel. The meeting in Doha was being attended by several Arab legal experts who were invited by the PA to help in the wording of the application to the UN in September.

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Palestinians 'moving ahead' with UN bid: Erakat
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP)
August 4, 2011 - 12:00am

Palestinians are determined to go ahead with their UN membership bid as an Arab League follow-up committee endorsed a final draft of the request to be presented to the UN General Assembly, a top official said. Saeb Erakat brushed off as a public relations stunt Israeli attempts to lure the Palestinians back into peace talks based on the 1967 borders if they abandon the UN membership campaign. "The Palestinian train is now heading towards New York," Erakat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, told AFP during the committee's meeting in Doha, Qatar, late on Wednesday.

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The coming Palestinian statehood
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Ian Bremmer - (Opinion) August 3, 2011 - 12:00am

As violent protests rock the Arab world, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Israeli government has tried to keep a low profile. It has largely succeeded. That’s about to change.

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Netanyahu's latest peace initiative not to bear fruits: analysts
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
by Adam Gonn - August 3, 2011 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM Aug. 2 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may be willing to renew peace talks with his Palestinian counterpart in an effort to stave off a Palestinian bid for UN- backed statehood. The new negotiations would focus on a formula to set borders of an independent Palestinian state, Israeli officials told local media. They would also include Netanyahu's demand that the Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state, a demand that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has so far rejected.

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FADC: Palestinian UN bid will harm Israel in int'l arena
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Jpost.com Staff, Herb Keinon - August 3, 2011 - 12:00am

The Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee said in a report presented Tuesday that recognition of Palestinian statehood in the United Nations this September would harm Israel's standing in the international arena and could lead to a continued state of escalation, Israel Radio reported. Heading the team that prepared the report was MK Yonathan Plesner of Kadima.

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Israeli report says Palestinian violence in September unlikely
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by The Associated Press - August 3, 2011 - 12:00am

An internal Israeli parliamentary report shows Israel doesn't anticipate violence around a symbolic UN endorsement of Palestinian independence expected next month, but it proposes reserve soldiers be called up just in case. The report, based on Israeli intelligence assessments, was drafted for parliament's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. It was presented to the committee on Wednesday. An official disclosed main points to reporters. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the material.

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Israel in Quandary of What September Holds
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line
by Arieh O'Sullivan - August 3, 2011 - 12:00am

If the Palestinians succeed in their quest to get recognition of a state from the United Nations in September, Israel has no strategy to deal with it, according to a new report being drafted in the parliament (Knesset). Entitled “The September Process: Findings, Developments and Recommendations,” the report was put together at the request of Shaul Mofaz, head of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee and a leader in the Kadima opposition party.

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