Palestine must be a secular state In Print by Hussein Ibish - The Washington Post (Opinion) - January 27, 2010 - 1:00am As Palestinians press the international community to live up to its commitment to ensuring the establishment of an independent Palestine alongside Israel, conversation is intensifying about the character of this new state. In their own interests, Palestinians should buck the regional trend towards religious politics and ensure, from the outset, that it is firmly and irrevocably a secular state. » Read more

PA issues 2010 state-building budget Media Mention of Hussein Ibish In Politico - January 27, 2010 - 1:00am The Palestinian Authority has issued a 2010 budget document laying out a state-building plan. Palestine: Moving Forward: Priority Interventions for 2010, issued this week by the Palestinian Authority finance and planning ministries, is a Palestinian state and institution building program that complements the diplomatic process the Obama administration is trying to revive, the American Task Force for Palestine's Hussein Ibish told POLITICO. » Read more

Clinton urges Israel, Palestinians to plunge into talks Media Mention of Ziad Asali In The Los Angeles Times - January 9, 2010 - 1:00am Reporting from Washington-- Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Friday urged Palestinians and Israelis to plunge into negotiations over the most difficult issues dividing them as a way of breaking an impasse in peace talks. Clinton said negotiations on major issues, such as the borders of a future Palestinian state or the status of Jerusalem, would help defuse the dispute over the growth of Jewish settlements in the West Bank that has obstructed progress toward peace. » Read more