Ben Smith
Politico
October 7, 2011 - 12:00am
http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/1011/A_Palestinian_AIPAC.html


The Palestinian Authority Prime Minister, Salam Fayyad, is coming to Washington later this month, a tricky international moment for the PA and amid always-tricky domestic politics, to speak to the gala of the American Task Force on Palestine, a nine-year old group which is roughly aligned with his technocratic, moderate approach to getting statehood.

And his visit seems to grant the organization -- which typically draws major Administration speakers -- the beginnings of the sort of central status among (often feuding) pro-Palestinian group that AIPAC holds among the (also rivalrous) pro-Israel groups.

That, at least, is how the ATFP's leaders see it.

"We are gratified that ATFP and its flagship annual event have acquired the stature and impact in our nation's capital to merit being the sole purpose of a visit to Washington, a place he understands so well, by the Prime Minister Fayyad," its president, Ziad Asali, said in an emailed statement.




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