October 21st

At ATFP Gala, Sec. Clinton Vows Administration “Will Not Turn Our Backs” on Palestinians, Israelis
Press Release - Contact Information: Ghaith al-Omari - October 21, 2010 - 12:00am

Washington DC, October 21 -- “I promise you this: The Obama administration will not turn our backs on the Palestinian people or the people of Israel,” Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told an audience of over 700 in a major policy address last night. She spoke at the Fifth Annual Gala of the American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) in Washington DC. Expressing the administration's determination to push forward with the peace process, she said, “we will continue working every day to achieve the just, lasting and comprehensive peace that has been a cornerstone of U.S.


Remarks by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton at last night's Fifth Annual ATFP Gala are covered by numerous publications. Tom Friedman says Israel really is behaving like a spoiled child. Palestinians mull seeking international recognition. The drive to free convicted Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard revs up. PM Netanyahu insists settlements are not an obstacle to peace. Settlers torch and vandalize a school near Nablus. Rachel Corrie's parents confront the bulldozer driver at a civil trial in Israel. A blast at a Hamas compound in Gaza injures children. Israelis mark 15 years since the assassination of PM Rabin. Settlers are working on 550 new homes in the West Bank. Avi Issacharoff says settlements are incompatible with peace. Rappers face tough times in Gaza. Palestinian citizens of Israel feel increasingly alienated.

Israeli-Arabs fear for their future
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Rachel Shabi - October 19, 2010 - 12:00am

Like other Arab citizens of Israel, Leyla Ahmoud is anxious about her future. A young mother of two girls with another on the way, Ahmoud says recent moves by the Israeli government are making it increasingly obvious that the Arabs are not welcome in their own country. "I feel like my life is not in my hands," said 24-year-old Ahmoud, who lives in Umm al-Fahm, a mountain-ridge town of some 43,000 inhabitants in northern Israel. "The government decides how I live and where I live. We exist in fear, from one day to the next."

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Last rapper in Gaza struggles to make voice heard
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Harriet Sherwood - October 20, 2010 - 12:00am

Mothafar Assar's spell in the limelight lasted only 30 minutes before the Hamas security forces came to break up his inaugural gig. A crowd of 450 people had crammed into the hotel venue for Gaza's first rap party, scheduled to last for three hours. As the audience left, the police confiscated video cameras, returning them later with the subversive images of Assar's Street Band Rappers removed.

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Clinton: Talks only way forward
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
October 21, 2010 - 12:00am

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned Israel and the Palestinians on Wednesday there was no "magic formula" to break an impasse over peace talks, but said hard work could still yield a deal. Clinton, speaking to a Palestinian advocacy group that supports a peaceful end to the conflict, said both Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas remained committed to a two-state solution despite a standoff that threatens to torpedo the US-brokered peace talks less than two months after they were launched.

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Clinton: Talks the only way to move forward toward peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
October 21, 2010 - 12:00am

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday said that a deal that would save peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians could still be worked out, however there exists no "magic formula" for breaking the impasse in negotiations, Reuters reported. Clinton, speaking at a banquet hosted by the American Task Force on Palestine, said that both Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas were still committed to a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

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However wonderful they may be, settlers are an insurmountable obstacle to peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Avi Issacharoff - (Analysis) October 20, 2010 - 12:00am

Last week I was invited to visit the Hayovel neighborhood in the West Bank settlement of Eli (erected on the 50th anniversary of Israel's establishment). This neighborhood includes several structures that were likely built on Palestinian land and are slated for demolition, pending a court ruling.

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Clinton: Two-state solution still possible for Israel, Palestinians
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Natasha Mozgovaya - October 21, 2010 - 12:00am

United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday that Israelis and Palestinians have not abandoned peace negotiations and that a two-state solution was still possible. Clinton. Clinton spoke at an annual gala of the American Taskforce for Palestine at in Washington, DC. "We remain convinced that if they persevere with negotiations, the parties can agree on an outcome that ends the conflict; reconciles the Palestinian goal of an independent and viable state based on the 1967 lines, with agreed swaps."

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Settlers have broken ground on nearly 550 West Bank homes since end of freeze, survey shows
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
October 21, 2010 - 12:00am

Israeli settlers have begun building new homes at a quick pace since the government lifted its moratorium on West Bank housing starts - almost 550 in three weeks, more than four times faster than the last two years. And many homes are going up in areas that under practically any peace scenario would become part of a Palestinian state, a trend that could hamper U.S.-brokered peace talks. According to an Associated Press count, ground has been broken on 544 new West Bank homes since September 26, when Israel lifted its 10-month freeze on most new settlement building.

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Clinton: Talks absolutely necessary for Middle East peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
October 21, 2010 - 12:00am

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday that the direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians are "absolutely necessary" to achieve Middle East peace. Clinton made the remarks as she addressed a pro-Palestinian group, the American Task force on Palestine, in Washington. "Negotiations are not easy, but they are absolutely necessary. It is always easier to defer decisions than it is to make them," Clinton said. She admitted that there is no "magic formula" to break the current impasse of the talks regarding the settlement issue.

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