September 7th

Do we really want peace?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Galila Golan - (Opinion) September 6, 2011 - 12:00am


I accuse the government of Israel (several of them) not only of failing to provide its citizens with their socioeconomic rights but also of failing to provide its citizens with security. The government of Israel has failed to provide its citizens with security because it has rejected ending the Arab-Israeli conflict. Some would go all the way back to the 1950s when Prime Minister Ben-Gurion expressed his lack of disappointment that the Egyptians were too demanding, because he believed that time was on our side. Many things, not least of which the 1967 war, proved that wrong.


Peace Now: Settlement building doubles since freeze
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
September 7, 2011 - 12:00am


BETHLEHEM (Reuters) -- According to Peace Now's latest report released Wednesday, construction in West Bank settlements has doubled since the end of a building freeze which ended US brokered peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians last year. Peace Now's Settlement Watch Director of Projects Hagit Ofran told Reuters that the settlement construction rate over the past year has allowed settlers to bridge the gap created during a 10-month moratorium that ended last year.


U.S. envoys press Palestinians to drop U.N. statehood bid
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Joel Greenberg - September 6, 2011 - 12:00am


JERUSALEM — Two senior White House envoys arrived Tuesday for meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders in a last-ditch effort to head off a Palestinian bid for recognition of statehood at the United Nations this month. David Hale, the Obama administration’s acting special envoy to the Middle East, and Dennis Ross, the president’s Middle East adviser on the National Security Council, are pressing for a resumption of peace negotiations that were broken off a year ago.


Gaza siege chokes Israel diplomatically
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Zvi Barel - (Opinion) September 7, 2011 - 12:00am


"Gaza envelope" is not just a geographic term or an imaginary border line delimiting the threat zone around a group of communities in the south. It is a political situation in which, for the sake of accuracy, "Israel" should replace "Gaza." It is the Gaza Strip that envelopes Israel, and not the other way around. If a closure or blockade is the index of a smothering "envelope," then it is Israel that is being smothered, largely on its own account and in no small measure on account of Gaza.


Gaza: Israelis Kill Militant
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Fares Akram - September 6, 2011 - 12:00am


A Palestinian militant in Gaza was killed Tuesday by an attack helicopter after Israeli forces carried out an incursion into Gaza near the southern city of Khan Yunis and clashed with members of a small militant group, shooting at them and receiving mortar fire back, according to the Israeli military and officials of the group, the Popular Resistance Committees. The militant was identified by his group as Khaled Sahmoud, 23. Israeli forces said members of that group carried out the terrorist attack from the Sinai region of Egypt on southern Israel last month that killed eight Israelis.


Gaza: Israelis Kill Militant
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Fares Akram - September 6, 2011 - 12:00am


A Palestinian militant in Gaza was killed Tuesday by an attack helicopter after Israeli forces carried out an incursion into Gaza near the southern city of Khan Yunis and clashed with members of a small militant group, shooting at them and receiving mortar fire back, according to the Israeli military and officials of the group, the Popular Resistance Committees. The militant was identified by his group as Khaled Sahmoud, 23. Israeli forces said members of that group carried out the terrorist attack from the Sinai region of Egypt on southern Israel last month that killed eight Israelis.


Elusive Line Defines Lives in Israel and the West Bank
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - September 6, 2011 - 12:00am


BARTAA, West Bank — For decades Israel has tried to erase from public consciousness the Green Line, the pre-1967 boundary with the West Bank at the heart of stalled negotiations for a Palestinian state. Israel has built on either side of the Green Line and deleted it from textbooks and weather maps. Israeli drivers plying the main Tel Aviv-Jerusalem highway crisscross the unmarked line at the Latrun Interchange every second of the day, slicing through half a mile of West Bank territory and several more miles of no man’s land, oblivious to the area’s fraught history.


Hamas regime needs the Gaza blockade
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amira Hass - (Opinion) September 7, 2011 - 12:00am


How embarrassing. While solidarity activists are planning new protests against the blockade of the Gaza Strip, the Hamas government is adding to limitations on Palestinians' freedom of movement. One might justifiably ask: What are a few high school students Hamas refuses to allow to travel to the United States to study as opposed to 1.5 million Palestinians imprisoned by Israel in Gaza?


September 6th

NEWS: Leaks reveal US efforts to wiretap Israeli diplomats. Pres. Abbas says he prefers negotiations, and will continue them but is going to have a UN initiative in September. Israel says it will tolerate some Palestinian protests in September. Abbas reportedly met secretly with DM Barak. PLO officials say they're keeping their options at the UN open for now. Settlers attack a West Bank mosque in retaliation for Israeli military demolition of "unauthorized" buildings. PM Fayyad says Israel is fully responsible for the attack. Turkey is suspending military ties with Israel. Analysts ask whether new tensions between Israel and Turkey serve Palestinian interests. The governor of the Bank of Israel warns of the financial costs of deteriorating ties with Turkey. A Palestinian citizen of Israel family wins the right to reside in a “Jewish community.” COMMENTARY: Roger Cohen says Israel is isolating itself. Nidal Foqaha says the United States should vote yes on a UN Palestinian statehood initiative. Jeffrey Goldberg says former Sec. of Defense Robert Gates told him Israel is an “ungrateful ally.” Gershon Baskin says youth are crucial to peace. David Newman says freedom of expression is in danger in Israel. Guy Goodwin-Gill says Palestinian statehood must follow a democratic process. Linda Heard says Turkey should not let Israel off the hook. Sari Bashi looks at the future of the UN flotilla report. Yossi Alpher says Israel can use the UN to make progress and corner Hamas at the same time. Ghassan Khatib says Israel now has to deal with an empowered Egyptian public on Palestine. Itamar Rabinovich says Israel’s best option is to renew negotiations with the Palestinians.

Israel's best response is still to renew negotiations
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Itamar Rabinovich - (Editorial) September 5, 2011 - 12:00am


The terrorist attack launched from Sinai on August 18 against Israeli vehicles travelling to Eilat, and its sequels, have underscored and exacerbated four interlocking challenges facing Israel.



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