May 29th, 2012

Turkish Court Indicts 4 Israeli Military Leaders
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - May 28, 2012 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM — An Istanbul court approved indictments on Monday against four senior Israeli military figures for involvement in a deadly raid on a Turkish passenger vessel trying to breach Israel’s naval blockade of

»

Hamas Takes Step Toward Palestinian Unity Government
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Fares Akram - May 28, 2012 - 12:00am

Ismail Haniya, the Hamas prime minister in Gaza, made the first step on Monday toward ending his group’s disputes with the

»

People Power for Peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Huffington Post
by Hussein Ibish, Saliba Sarsar - (Blog) May 25, 2012 - 12:00am

June 5, 2012 marks the 45th anniversary of the start of the Six-Day War. One of us experienced the war in Jerusalem at the age of 11, and the other in Beirut at age 4, yet it haunts us to this day. The war led to the ongoing Israeli military occupation that has come to define the conflict. It has lessened neither the fears of the triumphant Israelis, nor those of the defeated Arabs; the mindset of confrontation that produced the war still haunts the region.

»

People Power for Peace
In Print by Hussein Ibish - The Huffington Post (Blog) - May 25, 2012 - 12:00am

June 5, 2012 marks the 45th anniversary of the start of the Six-Day War. One of us experienced the war in Jerusalem at the age of 11, and the other in Beirut at age 4, yet it haunts us to this day. The war led to the ongoing Israeli military occupation that has come to define the conflict. It has lessened neither the fears of the triumphant Israelis, nor those of the defeated Arabs; the mindset of confrontation that produced the war still haunts the region.

»

May 25th

State Dep’t Opposes Senate Bid to Determine How Many Palestinians Are Genuine Refugees
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from CNS News
by Patrick Goodenough - May 25, 2012 - 12:00am

(CNSNews.com) – After intervention by the State Department, the Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday reworked an amendment to a foreign operations appropriations bill, watering down language that sought to establish the actual number of Palestinians that could legitimately be called refugees.

»

How Obama Missed an Opportunity for Middle East Peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy
by PJ Dermer, Steve White - (Opinion) May 18, 2012 - 12:00am

"We were fond together, because of the sweep of the open places, the taste of wide winds, the sunlight, and the hopes in which we worked. The moral freshness of the world-to-be intoxicated us. We were wrought up in ideas inexpressible and vaporous, but to be fought for. We lived many lives in those whirling campaigns, never sparing ourselves: Yet when we achieved and the new world dawned, the old men came out again and took our victory to re-make in the likeness of the former world they knew." – T.E. Lawrence, Seven Pillars of Wisdom

»

NEWS: Israel upgrades security ties with China. Israel's Supreme Court has ordered the military to reconsider its ban on Gaza students studying in the West Bank. In the context of negotiations with Iran, the US reiterates its commitment to Israel's security. Pres. Abbas says Palestinians in Lebanon should not arm themselves. Palestinians say Israeli settlers from the settlement involved in the controversial shooting incident last weekend have torched large areas of agricultural land near the same Palestinian village they attacked on Saturday. The new State Department human rights country report criticizes Israel's treatment of African migrants. PM Netanyahu condemns attacks on African migrants. Amnesty International says Israel frequently uses excessive force against Palestinians. Peace Now says MKs should be investigated for incitement to violence. A Canadian group is helping people in Gaza build a giant ark. The Senate Appropriations Committee approves language that would attempt to strip most Palestinian refugees of their status and place restrictions on American funding for UNRWA, but State Department intervention forces revision. COMMENTARY: Hussein Ibish says Israel must stop settler violence. Eitan Haber says Israel must prepare itself to live with a nuclear-armed Iran. MK Danny Danon says Israel should expel African migrants. Jay Bushinsky says it's time for DM Barak to resign. Uri Savir says sports can be a means to promote Israeli-Palestinian coexistence. Stephen White and PJ Dermer say by not adequately supporting the training program for Palestinian security forces, the Obama administration missed a crucial chance to promote peace. Oren Kessler says Israelis are watching the Egyptian election results with deep trepidation. Daniel Kurtzer says in order to have a positive impact on political transformations in the Middle East, a second term Obama administration needs to develop a serious strategy on Israeli-Palestinian peace. Michael Sharnoff says Palestinians are likely to increasingly turn to nonviolent protests against the occupation. Lara Friedman says it's mean-spirited, quixotic and bad for peace efforts for some members of Congress to try to redefine who qualifies as a Palestinian refugee.

Sleepless in Jerusalem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy
by Oren Kessler - (Opinion) May 24, 2012 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM – Egypt's first round of presidential voting wrapped up on Thursday with the crop of viable candidates down to just a handful. Official results won't be ready until Tuesday, but next door in Israel, policymakers are already scrambling to sort the bad options from the worse.

»

Sporting pathways to coexistence
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Uri Savir - (Opinion) May 25, 2012 - 12:00am

There is much talk in Israel these days, and it is quite justified, about violence and racism in sports. Yet I believe that while these ugly phenomena must be eradicated, sport is globally, and also here, an important pathway to coexistence, integration and social cohesion. In ancient Greece, it was decided that during the Olympic sporting events, there would be a total truce. Sport became then the symbol of peaceful coexistence and for a different type of human relations: competition according to agreed-upon rules and values.

»

Outsiders won’t decide Mideast realities
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
by Daniel Kurtzer - (Opinion) May 25, 2012 - 12:00am

“Revolutions revolve 360 degrees,” wrote the late Middle East economic historian Charles Issawi. What we didn’t know yesterday about Middle East revolutions – and we didn’t know a great deal – becomes less relevant as the days fly by, for these revolutions, like all others that preceded them, are works in progress, changing constantly.

»


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