US, Israel propose new talks to head off Palestinian UN bid
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
August 2, 2011 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM (AFP) -- Israel is willing to begin new peace talks using the 1967 lines as a basis for negotiations, if the Palestinians drop their UN membership bid, an Israeli government official confirmed on Tuesday. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official confirmed that Israel has been working with Washington and members of the international peace-making Quartet to draw up a new framework that could relaunch stalled talks.

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Israel, US race to avert Palestinian UN bid
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Josef Federman - August 2, 2011 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM — Israel is working with the United States to find a way to revive peace negotiations with the Palestinians in a desperate attempt to avert a diplomatic showdown at the U.N. next month, an Israeli official confirmed Tuesday. The talks, meant to provide a framework for negotiations, are focusing on two of the most sensitive issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: the borders between Israel and a future Palestine, and Israel's demand that the Palestinians recognize the country as the Jewish homeland.

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Showdown over statehood bid
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
by Osama Al-Sharif - (Opinion) August 2, 2011 - 12:00am

Compared to East Timor, the first state to be welcomed into the UN community in the 21st century, or South Sudan, the latest newcomer into the 193-member organization, Palestine may fare much better as a state in terms of political, economic and social indicators. It certainly qualifies, in the view of many, in relation to the four accepted elements that are needed to be recognized as one. The elements are permanent population, a defined territory, a government and the capacity to enter into relations with others.

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A U.N. vote will be risky for Palestinians
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
by Ziad Asali - (Opinion) August 1, 2011 - 12:00am

A potentially dangerous confrontation looms in September over the question of Palestinian statehood, one that threatens significant negative consequences for all parties. It is in the interests of all constructive actors to find a compromise that avoids such a confrontation.

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Palestinians plan mass demonstrations against Israel on eve of UN vote
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
August 1, 2011 - 12:00am

Palestinian officials said Monday they plan to begin mass marches against Israel's occupation of the West Bank on September 20, the eve of a largely symbolic UN vote expected to recognize their independence. Palestinian official Yasser Abed Rabbo said leaders hope to attract millions, and the protest will be the first of a prolonged effort. He said the campaign would be called "Palestine 194," since the Palestinians hope to become the 194th member of the United Nations.

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Debating a UN Debate on a Palestinian State: Noe and Raad
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bloomberg
by Nicholas Noe, Walid Raad - (Opinion) August 1, 2011 - 12:00am

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s plan to take a statehood bid to the United Nations in September has triggered a robust media debate over the wisdom of the move.

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PM: Abbas set on bringing Palestinian state to UN vote
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Lahav Harkov - August 1, 2011 - 12:00am

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is determined to bring Palestinian statehood to a UN vote in September. "Abbas made a strategic decision to go to the UN, because the price for him will be low," Netanyahu said. "For us, recognition of a state will only pass through the security council." He added: "We are working to ensure a US veto in the UN Security Council, but that will not prevent a majority in the General Assembly."

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Netanyahu should go to Ramallah to bring peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
by Adam R. Bronfman, Edgar M. Bronfman - (Opinion) July 31, 2011 - 12:00am

NEW YORK (JTA) -- For the Arab Spring, Israel represents the hope that in the Middle East, a nation can be both a national homeland and a free society. Israel is a modern, thriving democracy amid a region dominated by despotic regimes that brutally oppress their people and rape their land’s resources. Freedom enables Israel’s advancing economy, robust educational system, unique culture, prolific media and independent judiciary to thrive.

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3 Israeli insiders lament drift from two-state talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Philadelphia Inquirer
by Trudy Rubin - (Opinion) July 31, 2011 - 12:00am

It's time to start thinking about what will happen to Israel - and U.S. policy in the Middle East - when the peace process ends. Politicians don't openly discuss the deep threat to Israel's existence that would result from an end to negotiations over a two-state solution (meaning a Palestinian state living peacefully alongside Israel).

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Palestinians Prepare for Massive Uprising
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Inter Press Service (IPS)
by Mel Frykberg - July 29, 2011 - 12:00am

"We plan to take to the streets en masse," Musa Abu Maria, a leading member of the Popular Committee in Beit Ummar, a town 11 km north of Hebron in the southern West Bank told IPS. "We will block entire highways leading to and from Israel’s illegal settlements. We will march on settlements. But these will be non-violent and the protestors will be peaceful.

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