September 8th, 2009

How Israel warms up for a settlement freeze
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Ilene Prusher - September 8, 2009 - 12:00am

Israel approved the building of more than 450 new homes in Jewish settlements on Monday, just weeks before possible Israeli-Palestinian talks on the sidelines of the annual United Nations gathering in New York.

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Israel Tries to Placate Settlers by Allowing Some Construction Before Freeze
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - September 8, 2009 - 12:00am

Israel’s defense minister, Ehud Barak, authorized plans for 455 new housing units in Jewish settlements in the West Bank on Monday, in a move aimed at placating Israel’s pro-settlement camp before an expected construction freeze demanded by the Arab world and the United States. But the details released by Mr. Barak’s office on Monday seemed to satisfy nobody, enraging not only the Palestinians, but also Israelis on the right and the left. The White House denounced the planned approvals last week, when news first emerged of Israel’s intention to grant them.

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The hollowness of the one-state agenda
In Print by Hussein Ibish - ATFP (Opinion) - September 8, 2009 - 12:00am

On college campuses in the United States and the United Kingdom, and increasingly among grassroots activists in the West generally, the cause of ending the Israeli occupation and securing independence for a Palestinian state is being abandoned in favor of a much more far-reaching goal of replacing Israel with a single, democratic state for all Israelis and Palestinians, including all of the refugees. Until now, this rhetoric has been largely unchallenged from a pro-Palestinian perspective, which has probably been a significant factor in its appeal.

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September 4th

ATFP Welcomes White House Statement on Israeli Settlement Activity
Press Release - Contact Information: Hussein Ibish - September 4, 2009 - 12:00am

Washington, DC, Sept. 4 -- The American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) welcomed today's statement issued by the office of the White House Press Secretary stating the United States government's position that Israeli settlement activity should stop. The White House states that, "We regret the reports of Israel's plans to approve additional settlement construction," which importantly allows for the possibility that news reports that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is planning to approve several hundred new settler homes in the occupied West Bank may be inaccurate.


In an op-ed for The Guardian, ATFP President Ziad Asali analyzes Salam Fayyad’s blueprint for a de-facto Palestinian state. Prime Minister Netanyahu will reportedly approve the construction of hundreds of new housing units in existing West Bank settlements as a prelude to a building freeze, drawing sharp criticism from many Quarters. President Abbas says that a possible summit meeting with Netanyahu and President Obama depends on "steps that are taken beforehand regarding a settlement construction freeze." Israeli warplanes bomb a tunnel linking the southern Gaza Strip with Israel. Israeli police are deployed in Jerusalem as thousands of Palestinians head to the city for prayers on the second Friday of Ramadan. Hamas leader Khaled Meshal is reportedly planning to finalize a prisoner swap deal involving the release of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.

Editorial: Mideast peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
(Editorial) September 4, 2009 - 12:00am

It was not just among Americans that Barack Obama raised great expectations when he won last year’s US presidential elections. In this part of the world, people believed that he would solve the Palestinian issue. Repeated signs from him that restarting and solving the Middle East peace process was a foreign policy priority reinforced that view. As a result, Arab and Muslim attitudes toward the US softened.

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Obama can still do more
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by George S. Hishmeh - September 4, 2009 - 12:00am

As the stage is being reportedly set for President Barack Obama to spell out his much-awaited ideas for a Palestinian-Israeli settlement at the opening of the UN General Assembly later this month, two issues remain regrettably overlooked or shortsightedly sidetracked. If this neglect persists, they have the potential of derailing a peaceful settlement.

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Bibi should not be overconfident
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
by Patrick Seale - (Opinion) September 4, 2009 - 12:00am

On two key issues of Barack Obama's foreign policy - Palestinian statehood and reconciliation with Iran - Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's Prime Minister, has chosen to fight the American President. He has refused to bend to Obama's will, and is instead seeking to outwit and defeat him.

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Are inaccurate media reports hurting U.S.-Israel relationship?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
by Eric Fingerhut - September 2, 2009 - 12:00am

President Obama told Jewish leaders in a July meeting that Israel needs to “engage in serious self-reflection.” Israel’s new U.S. ambassador was “summoned” to the State Department to be lectured about Israel's building settlements in Jerusalem. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called two top aides to Obama “self-hating Jews.” All of these reports appeared in the Israeli daily Ha’aretz. And they've all been disputed or denied by the principals involved.

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'Gov't doesn't know where it's going'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
September 4, 2009 - 12:00am

Following reports of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's plan to approve hundreds of new housing units in the West Bank before considering a brief settlement freeze, opposition leader Tzipi Livni said on Friday that the government did not know where is was headed and was playing a dangerous game of trying to please everyone. "Israel's leaders, the elected government, in my opinion, still hasn't made a choice between two different outlooks. One, Jewish existence in every part of Israel, and two, the existence of a Jewish democratic state," she said in a speech at an IDF pensioners' event.

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