March 13th

ATFP Briefs House Committee: 'Timely US Participation in Palestinian, Israeli Security Essential' Press Release - Contact Information: Hussein Ibish - February 10, 2005 - 1:00am Washington DC, Feb. 10 -- American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) testified today at a U.S. House of Representatives Committee on International Relations briefing on “The Way Forward in the Mideast Peace Process.” The committee heard testimony from Henry A. Kissinger, former Secretary of State; Dennis A. Ross, former chief Middle East peace negotiator; Ziad Asali, President of ATFP; and Danielle Pletka, Vice President Foreign and Defense Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute. Read more

ATFP Briefing at Middle East Institute 'A President Without a State' Press Release - Contact Information: Hussein Ibish - January 24, 2005 - 1:00am Washington DC, Jan. 24 -- American Task Force on Palestine President Ziad Asali gave a briefing today at the Middle East Institute on the prospects for the future following the recent Palestinian presidential elections. Asali had observed the Palestinian presidential elections as part of the official delegation from the United States. He characterized Mahmoud Abbas, who was elected president by 62 percent of voters, as “a president without a state.” Read more

ATFP Voices Extreme Concern at Israeli Cabinet Decision to Confiscate Palestinian Land in East Jerusalem Press Release - Contact Information: Hussein Ibish - January 24, 2005 - 1:00am Washington DC, Jan. 24 -- The American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP), voiced its extreme concern at the revelation that the Israeli cabinet decided in July 2004 to apply the Absentee Property Law to East Jerusalem. This decision in effect means that thousands of Palestinians who live in the West Bank will lose ownership of hundreds of acres of their property in East Jerusalem, worth hundreds of millions of dollars, with no hope of compensation or appeal. The law was originally passed in secret, the public was not made aware of it and it was not published in the official government gazette. Read more

Fledgling Palestinian Democracy Needs Support of Palestinians, World Press Release - Contact Information: Hussein Ibish - January 12, 2005 - 1:00am Washington DC, Jan 12. -- The American Task Force on Palestine hosted a briefing at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace by Ziad Asali, MD and George Salem, Esq., who returned Monday from observing the Palestinian elections as part of the official U.S. delegation. The delegation was headed by Senators Joseph Biden and John Sununu. Read more

ATFP Offers Condolences to the Palestinian People on the Death of Palestinian Leader Yasser Arafat Press Release - Contact Information: Hussein Ibish - November 11, 2004 - 1:00am Washington DC, Nov. 11 -- The American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) offered its condolences today on the passing of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, to his family and to the Palestinian people. Chairman Arafat passed away today at a hospital in Paris, France. Read more

Comprehensive Solution to Conflict Necessary to Salvage Two-State Solution Press Release - Contact Information: Hussein Ibish - October 18, 2004 - 12:00am Washington DC, Oct. 18 -- The American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) hosted a briefing today by Yasser Abed Rabbo, on strategies for salvaging the two-state solution. Abed Rabbo is an author of the Geneva Accords, a leader of the Palestine Peace Coalition and a member of the PLO’s executive committee. ‘Partial’ or ‘unilateral’ solutions such as Israel’s Gaza withdrawal plan will invariably fail with tragic consequences, Abed Rabbo stressed. Read more

Israeli and Palestinian Leaders Call for Disengagement, Settlement Evacuation Press Release - Contact Information: Hussein Ibish - October 13, 2004 - 12:00am Washington DC, Oct. 13 -- If the Gaza disengagement plan does not succeed, Yossi Alpher, former senior adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, said, Israelis and Palestinians “are on a slippery slope towards South Africanization, without a South African solution.” Ziad Abu Zayyad, member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, said that planting Jewish settlements in the West Bank undermines the prospect for a two-state solution as well, and that it is in Israel’s best interest to withdraw from the settlements. Read more

Palestinian Negotiators Outline Prospects for Peace Following Gaza Disengagement Press Release - Contact Information: Hussein Ibish - September 27, 2004 - 12:00am Washington DC, Sep. 27 -- The American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) hosted a briefing by members of the PLO Negotiations Support Unit (NSU), who are making a week-long tour of congressional offices and non-profit groups. Read more

Joint Statement on May 19, 2004 Attacks Press Release - Contact Information: Hussein Ibish - May 19, 2004 - 12:00am We, the undersigned organizations, strongly condemn Israel’s recent indiscriminate killings of innocent Palestinians, including many children. In particular, we cite the May 19, 2004 Israeli strike on peaceful demonstrators resulting in the death of at least 20 innocent Palestinians. In addition, we denounce the demolition of Palestinian homes in Gaza’s Rafah refugee camp. Read more

ATFP Hosts Initiators of Geneva Accords for Extraordinary Week of Events Press Release - Contact Information: Hussein Ibish - December 10, 2003 - 1:00am Washington DC, Dec. 10 -- The American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) hosted the initiators of the Geneva Accords for a week of events in Washington and New York ending Sunday December 7,2003. The delegation consisted of former Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo, Dr. Nabil Kassis, Dr. Samih Al Abed, and Governor of Bethlehem Zuhair Al Manasreh from the Palestinian side; and former Israeli Justice Minister Yossi Beilin, Shaul Arieli, Daniel Levy, and General Amnon Lipkin-Shahak from the Israeli side. Read more