December 22nd

World Bank calls for steps to ease West Bank trade
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
December 22, 2008 - 1:00am

RAMALLAH, West Bank: The Palestinian private sector won't prosper as long as trade in the West Bank is hampered by Israeli checkpoints and cumbersome cargo crossings, the World Bank said in a report Monday. Israel has been slow in easing its tight restrictions on Palestinian movement, citing security concerns. However, the World Bank said Israel could make improvements even within those restrictions. It singled out the Israeli-run Allenby Bridge crossing between the West Bank and Jordan, the main route for Palestinian exports to the Arab world.

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Gaza Incursion Nears; Hamas Mulls Renewal of Suicide Bombing
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Middle East Times
by Mel Frykberg - December 22, 2008 - 1:00am

JERUSALEM -- Over the weekend, a barrage of rockets hit Israeli towns bordering the Gaza Strip following the end of a six-month truce between Israel and the Islamic resistance movement Hamas. While Israeli security officials prepare for a possible large-scale military invasion into Gaza, Hamas officials have said that they may renew suicide bombings. Hamas accused Israel of reneging on promises to open Gaza crossings and lift the economic blockade that has caused major suffering to the coastal territory's 1.5 million citizens, the vast majority of them civilian.

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Israel Strikes Gaza Day After Truce Expires
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
December 20, 2008 - 1:00am

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) -- An Israeli airstrike against a Palestinian rocket squad killed a militant Saturday, the first death in Gaza since Hamas formally declared an end to a six-month truce. Palestinians fired 10 rockets and at least 23 mortar shells from Gaza into Israel, causing some property damage but no casualties, the Israeli military said. An Israeli airstrike at one of the rocket squads in northern Gaza killed a militant, said the army and Palestinian medics.

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Once a Political Riser, an Israeli Challenges His Country’s Identity
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Ethan Bronner - December 20, 2008 - 1:00am

JERUSALEM — THERE was a time not so long ago when Avraham Burg was viewed by many Israelis as proof that the inherent tensions of Zionism — religious versus secular, insular versus worldly, Jewish state versus state of all its citizens — could be reconciled with grace. Here was a religiously observant Jew with a cosmopolitan outlook, a decorated paratrooper who believed deeply in peace with the Arabs, an eloquent, fast-rising public figure accessible to a broad range of citizens.

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Amos Gilad, the man in charge of Israel's security
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amos Harel - December 21, 2008 - 1:00am

The Israeli media has been awash in recent weeks with statements that the country is not being run, but is basically running itself. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's resignation (which does not actually involve leaving the Prime Minister's Office), the elections and the bottomless pit of hatred between him, Tzipi Livni and Ehud Barak have all but paralyzed the political-security system. Israel's slide into the end of the Gaza cease-fire is often touted as proof of this reality, supposedly proving that Hamas, more than Israel, calls the shots in the region.

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December 19th

UPP Co-Chairs meet with leadership of Palestine Youth Development & Resource Centers
Press Release - Contact Information: Omar Tuffaha - December 19, 2008 - 1:00am

On December 10th the US-Palestinian Partnership welcomed the leaders of four Palestinian Youth Development and Resource Centers (YDRC). As an integral component of UPP’s efforts to develop opportunities for Palestinian youth, the YDRCs focus on providing training and educational programming for young Palestinians.


The six-month old truce between Hamas and Israel expires today (1) (2). An op-ed in The Economist urges Israel to lift the siege of Gaza (3). President-elect Obama’s transition team meets with a delegation of Jewish groups, including peace-oriented organizations (4). Forgeries and fraudulent transactions complicate competing land claims in the West Bank (6). The European Union encourages President-elect Obama to make Middle East peace a priority (7).

Israel's cruel siege of Gaza must end
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
(Editorial) December 19, 2008 - 1:00am

There is much that is required when it comes to the situation in Gaza. The merciless Israeli siege of the territory has to come to an end once and for all. Hence, all efforts by both Palestinians and the international community should focus on this immediate and urgent matter.

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U.N. Resolution Is Bush’s Last Attempt To Save Annapolis Peace Process
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by Marc Perelman - (Opinion) December 19, 2008 - 1:00am

With its days in office running out, the Bush administration turned to the United Nations to put its imprimatur on the struggling peace initiative that the United States launched in Annapolis, Md., a little more than a year ago. In a resolution co-sponsored by the United States and Russia, the U.N. Security Council declared its support for the process initiated at Annapolis and its commitment to the “irreversibility of the bilateral negotiations” between Israelis and Palestinians.

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EU to Obama: Make Middle East peace a priority
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
December 19, 2008 - 1:00am

The new US administration should make the Middle East peace process a priority and build upon progress made so far, European Union External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said Friday. Ferrero-Waldner said the EU would like US President-elect Barack Obama's government to take up the Middle East as a "very first point" upon taking office in January. She is also urging it not to "start from scratch."

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