September 21st

NEWS: One year after failing to secure full UN membership, Palestinians are now considering seeking nonmember observer state status. PM Netanyahu's office claims this is a violation of the Oslo agreements. Egypt says it is working to promote Palestinian reconciliation. Experts are skeptical about Pres. Abbas' reported threat to resign. Palestinian security forces return three Israeli soldiers who strayed into Palestinian-controlled areas of the occupied West Bank. 30 international aid NGOs appeal to the Quartet to stop the ongoing demolition of Palestinian homes. Hamas says Egypt's disruption of tunnel trade is hurting the Gaza economy. Israeli forces kill three extremists in Sinai. Mitt Romney reportedly makes no mention of the peace process in a call with Jewish American leaders. The PLO says over 400 Palestinians have been killed in the conflict in Syria. A committee in the Irish parliament recommends a national ban on Israeli settlement products. COMMENTARY: Aaron David Miller asks how unsustainable the status quo between Israel and the Palestinians is. Yezid Sayigh says the Palestinians may renew their UN efforts this year, but show no signs of having better learned how to contain the fallout. David Rosenberg says, given the economic crisis, the PA can't even offer the Palestinians personal prosperity. Yossi Verter says if Netanyahu is reelected, his next term will probably be a repetition of his current term. Eva Illouz says Judith Butler is getting a taste of her own boycott politics. Danny Caravan says the reason Oslo failed is that the occupation persisted. Yoram Drori says because they have full citizenship and a homeland in the state of Israel, there are no Jewish refugees in the Middle East. Uri Savir says Bill Clinton should be the next Middle East envoy if Pres. Obama is reelected. Ben Capsit says Netanyahu had better begin preparing for the day after Obama is reelected. Ghada Karmi says Palestinians need a one-state solution. Zuheir Kseibati says Hamas might be gaining more from aligning with the Muslim Brotherhood than they did with Syria and Iran. Mohammad Salah says Egypt has got to get control over the Sinai Peninsula.

The Sinai
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Hayat
by Mohammad Salah - (Opinion) September 20, 2012 - 12:00am

If the Islamists are in power in Egypt today, then who are those Islamists who are committing acts of violence in the Sinai? The question strongly poses itself in light of the violent incidents repeatedly taking place in the Egyptian peninsula – incidents which are branching out and have not ceased despite the broad military campaign waged by the Egyptian army in extremist Islamist strongholds there ever since the attack on border guards that resulted in 16 deaths.

»

Gaza on the Horse of the Muslim Brotherhood
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Hayat
by Zuheir Kseibati - (Opinion) September 20, 2012 - 12:00am

With Egypt in the post-revolutionary phase, Hamas might become closer to the West Bank than it was while in the lap of the Syrian-Iranian rejectionism axis. And in light of the distance with Damascus, Meshaal has become closer to Ramallah than to the alliance with Khamenei. But what is certain is that Ismail Haniyeh is racing Meshaal to win the heart of the Muslim Brotherhood group, and the mind of President Muhammad Morsi, in order to launch a new round of the conflict with head of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas.

»

Comment is free Palestinians need a one-state solution
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Ghada Karmi - (Opinion) September 20, 2012 - 12:00am

It is one year this week since the Palestinians applied for UN membership. President Mahmoud Abbas's impassioned plea to the UN's General Assembly for support of the We Palestinian case on 23 September 2011 won him much praise, even from his detractors. But it came to nothing, and no further Palestinian application for UN membership was made. Now, however, the statehood issue is back on the Palestinian agenda.

»

Preparing for the day after
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Ben Caspit - (Opinion) September 20, 2012 - 12:00am

It seems that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has begun to understand the extent of the breakdown in our future relationship with Washington. US President Barack Obama emerged this week as a clear front-runner in the polls. In the running for the electoral college delegates to be selected by each state to formally elect the president, his situation is even better. It seems that only a miracle will save Mitt Romney and those who have pinned their hopes on his victory. This is the miracle that Binyamin Netanyahu and Sheldon Adelson are praying for.

»

Bill Clinton for the Middle East peace process
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Uri Savir - (Opinion) September 20, 2012 - 12:00am

Barack Obama will most likely be reelected to a second term in the Oval Office. If so, one of the dramatic turning points in the election campaign will be considered the rousing and brilliant endorsement speech by former president Bill Clinton at the Democratic convention in Charlotte.

»

The Jewish refugee issue
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Yoram Dori - (Opinion) September 20, 2012 - 12:00am

In recent days I have been exposed, like many others, to a campaign of the Foreign Ministry and the National Security Council which is titled: “Restitution of property to Jewish refugees from Arab countries.” The intention, according to the international campaign editors, is to compare in the eyes of the world public opinion the loss of the property of the Palestinian refugees with the loss of Jews who were forced to leave the Arab countries and came to Israel. To compare the damages and the costs.

»

Oslo – a missed opportunity
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Danny Caravan - (Opinion) September 21, 2012 - 12:00am

  The Palestinians are threatening to cancel the Oslo Accords. On the Israeli side, unbridled attacks on the agreement have crossed all red lines. They stem from maliciousness, distortion of facts, lack of understanding and ignorance of those who want to hide and blur the truth.

»

Judith Butler gets a taste of her own politics
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Eva IIIouz - (Opinion) September 20, 2012 - 12:00am

Judith Butler has recently been awarded the prestigious Theodor W. Adorno Prize by the city of Frankfurt. The award mandate is to reward someone who reflects the late philosopher’s varied intellectual interests in the arts, culture and music, as well as his engagement with critical theory.

»

If Netanyahu is reelected, history will repeat itself
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Yossi Verter - (Opinion) September 21, 2012 - 12:00am

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's selection as Man of 5773 - that is, of the Year to Come - is so painfully obvious that maybe it even begs to be set aside. Netanyahu is indeed the man of the year in which Iran, according to the minimalist forecast, is expected to become a member of the nuclear club - or at least to reach the threshold of the club. Unless the United States does the dirty work for him, the premier is the man who, in the next few months, will make the most critical decision in these parts since David Ben-Gurion decided to declare Israel's statehood.

»


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