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. » Read more

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? » Read more

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. » Read more

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): » Read more

Is it late to save East Jerusalem? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times by Osama Al-Sharif - (Opinion) February 28, 2012 - 1:00am In the frustrating pursuit of Palestinian-Israeli peace settlement, based on the concept of a two-state solution, one particular issue emerges as the most cumbersome and, in the view of most Israelis, non negotiable. It is the fate of Arab East Jerusalem, occupied along with the rest of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Golan Heights in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. » Read more

Pro-Israel Voices Joining Bid to Get Iranian Dissidents Group off U.S. Terror List ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) by Ron Kampeas - February 28, 2012 - 1:00am WASHINGTON (JTA) -- Famed attorney Alan Dershowitz, former Canadian Justice Minister Irwin Cotler, Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel -- three prominent Jewish activists who have joined with other prominent people in a bid to remove a group with a blood-soaked history from the State Department’s list of foreign terrorist organizations. The names on the growing list of influential American advocates to de-list the Mujahedin-e Khalq, or MEK -- known in English as the National Council of Resistance of Iran -- suggest an effort to give the bid a pro-Israel imprimatur. » Read more

The imminent rise of Hamas ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat by Emad El Din Adeeb - (Opinion) February 29, 2012 - 1:00am I recently met with Khaled Mishal, Chairman of the Hamas Political Bureau, at a special dinner in Cairo. The conversation was heated and extremely candid on both sides, and there was no agreement between us regarding the publication of its contents. However, I maintain the right to make some remarks that do not violate the rules of our meeting. » Read more

Adelson Reportedly Gives ‘Substantial’ New Donation to Gingrich PAC ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) February 28, 2012 - 1:00am (JTA) -- Casino and hotel magnate Sheldon Adelson reportedly has given a “substantial” new donation to a group supporting Newt Gingrich for the Republican presidential nomination. Adelson gave the donation to Winning Our Future, an independent committee, or Super PAC, that is run by former Gingrich associates, Politico reported Tuesday, one week ahead of the Super Tuesday primary vote in 10 states. Adelson and his wife already have given $11 million to the PAC. » Read more

Report: Israel’s Security Situation Worst in Decades ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Oren Kessler - February 29, 2012 - 1:00am The Arab revolts and an emboldened Iran have created the most precarious security situation for Israel since the end of the Cold War, according to a study released this week. The report, “The 2011 Arab Uprisings and Israel’s National Security,” was released by Bar-Ilan University’s Begin- Sadat Center for Strategic Studies and authored by the center’s director, Prof.Efraim Inbar. » Read more

Returning to Rabin's Zionism ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Jack Moline, Daniel G. Zemel - (Opinion) February 27, 2012 - 1:00am On a hopeful evening in early November 1995, a broad cross-section of Israel’s population gathered in Tel Aviv’s Kings of Israel Square to join together for the cause of peace. They came to hear from their leader, Yitzhak Rabin, recently awarded a Nobel Peace Prize for his role in the Oslo Accords. Rabin’s words that evening included the following statement: “Violence erodes the basis of Israeli democracy. It must be condemned and isolated.” » Read more