March 13th

Three right-wing Israeli parties vie for the important housing portfolio under Prime-Minister designate Netanyahu (1), while concern continues to mount about the rightward shift of a new Israeli government (10) (13). Israel has reportedly agreed to free all 450 prisoner demanded by Hamas in exchange for captured soldier Gilad Shalit (2). Officials from Hamas and Fatah report that there are still major obstacles to be overcome as national accord government talks continue in Cairo (4). The Palestinian Center for Human Rights releases their statistics on the Gaza war (7). A Palestinian youth is killed in the West Bank after allegedly throwing explosives at an Israeli military vehicle (8).

Comprehensive Solution to Conflict Necessary to Salvage Two-State Solution
Press Release - Contact Information: Hussein Ibish - October 18, 2004 - 12:00am

Washington DC, Oct. 18 -- The American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) hosted a briefing today by Yasser Abed Rabbo, on strategies for salvaging the two-state solution. Abed Rabbo is an author of the Geneva Accords, a leader of the Palestine Peace Coalition and a member of the PLO’s executive committee. ‘Partial’ or ‘unilateral’ solutions such as Israel’s Gaza withdrawal plan will invariably fail with tragic consequences, Abed Rabbo stressed.


Israeli and Palestinian Leaders Call for Disengagement, Settlement Evacuation
Press Release - Contact Information: Hussein Ibish - October 13, 2004 - 12:00am

Washington DC, Oct. 13 -- If the Gaza disengagement plan does not succeed, Yossi Alpher, former senior adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, said, Israelis and Palestinians “are on a slippery slope towards South Africanization, without a South African solution.” Ziad Abu Zayyad, member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, said that planting Jewish settlements in the West Bank undermines the prospect for a two-state solution as well, and that it is in Israel’s best interest to withdraw from the settlements.


Palestinian Negotiators Outline Prospects for Peace Following Gaza Disengagement
Press Release - Contact Information: Hussein Ibish - September 27, 2004 - 12:00am

Washington DC, Sep. 27 -- The American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) hosted a briefing by members of the PLO Negotiations Support Unit (NSU), who are making a week-long tour of congressional offices and non-profit groups.


Joint Statement on May 19, 2004 Attacks
Press Release - Contact Information: Hussein Ibish - May 19, 2004 - 12:00am

We, the undersigned organizations, strongly condemn Israel’s recent indiscriminate killings of innocent Palestinians, including many children. In particular, we cite the May 19, 2004 Israeli strike on peaceful demonstrators resulting in the death of at least 20 innocent Palestinians. In addition, we denounce the demolition of Palestinian homes in Gaza’s Rafah refugee camp.


ATFP Hosts Initiators of Geneva Accords for Extraordinary Week of Events
Press Release - Contact Information: Hussein Ibish - December 10, 2003 - 1:00am

Washington DC, Dec. 10 -- The American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) hosted the initiators of the Geneva Accords for a week of events in Washington and New York ending Sunday December 7,2003. The delegation consisted of former Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo, Dr. Nabil Kassis, Dr. Samih Al Abed, and Governor of Bethlehem Zuhair Al Manasreh from the Palestinian side; and former Israeli Justice Minister Yossi Beilin, Shaul Arieli, Daniel Levy, and General Amnon Lipkin-Shahak from the Israeli side.


Obama Administration Overhauls US Mideast Policy
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Voice of America
March 11, 2009 - 12:00am

The Obama administration is moving quickly to overhaul American policy on the Middle East, sending top envoys to the region and promising to push hard for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Some regional analysts warn conditions on the ground may make progress especially difficult. U.S. President Barack Obama has been in office less than two months. During that brief period, however, he has already dispatched Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, special envoy George Mitchell, and other diplomats from the State Department and White House to the Middle East.

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The Real Israel Is Its Own Saving Grace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Israel Policy Forum
by M.J. Rosenberg - March 13, 2009 - 12:00am

It's like this. If the only page you read in the newspaper is the obituary section, it's going to appear to you that people are sure dying a lot. That same metric applies to news about Israel. If you confine your reading to news about the Gaza war, the continuing blockade, and the rise of Avigdor Lieberman, it is pretty easy to give up on the whole place.

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Concern as ultra-right winger set to lead Israel's foreign policy
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Scotsman
by Ben Lynfield - March 13, 2009 - 12:00am

CONCERN was mounting last night over Israel's plans to appoint as foreign minister an ultra-nationalist politician who based his election campaign on stoking fear of and hatred against the country's Arab minority. However, European Union countries are poised to give Avigdor Lieberman a chance unless the guidelines of the new right-wing coalition headed by Benjamin Netanyahu contain elements directed against Israel's Arab minority, a European diplomat said last night.

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A Reality Check
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
March 12, 2009 - 12:00am

The (enhanced) Grad missiles that hit the southern city of Ashkelon several days ago underscore the bitter strategic defeat Israel incurred in the recent Operation Cast Lead.

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