July 22nd

ATFP/APN Joint Event on Capitol Hill Urges Support for Peace
Press Release - Contact Information: Hussein Ibish - July 22, 2010 - 12:00am

A brown bag lunch for interns on Capitol Hill, held on July 21 at the Rayburn House office building by Americans for Peace Now (APN) and the American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP), urged a standing-room only audience to engage in advocacy on behalf of a two-state peace agreement in the Middle East. Hussein Ibish, Senior Fellow at ATFP, and Ori Nir, spokesman for APN, strongly agreed that a negotiated, two state agreement is the only real hope for peace between Israel and the Palestinians.


Palestinians say a Palestinian killed by Israeli forces near a West Bank settlement was unarmed. Gaza flotilla organizers continue planning campaigns. Israel continues to jail a leader of Palestinian nonviolent protests. Eight Palestinian buildings near Ramallah are destroyed by Israeli forces. Pres. Abbas signals he will resist pressure for direct talks. Israeli shelling kills two Gaza militants, injures six other people. PM Fayyad continues to plan a cabinet reshuffle. Israel's approach to civilian casualties appears to be changing following the Gaza war. More doubts surface about Israel's new anti-rocket system. US officials say final status issues will only be discussed in direct negotiations. A Palestinian man is severely beaten for talking with a Jewish girl in Israel. D. Bloomfield says trust is the missing element for peace. The Forward looks at controversies over Caterpillar. Felice Friedson of the Media Line says if Israel doesn't make its policies clear the UN will decide for it. Michael Jansen says arming Israel is not the path to peace.

'Arab man attacked for talking to Jewish girl'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Ahiya Raved - July 22, 2010 - 12:00am

A 23-year-old Arab man sustained serious injuries after being attacked in Tiberias, allegedly for talking to a young Jewish woman. Police are still searching for the suspected assailant, a 19-year-old who fled the scene. According to police, it is not yet clear whether the attack was nationalistically motivated and whether there was any connection between the suspect and the young woman.

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Caterpillar Caught in Web Of Middle East Politics
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by Josh Nathan-Kazis - July 21, 2010 - 12:00am

At first glance, the contention that a construction equipment company in Peoria, Ill., is implicated in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict seems strange. But earlier in July, the largest Presbyterian denomination in the United States adopted a resolution that strongly criticized Caterpillar Inc., the manufacturer whose tractors, bulldozers and mining equipment help build and farm America, for its role in Israel’s occupation of Palestinian lands.

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Abbas signals will resist U.S. pressure for talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
July 22, 2010 - 12:00am

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has indicated he will resist U.S. pressure for face-to-face peace talks with Israel for now, saying indirect negotiations must make progress first. Abbas has said he wants the indirect negotiations to produce results on the issues of the security and borders of a future Palestinian state to be founded alongside Israel on land it occupied in 1967.

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Iron Dome may not be as effective as the IDF thinks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Yossi Melman - (Analysis) July 22, 2010 - 12:00am

Everything about the last test of the Iron Dome missile defense system, created to intercept all manner of launched projectile within a 40 kilometer radius, came up smelling like roses.

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Israeli forces demolish Palestinian homes, shops
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
July 22, 2010 - 12:00am

Israeli authorities have demolished eight structures belonging to Palestinians in a residential area northwest of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank. Al-Gharbi mayor Ghassan Abu Salem said more than a dozen military vehicles carrying armed soldiers arrived mid-morning Wednesday with military equipment to carry out the demolitions. "They immediately began tearing down the structures," Abu Salem said. "They were homes and shops right on the main street, but the army said they were illegally built in 'Area C'," which falls under Israeli control.

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Israel sentences popular struggle leader
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
July 22, 2010 - 12:00am

A Palestinian protest organizer detained in 2005 and put on trial was sentenced Wednesday with a second trial pending, popular committee officials in Bil'in said. A statement said Abdallah Abu Rahmah was sentenced to two months of imprisonment and a six-month suspended sentence while a five-year trial on a litany of charges including "activity against the public order," "obstructing a soldier in the line of duty," and "incitement." A verdict in Abu Rahmah's main case for which he is already in jail since December is expected soon, organizers added.

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MESS Report / Gaza war probes are changing Israel's defiant ways
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amos Harel - July 22, 2010 - 12:00am

Israel's policy on how to deal with violations of the laws of war during Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip has undergone a radical change during the year and half since the fighting ended. In the meantime, it seems, Israel has paid the full price for its original position without managing to reap any significant profits from its turnabout.

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Palestinian shot dead near settlement
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
July 22, 2010 - 12:00am

A Palestinian man was killed and a second injured by Israeli gunfire in the occupied West Bank on Thursday morning, Palestinian security officials said. They told Ma’an that an Israeli force opened fire on the two at 4:30 a.m. at the entrance of the illegal Barqan settlement in the Salfit district, killing one man while the second was injured.

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