NEWS:
PM Fayyad says he is very concerned about Iran's behavior and nuclear ambitions. The Israeli Supreme Court upholds a law banning Palestinians who marry Israelis from living in Israel. Hamas leader Haniyyeh may go on another regional tour soon including Qatar and Iran. Hamas sentences a Palestinian man to death for alleged collaboration with Israel. The CSM looks at whether Israel was responsible for the assassination of an Iranian nuclear scientist. The rise of Israel's ultra-Orthodox community is creating an identity crisis for the state. A committee on Palestinian national reconciliation will reportedly begin work “immediately.” Palestinians say Sec. Clinton has asked Pres. Abbas to extend the Quartet deadline for resumed negotiations. An EU report says Israel's policies in the occupied territories are endangering the two-state solution and the Palestinians should develop in “Area C.” A makeover for Gaza's beachfront is controversial. Jordan is reportedly working on how to accommodate some Hamas members as residents.
COMMENTARY:
Ha'aretz says Israel must stop stalling on peace. Jihad el-Khazen thinks that if Pres. Obama is reelected, a Palestinian state should be attainable in 2013. Michael Young says it's high time to discard the hoax about a “resistance axis.” Donald Macintyre says the EU is on the brink of abandoning hopes for Palestinian statehood. Natasha Mozgovaya looks at a new fictional book about Middle East peacemaking. Elliott Abrams says 2012 is a year for elections, not diplomacy. Shmuel Rosner says the Supreme Court decision is worthy of indignation but should be respected, while Noam Sheizaf says it just legalizes racial discrimination against Arabs.
American Task Force on Palestine - 1634 Eye St. NW, Suite 725, Washington DC 20006 - Telephone: 202-262-0017