March 1st, 2012

Israel deepens hold in West Bank heartland, quietly legalizes unsanctioned settler enclave
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
March 1, 2012 - 1:00am


SHVUT RACHEL, West Bank — Israel has legalized one of the oldest and largest of the unsanctioned settler enclaves dotting the West Bank, a step denounced by the Palestinians and Israeli activists as a show of bad faith ahead of talks next week between the Israeli leader and President Barack Obama.


PA: Israel seizing broadcast frequencies
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
March 1, 2012 - 1:00am


BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) – The Palestinian Authority is describing Wednesday's raids on TV networks in the occupied West Bank as the possible beginning of a "frequency war" over limited broadcasting space. The confiscation of equipment from Watan TV and Al-Quds Educational TV deprives Palestinians of their right to have frequencies for building modern wireless communication networks, the PA says. Ramallah Prime Minister Salam Fayyad visited one of the stations, Watan TV in Ramallah, and said the Israeli operation was "oppressive and monstrous" and violated "all international laws".


Israeli Troops Raid Two Palestinian TV Stations in the West Bank
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Ethan Bronner - February 29, 2012 - 1:00am


JERUSALEM — Israeli troops raided two Palestinian television stations in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank early on Wednesday, confiscating transmitters, computer hard drives and documents and eliciting angry condemnations from the Palestinian Authority. Officials at the two stations, Al Watan and Al-Quds Educational Television, said that officials from Israel’s Communications Ministry, accompanied by soldiers, spent several hours removing the equipment and documents.


Israeli forces raided AQU campus and prevented the University educational TV from Broadcasting
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from ATFP
by Ziad Asali - February 29, 2012 - 1:00am


Dear Friends, We have received the message below from Al-Quds University and I am forwarding it to all those who are interested in resolving this conflict with simple questions: What does this mean? What message does it send? Are such Israeli actions leaving any room for the quest for peace and for those who seek dialogue and compromise? Should the campus of Al-Quds University expect thuggish smashing in lieu of search warrants?


February 29th

NEWS: ATFP hosts a hosts a Washington dinner for the Council of Religious Institutions of the Holy Land. Israeli occupation forces raid two private TV stations in the West Bank and confiscate equipment, which the PA says violates the Oslo Accords. Israel criticizes an invitation from the PLO to Security Council members to visit the occupied territories, as Palestinians begin to lobby for a resolution condemning settlement activity. The PA says it has made no decision regarding the future of security cooperation with Israel. Palestinians say the Chief Justice of their high religious court died two days after a raid on his home by occupation forces and hold Israel responsible. Israel uses its new “skunk” weapon against protesters in Hebron. A new Israeli study holds that the country's security situation is the worst in decades. Billionaire Sheldon Adelson reportedly gives another “substantial” donation to an organization associated with Newt Gingrich. Pro-Israel voices in the United States join calls for removing the Iranian MEK organization from the official list of designated foreign terrorist groups. COMMENTARY: Zvi Bar'el says the Israeli government believes in numerous mirages. Yitzhak Laor says Israelis are too insulated from the costs of occupation. Arieh O’Sullivan tracks the growing Palestinian opposition to armed resistance. Jonathan Marcus speculates about how Israel might go about attacking Iran if it decided to do so. Daniel Zemel and Jack Moline say Israelis should return to the more tolerant Zionism of the late PM Rabin. Emad El Din Adeeb says the coming phase in Palestinian politics will favor Hamas and its politburo chief. Osama Al Sharif asks if it's too late to save Arab East Jerusalem. Lara Friedman recounts her second, more encouraging, day at a conference on East Jerusalem in Qatar. Tony Karon asks if Hamas' break with Iran is good for Israel. Shibley Telhami looks at Israeli public opinion regarding a possible attack against Iran.

ATFP Hosts Washington Dinner for Council of Religious Institutions of the Holy Land
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from American Task Force on Palestine
February 29, 2012 - 1:00am


Washington DC, Feb 29 -- The American Task Force on Palestine yesterday hosted a Washington dinner for the Council of Religious Institutions of the Holy Land (CRIHL), the consultative body that comprises the most senior official Israeli and Palestinian religious leaders. CRIHL was established as the implementing body of the historic declaration signed in Alexandria, Egypt in 2002 in which Israeli and Palestinian religious leaders pledged to work together to end violence and promote peace. The event was sponsored by ATFP board member Dr. Adnan M. M. Mjalli and moderated by ATFP President Dr.


ATFP Hosts Washington Dinner for Council of Religious Institutions of the Holy Land
Press Release - February 29, 2012 - 1:00am

Washington DC, Feb 29 -- The American Task Force on Palestine yesterday hosted a Washington dinner for the Council of Religious Institutions of the Holy Land (CRIHL), the consultative body that comprises the most senior official Israeli and Palestinian religious leaders. CRIHL was established as the implementing body of the historic declaration signed in Alexandria, Egypt in 2002 in which Israeli and Palestinian religious leaders pledged to work together to end violence and promote peace. The event was sponsored by ATFP board member Dr. Adnan M. M. Mjalli and moderated by ATFP President Dr.


Do Israelis support a strike on Iran?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Politico
by Shibley Telhami - (Opinion) February 28, 2012 - 1:00am


When President Barack Obama meets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington next week, Iran’s nuclear program is likely to top their agenda. With increasing signals that Israel may be contemplating a strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities, the United States and its European allies have made no secret of their opposition. In the face of this mounting public disapproval, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman declared that the issue is no one else’s business and that the allies’ opposition won’t influence Israel’s decision. But how do the Israeli people feel?


Hamas Signals Break with Iran, But Is That Good for Israel?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Time Magazine
by Tony Karon - (Opinion) February 29, 2012 - 1:00am


A popular Washington illusion once held that the right combination of incentives and punishments might “peel off” Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad from Iran’s “Axis of Resistance,” but nobody would have predicted that the weak link in Iran’s alliance of radicals would turn out to be the Palestinian Islamists of Hamas.


The Jerusalem Conference in Doha: Day 2
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Huffington Post
by Lara Friedman - (Opinion) February 28, 2012 - 1:00am


Yesterday I posted at the Forward with some of my concerns at the end of day one of the Arab League conference on Jerusalem in Doha. Below are my comments at the end of day two. ?Given my frustrations over day one's speeches and discussion, I steeled myself today to speak up. I did so in the closing round of comments in the committee I was attending (the Civil Society Group). When the moderator called on me I introduced myself as follows (not verbatim, but close):



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