October 22nd

Sha'ath: Talks on hold until US election ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency October 22, 2010 - 12:00am A member of the PLO's negotiating team said Thursday that the Obama administration had all but given up its efforts to restart peace talks at least until US midterm elections next month. Fatah leader Nabil Sha'ath said the US position threw the Palestinian Authority into crisis through its handling of the talks, which ended in September when Israel opted to renew building settlements in the occupied territories. » Read more

Settlers Race to Build Units in West Bank ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Ethan Bronner - October 21, 2010 - 12:00am Less than four weeks since the end of Israel’s building freeze in the West Bank, hundreds of units are under construction in dozens of settlements there, settler leaders and anti-settlement advocates said Thursday. Foundations have been dug for 300 units and work is under way on a couple of hundred more, they report, many of the units in smaller settlements that would be most unlikely to remain as part of Israel in any future two-state deal with the Palestinians. » Read more

The Other Citizens of Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Ahmad Tibi - (Opinion) October 21, 2010 - 12:00am Is there no limit to what the American government will accept from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his hard-line foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman? With Netanyahu’s backing, the Israeli cabinet voted in support of Lieberman’s loyalty oath for non-Jewish immigrants, which requires allegiance to a “Jewish and democratic state” of Israel. It was as if Mexican immigrants to the United States would have to swear allegiance to a United States that is white and Protestant, while immigrants from Europe would face no such oath. » Read more

Clinton Urges Arab Financial Support for Palestinians ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Voice of America October 21, 2010 - 12:00am Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks at the Fifth Annual Gala of the American Task Force on Palestine in Washington, 20 Oct 2010 U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says Arab countries should provide more financial support to the Palestinian Authority. Speaking Wednesday to pro-Palestinian group the American Task Force on Palestine in Washington, Clinton said it takes more than plans and commitments "to support making the state of Palestine a reality." The U.S. and the European Union are the Palestinian Authority's main donors. 2 state solution » Read more

Clinton Reaffirms US Commitment to Middle East Solution ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Voice of America by Mohamed Elshinnawi - October 21, 2010 - 12:00am Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks at the Fifth Annual Gala of the American Task Force on Palestine in Washington, 20 Oct 2010 U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to a two-state solution and comprehensive peace in the Middle East. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says the path to security and dignity for Palestinians and Israelis lies in negotiations that result in two states, living side by side in peace. » Read more

‘No magic formula for resuming Mideast talks’ ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News by Barbara Ferguson - October 21, 2010 - 12:00am High ranking members of various administrations, including presidents, routinely address the powerful Israeli lobby, AIPAC (American Israeli Political Action Committee), but when it comes to addressing Palestinian-Americans, various US administrations have kept them at arm’s length…. sending lower-ranking dignitaries, but never a secretary of state. So, when Clinton walked up the podium on Wednesday night to address the American Task Force on Palestine annual gala, it was hugely symbolic of the Obama administration’s position on the current Mideast peace talks. » Read more

Clinton Speaks Warmly of Palestinian Statehood ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Tablet Magazine by Allison Hoffman - October 21, 2010 - 12:00am If there is one Palestinian outreach event on the Washington calendar that the city’s establishment is likely to attend, a senior Hill staffer told me earlier this week, it’s the annual gala of the American Task Force on Palestine, a seven-year-old group that advocates for a two-state solution. » Read more

Clinton: We promise not to 'turn our backs' on Palestinians or Israelis ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy by Paul Rogin - October 21, 2010 - 12:00am In a rousing 30-minute speech Wednesday night, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton implored attendees at the annual gala for the American Task Force on Palestine not to give up on the struggling Middle East peace process, despite past, current, and future obstacles. » Read more

The Palestinians' Ploy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National Interest by Paul Pillar - (Blog) October 21, 2010 - 12:00am Whatever is your opinion about the issues that divide Israelis and Palestinians, you have to give the Palestinians credit for having hit upon a clever idea to inject into the current impasse. That idea, currently a subject of discussion among Palestinian leaders in the West Bank, is to appeal to international bodies for some kind of affirmation of Palestine as a state on land Israel conquered in the 1967 war. » Read more

Clinton calls for release of Gilad Shalit—Palestinian American audience applauds ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) by Ron Kampeas - (Blog) October 21, 2010 - 12:00am This moment, at about 23 minutes into the video* was not an extraordinary one, to those familiar with the American Task Force on Palestine. It's a group that works closely with the Mahmoud Abbas Palestinian Authority, that rejects Hamas, that engages Jewish groups that also embrace two states. Here it is from the transcript of the secretary of state's remarks to the group's dinner: » Read more