Roger Cohen profiles the American killed by Israeli commandos in the flotilla attack. The Washington Post interviews DM Barak. Israel appears to be cooperating more closely with the UN on Gaza. Ben White says Israel's policies are making peace more difficult. Settler violence continues in the northern West Bank. PLO officials say Pres. Abbas, who is reportedly under heavy US pressure for direct negotiations, will request an extension of proximity talks. Gazans want a “Marshall Plan.” Hearing-impaired children in Gaza struggle to overcome the difficulties. Shaul Arieli says the settlement project will destroy Zionism. A top settler rabbi arrested for incitement to kill non-Jews is released by Israeli police. Turkey is reportedly working to prevent additional Gaza flotillas from Lebanon. Alon Ben-Meir says Israel needs a Palestinian state. Yaakov Katz says when the settlement freeze expires in September the Israeli government will have to choose between confronting the settlers or Pres. Obama. Hassan Barari says upgrading the PLO mission in Washington is a good thing but does not advance the cause of liberation. John Whitbeck argues that if Kosovo can unilaterally declare independence, then Palestine can too.

Analysis: A conundrum for the government
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Yaakov Katz - July 27, 2010 - 12:00am


The violence in northern Samaria on Monday was a taste of what might come after September 26. That’s the date when the government-imposed freeze on settlement construction will expire, and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will have to decide whether to extend it, and, if so, under what format – complete or partial.


The right's strategy of phases
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Shaul Arieli - (Opinion) July 27, 2010 - 12:00am


Most of the Jewish public perceives the refusal by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to accede to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's demand to recognize Israel as the Jewish state prior to negotiations and a final agreement as evidence of a hidden agenda. For them, this agenda is based on a "strategy of phases" and the aspiration to destroy Israel as a Zionist state.


Israel needs a Palestinian state
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Alon Ben-meir - (Opinion) July 27, 2010 - 12:00am


Israel’s national security and self-preservation as a democracy, if not its very existence, depend on its ability and willingness to come to terms with the reality of coexistence with the Palestinians on the basis of a two-state solution. Unfortunately, instead of seeking to promote the creation of a Palestinian state, the current government has sought to impede it.


Q&A with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Janine Zacharia - (Interview) July 27, 2010 - 12:00am


Edited excerpts of interview by Washington Post's Janine Zacharia, with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak at the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv, Friday, July 23, 2010 WP: You arrive in Washington on Monday. What is the primary objective of your trip?


Q&A with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Janine Zacharia - (Interview) July 27, 2010 - 12:00am


Edited excerpts of interview by Washington Post's Janine Zacharia, with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak at the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv, Friday, July 23, 2010 WP: You arrive in Washington on Monday. What is the primary objective of your trip?


Gaza kids struggle to leave their world of silence
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
by Osama Radi - July 27, 2010 - 12:00am


The four-year-old Gaza boy Noor stuttered when he tried to utter the word "baba". A deaf specialist, sitting next to him, was teaching him to say the easy word, hoping to help the boy leave the world of silence. Noor and another eight hearing-impaired children were in one room with their specialist mentor who produced several musical sounds and slowly moved her tongue and lips to teach them the correct pronunciation of the early childhood expressions.


Settlers block West Bank roads to protest construction freeze
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
July 27, 2010 - 12:00am


In protest of Monday's home demolition carried out by Israeli security forces at the Givat Ronen outpost, settlers blockaded 11 intersections across the West Bank on Monday evening. The demonstrations were organized by the Samaria and Benjamin regional councils. From early Monday morning, council activists telephoned citizens to encourage them to come out to the evening protests. The Neveh Tsuf, Kochav Hashachar, Tzomet Shiloh, Tzomet Hadoar, Tzomet Hawara and Tzomet Shavei Shomron intersections were among those that were blocked.


US presses Abbas to resume direct peace talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Karin Laub - July 26, 2010 - 12:00am


A senior U.S. envoy warned the Palestinian president that he must move quickly to direct talks with Israel if he wants President Barack Obama's help in setting up a Palestinian state, according to an internal Palestinian document obtained by The Associated Press on Monday. The 36-page memo, sent to senior Palestinian officials, advised Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to resist growing U.S. pressure, warning that rescinding his conditions for face-to-face negotiations with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would be "political suicide."


Police release rabbi arrested for inciting to kill non-Jews
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Chaim Levinson - July 27, 2010 - 12:00am


Police released the head rabbi of a prominent yeshiva yesterday hours after arresting him for encouraging to kill non-Jews. Rabbi Yitzhak Shapira, head of the Od Yosef Hai Yeshiva and author of "The King's Torah," was arrested early yesterday morning at his home in the West Bank settlement of Yitzhar. His book describes how it is possible to kill non-Jews according to halakha (Jewish religious law ).



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