Free Republic

The Independent reports that US Congress blocked $200 million in aid to Palestinian Authority following Mahmoud Abbas' bid for UN membership and is threatening wider sanctions. ..According to the British newspaper, the freezing of the funds, which were to have been provided in the US fiscal year that ends Saturday, is the most tangible sign yet of the seriousness of Congressional leaders' threats of an even wider halt to funding in the coming year if Abbas continues with his actions at the UN...The Obama administration argues that assistance to the Palestinians is "an essential part of the US commitment to...

A top Palestinian official said Wednesday that President Mahmoud Abbas would accept no political delays on his bid for membership in the United Nations, rejecting mounting pressure from the United States and France to first return to negotiations with Israel. The Palestinians plan to submit their letter of application on Friday when Abbas is to speak to the U.N. General Assembly, but he faced a withering lack of support as the world body opened its annual meeting. President Barack Obama said there could be no "shortcuts" in the quest for Middle East peace, a message that was echoed by French...

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas threw down the gauntlet in his September 16 address to the Palestinian people, televised from his Ramallah headquarters. He said he will take the Palestinians’ request for full United Nations member state recognition to the U.N. Security Council on the basis of the 1967 territorial lines, even though he knows that the U.S. has vowed to veto such a resolution. Abbas is asking the international community to formally ratify the exact physical boundaries of an independent Palestinian state on Palestinian terms. Members of the Palestinian observer delegation to the U.N., wasting no time, were seen...