The View From Club Med
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Economist
July 16, 2008 - 3:12pm

AMID exceptionally tight security, and beneath the magnificent glass roof of the Grand Palais, the leaders of 43 European and Mediterranean countries met in Paris on Sunday July 13th to launch a new club: the Union for the Mediterranean. For President Nicolas Sarkozy, who will co-chair the new grouping, along with Egypt's Hosni Mubarak, the summit provided a chance to reassert French diplomacy and to grab a part in the quest for Middle East peace. With careful orchestration, both Syria's Bashar Assad and Israel's Ehud Olmert sat at the same table.

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ATFP Joins With Groups Urging Travel Rights for Palestinian Students
Press Release - Contact Information: Hussein Ibish - July 15, 2008 - 12:00am

Washington, DC, July 16 - The American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) has joined with six other American organizations to urge Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to use her good offices to convince Israel to allow hundreds of Palestinian students in Gaza to travel to their universities around the world. The organizations sent a letter to Secretary Rice dated July 15 asking the Administration to help secure travel permission for hundreds of Palestinian students in Gaza who have been accepted in foreign universities but who are not being allowed to leave the territory by Israel.


The Economist discusses the recent inaugural meeting of the Mediterranean Union (1). The much anticipated prisoner swap between Israel and Hezbollah is carried out, to mixed reactions (2) (9). The IDF continues their crackdown on Hamas-affiliated organizations in the West Bank (3) (5). Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair cancels his planned visit to Gaza (8) and expresses his doubts about the prospects for a peace agreement this year (7).

American Task Force on Palestine - 1634 Eye St. NW, Suite 725, Washington DC 20006 - Telephone: 202-262-0017