IDF soldier suspected of killing Palestinian still hasn't been charged
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Anshel Pfeffer - August 31, 2009 - 12:00am

A Military Police investigation into a soldier's killing of a Palestinian near Hebron in January has been going on for seven and a half months, and there is still no end in sight. Yet the sector commander has been giving briefings for the past few months based on his own inquiry into the incident, which he describes as "a serious failure in moral and professional terms."

»

Abbas: No peace talks without full settlement freeze
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
August 31, 2009 - 12:00am

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will reject any U.S. invitation to resume peace talks with Israel unless Washington persuades Israel to freeze settlement activity, an aide said on Monday.

»

All three Gaza Strip border crossings open Monday
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
August 31, 2009 - 12:00am

Israeli authorities decided to open all three border terminals with the Gaza Strip on Monday for commercial shipments and humanitarian aid, according to Palestinian crossings official Raed Fattouh. Fattouh said 87 to 97 trucks of merchandise would be delivered to the Strip through the Kerem Shalom crossing. Meanwhile, the Nahal Oz crossing will be open for fuel and cooking gas deliveries, he said. The crossings official added that the Karni terminal, which is usually closed, would operate for trucks loaded with wheat and animal feed on Monday.


Hamas mulls denying Fatah leaders entry to Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
August 31, 2009 - 12:00am

Hamas hinted on Monday that Fatah officials who have been in the West Bank for their party’s recent convention might not be allowed to return to the Gaza Strip. “The Gaza Strip is accessible for all Palestinian people, but officially and in coordination with the government in Gaza. It is not accessible for those who violated the law and coordinated with occupation,” Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum told Ma’an.

»

Q+A--Is al Qaeda opening a Gaza front?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Nidal Al-Mughrabi - August 30, 2009 - 12:00am

Explosions at two sensitive sites in the Gaza Strip [ID:nLU529969] have prompted speculation on Sunday that they were the work of al Qaeda-aligned radicals opposed to the Palestinian enclave's Islamist rulers Hamas. Here are comments on key questions about the incidents: WHO WAS BEHIND THE BOMBINGS? No credible claim of responsibility has been made.

»

Israel Launches Air Strike in Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Voice of America
by Robert Berger - August 30, 2009 - 12:00am

Israel has launched an air strike in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. There was damage, but no reports of injuries. The Israeli air force bombed a tunnel the army said was meant to smuggle Palestinian terrorists from Gaza into Israel. A building over the entrance to the tunnel was destroyed about a kilometer and a-half from the Israeli border fence. The military said the air raid was in response to Palestinians firing a rocket into Israel on Saturday. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel has adopted a new policy of deterrence since he took office five months ago.

»

Former Israeli Prime Minister Is Indicted
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - August 30, 2009 - 12:00am

Former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel was formally indicted on three counts of corruption on Sunday, concluding a lengthy criminal investigation that had forced him to resign. According to the 61-page indictment, which the attorney general, Menachem Mazuz, and the state prosecution presented to the Jerusalem District Court, Mr. Olmert is accused of crimes including fraud, breach of trust, falsifying corporate records and failing to report income. If convicted, he could face years in prison.

»

August 28th

"What’s Wrong with the One-State Agenda?"
Press Release - Contact Information: Hussein Ibish - August 28, 2009 - 12:00am

ATFP presents a new Task Force book publication: What’s Wrong with the One-State Agenda? Why Ending the Occupation and Peace with Israel is Still the Palestinian National Goal by ATFP Senior Fellow Hussein Ibish


The State Department confirms that it is holding firm on the policy of no new Israeli settlements, while Palestinian leadership insists that a full settlement freeze is a preconditions for new peace talks and the Israeli government confirms there has been no agreement on settlements with the US. The New York Times looks at the long history of non-violent civil disobedience in the West Bank village of Bilin. The Toronto Star examines how new construction of Jewish homes in Arab East Jerusalem is harming urban relations. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas plans to tour a number of Arab and European countries before the end of the year. Hamas chief Khaled Meshal is reportedly planning to fly to Cairo next week to approve a possible deal that includes the release of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.

Obama steers the peace train
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Inter Press Service (IPS)
by Jerrold Kessel, Pierre Klochendler - August 28, 2009 - 12:00am

It isn't formal yet, but it's bound to be soon - within the coming six weeks, Palestinians and Israelis will again sit down around the peace table. That's the upshot of Wednesday's London meeting between United States President Barack Obama's special Middle East envoy, Senator George Mitchell, and Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu. Mitchell is set to come to Jerusalem in a fortnight's time with the goal of finalizing an agreement on both an Israeli settlement freeze and the consequent re-igniting of direct peace talks.

»


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