Hussein Ibish on WHYY-Philadelphia's Radio Times with Marty Moss-Coane
Press Release - Contact Information: Hussein Ibish - June 3, 2009 - 12:00am

Washington, DC, June 4 -- ATFP Senior Fellow Hussein Ibish joins NPR affiliate WHYY Philadelphia's Radio Times with Marty Moss-Coane to discuss US President Barack Obama's upcoming speech in Cairo and related regional issues. NPR Program Description


President Obama delivers his historic speech to the Muslim world from Cairo (1) (3) (12). Senior Israeli officials accuse Obama of breaching alleged understandings on settlement growth reached with President Bush (2), as the issue of a settlement freeze remains tense (4) (5). Four are killed in the West Bank as Palestinian security forces clash with Hamas militants (6). A report issued by the World Bank finds that Israeli restrictions are holding up many of its projects in the West Bank and impeding Palestinian development (7). A Tel Aviv University poll finds that Israeli support for settlements in the Occupied Territories is at an all-time low (8).

Obama's Cairo speech rabbis
Media Mention of ATFP In Foreign Policy - June 4, 2009 - 12:00am

Who advised President Barack Obama on the big speech? "Over the weekend, White House officials hosted a group of Muslim and other foreign policy scholars to discuss what points Mr. Obama should touch on," Politico's Mike Allen reports in Playbook. The New York Times details: Ghaith Al-Omari from the American Task Force on Palestine, Carnegie Endowment's Karim Sadjadpour, Iran expert Vali Nasr, who's been working for Holbrooke, and Brookings' Shibley Telhami, who's been all over the airwaves incidentally commenting on the speech:

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Rival Messages as Obama Lands in the Mideast
Media Mention of Ghaith al-Omari In The New York Times - June 4, 2009 - 12:00am

Aiming to repair the American relationship with the Muslim world, President Obama was greeted on Wednesday with reminders of the vast gulfs his Cairo speech must bridge, as voices as disparate as Al Qaeda’s and the Israeli government’s competed to shape how Mr. Obama’s message would be heard.

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ATFP Warmly Welcomes President Obama’s Historic Cairo Speech
Press Release - Contact Information: Hussein Ibish - June 4, 2009 - 12:00am

Washington, DC, June 4 -- The American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) warmly welcomed the speech delivered today by President Barack Obama in Cairo. “It is time for us to act on what everyone knows to be true,” the President said, as he reaffirmed the determination of the United States government to seek a negotiated agreement between Israel and the Palestinians that allows for the creation of a Palestinian state to live in peace and security alongside Israel.


Muslims Will Judge Obama by Actions More Than Words
Media Mention of Ziad Asali In The New York Times - June 4, 2009 - 12:00am

It is too soon to tell whether President Obama’s 55-minute speech to the Muslim world from Cairo will be the balm to America’s broken relationship with Islam that White House officials hope. Some early signs are promising — and not just that several times someone in Mr. Obama’s audience in the domed hall yelled out, “I love you!”

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Israeli actions curb Palestinian growth - World Bank
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
June 4, 2009 - 12:00am

Major projects and investments spearheaded by Middle East envoy Tony Blair and Western powers to promote economic growth in the Palestinian territories have had little effect, the World Bank said on Thursday. The international lending agency said in a report Israeli restrictions on the Palestinians was holding up many of the projects. It said efforts led by the U.S. government under former President George W. Bush to promote private sector investment had made little tangible difference.

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Some in Congress uneasy with Obama's Mideast policy
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Richard Boudreaux, Paul Richter - June 4, 2009 - 12:00am

Reporting from Washington and Jerusalem -- Key U.S. lawmakers whose support is crucial to the Obama administration's Middle East peace effort are showing signs of unease with the administration's aggressive approach to Israel. Though they strongly support the peace initiative, many say they want the White House to back off its demand that the Israeli government halt all growth in Jewish settlements on Palestinian territory. Some members of Congress are also unhappy that the Obama administration has gone public in its dispute with Israel.

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Obama Tugs at the Settlement Knot
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by David Ignatius - (Editorial) June 4, 2009 - 12:00am

By traveling to the heart of the Arab world today, President Obama is putting himself at a crossroads: He is raising expectations that America can coax Israel and the Arabs toward a comprehensive peace that has eluded them for more than 40 years. But can Obama deliver?

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Obama Calls for Alliances With Muslims
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Alan Cowell, Jeff Zeleny - June 4, 2009 - 12:00am

President Obama pledged on Thursday to “seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world,” imploring America and the Islamic world to drop their suspicions of one another and forge new alliances to confront violent extremism and heal religious divides.

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