RAMALLAH, September 8, 2011 (WAFA) – Thursday’s issue of the Palestinian Arabic dailies focused on President Abbas’ meeting with US special envoy for Middle East peace, David Hale, and national security advisor for the Middle East, Dennis Ross, in Ramallah.
Al-Quds newspaper’s front page reported that Abbas’ meeting with US officials stressed the depth of the Palestinian-US disagreement on the Palestinian bid to seek full United Nations membership of the state of Palestine later this month.
The main headline in Al-Ayyam’s newspaper featured Palestinian and European diplomats’ talking about US administration attempt to pressure the Middle East peace quartet to issue a statement calling to resume negotiations between the Palestinians and the Israelis before the Palestinian bid to UN.
The sources said that the US formula of the statement, supported by quartet special envoy to the Middle East, Tony Blair, is weak and does not meet the Palestinian minimum demands, added the paper.
Al-Hayat Al-Jadida highlighted Kuwait’s decision to grant the Palestinian Authority $50 million in budget support. The money was paid to the World Bank, which will transfer it to PA.
News on the situation in Syria was featured on the three dailies’ front pages as 24 Syrian civilians were killed by President Bashar Al-Assad’s troops.
Al-Ayyam’s front page featured a report by Peace Now movement revealing an upsurge in the settlement activities in the West Bank that rated two times higher that of its pace in Israel.
Al-Hayat Al-Jadida reported that United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon warned of the risks facing Palestinians by going to the Security Council to obtain Palestine’s full membership in the UN during a meeting with Foreign Minister Riyad Malki in New Zealand on Wednesday.
An opinion piece in Al-Ayyam daily by Talal Okal tackled Hale and Ross’ visit to the Palestinian Territory, referring to it as part of US “carrots and sticks” policy. Okal expected US to lose its political and moral leverage in the area, and that Europe may fill US place if it moved away from the Israeli policy.
He called on Arab countries to abide to their commitments to PA and support PA financially and politically.
R.Q./M.A.
