June 5th, 2009

Analysts See Growing US-Israeli Rift Over Settlements Issue Media Mention of Ghaith al-Omari In Voice of America - June 5, 2009 - 12:00am U.S. President Barack Obama is calling on Israel to stop construction of Jewish settlements in the West Bank. In a speech at Cairo University, Mr. Obama says the building of settlements is undermining efforts to achieve peace between Israel and the Palestinians. Mr. Obama's latest remarks highlight a growing rift between Israel and the United States. President Obama used unusually blunt language in calling on the Israeli government to stop expanding Jewish settlements in the West Bank. » Read more

Obama tells Israel to halt expansion Media Mention of Ghaith al-Omari In The Boston Globe - June 5, 2009 - 12:00am President Obama received Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the White House yesterday with an invaluable welcoming gift: a toughly worded, categorical US demand for Israel to stop expanding settlements in the West Bank. But hours before the two men met, the Israeli government flatly rejected the demand. Spokesman Mark Regev said that "normal life in those communities must be allowed to continue," including some construction. » Read more

Muslims in U.S.: Speech hit 'right notes' Media Mention of Ziad Asali In USA Today - June 5, 2009 - 12:00am President Obama's call for Arabs, Israelis and Americans to abandon their suspicions and work together for a more secure future was welcomed more enthusiastically by Muslims on this side of the world than by Jews who expressed concerns about his support for the Palestinian cause. "He hit the right notes with the right tone," said Ziad Asali, president of the American Task Force on Palestine. "He gave the big picture in a speech that takes the high moral ground. It takes courage to say the things that are not exactly what your audience wants to hear." » Read more

June 4th

Obama's Cairo speech rabbis Media Mention of ATFP In Foreign Policy - June 4, 2009 - 12:00am Who advised President Barack Obama on the big speech? "Over the weekend, White House officials hosted a group of Muslim and other foreign policy scholars to discuss what points Mr. Obama should touch on," Politico's Mike Allen reports in Playbook. The New York Times details: Ghaith Al-Omari from the American Task Force on Palestine, Carnegie Endowment's Karim Sadjadpour, Iran expert Vali Nasr, who's been working for Holbrooke, and Brookings' Shibley Telhami, who's been all over the airwaves incidentally commenting on the speech: » Read more

Rival Messages as Obama Lands in the Mideast Media Mention of Ghaith al-Omari In The New York Times - June 4, 2009 - 12:00am Aiming to repair the American relationship with the Muslim world, President Obama was greeted on Wednesday with reminders of the vast gulfs his Cairo speech must bridge, as voices as disparate as Al Qaeda’s and the Israeli government’s competed to shape how Mr. Obama’s message would be heard. » Read more

Muslims Will Judge Obama by Actions More Than Words Media Mention of Ziad Asali In The New York Times - June 4, 2009 - 12:00am It is too soon to tell whether President Obama’s 55-minute speech to the Muslim world from Cairo will be the balm to America’s broken relationship with Islam that White House officials hope. Some early signs are promising — and not just that several times someone in Mr. Obama’s audience in the domed hall yelled out, “I love you!” » Read more

June 3rd

With Speech in Egypt, Obama Calculates Risk of Alienating Israel Media Mention of Ghaith al-Omari In Fox News - June 3, 2009 - 12:00am As President Obama prepares to depart for the Middle East to promote improved U.S. relations with Muslim nations, he has reaffirmed Iran's right to develop nuclear energy and met with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak. The president is not headed to Israel on his five-day tour, one of the most important trips of his fledgling presidency. Instead, he will arrive in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday and deliver a speech at Cairo University in Egypt on Thursday. He then travels to France and Germany for D-Day commemorations. » Read more

June 2nd

Israeli Minister's Visit Aims To Calm Settlements Dispute Media Mention of Ghaith al-Omari In The Washington Post - June 2, 2009 - 12:00am Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak began a round of meetings with top U.S. officials yesterday in a bid to head off an increasingly sharp dispute between the United States and Israel over the expansion of Jewish settlements in Palestinian territory. » Read more

June 1st

U.S. Weighs Tactics on Israeli Settlement Media Mention of Ghaith al-Omari In The New York Times - June 1, 2009 - 12:00am WASHINGTON — As President Obama prepares to head to the Middle East this week, administration officials are debating how to toughen their stance against any expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank. The measures under discussion — all largely symbolic — include stepping back from America’s near-uniform support for Israel in the United Nations if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel does not agree to a settlement freeze, administration officials said. » Read more

May 29th

Questions of Legitimacy Loom Over Abbas In Meeting with Obama Media Mention of Ghaith al-Omari In PBS - May 28, 2009 - 12:00am President Obama met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Thursday to discuss divisions among the Palestinian people and the ongoing controversy over Israeli settlements on the West Bank. Two Mideast analysts mull the outcome of the meeting. » Read more