Diplomacy | The American Task Force on Palestine

Ten reasons Palestine is right to bring its case to the UN
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Bradley Burston - (Blog) September 13, 2011 - 12:00am

There's a certain implied danger in the idea of playing darts in the dark. Particularly when there are numerous players in a crowded room, and not one has a well-defined target. For Mahmoud Abbas' Palestine, for Benjamin Netanyahu's Israel, and no less, for the Obama administration, the effort to bring Palestinian statehood to the United Nations for endorsement has raised profound fears, prompting internal debates fully as bitter as they have been largely fruitless, with no dependably favorable outcome in sight – for anyone.

Obama: Palestinian statehood vote at UN would be counterproductive
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
September 13, 2011 - 12:00am

U.S. President Barack Obama said Monday that if the Palestinians try to achieve statehood in the United Nations Security Council, the U.S. would oppose the proposal. "If this came to the Security Council we would object very strongly, precisely because we think it would be counterproductive. "We don't think that it would actually lead to the outcome that we want, which is a two-state solution," he told Spanish-language media in an interview.

Palestinians' UN gambit could spur changes
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman
by Josef Federman - September 13, 2011 - 12:00am

Many Israelis are dismissing the Palestinians' efforts to win international recognition of their independence at the United Nations this month as merely symbolic. But the Palestinians hope the high-profile maneuvering, on a grand global stage, might yield results that have eluded them through decades of peace talks, popular uprisings and violence campaigns. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is set to address the U.N. next week, planning to ask the world to recognize a Palestinian state.

For Hamas, Silence on Statehood Is Golden
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line
by Arieh O'Sullivan - September 13, 2011 - 12:00am

Hamas is quietly backing the bid by its arch-rival, Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas, to win recognition of statehood from the United Nations this month because the movement stands to gain no matter how Abbas’ plans turn out, analysts said. Musa Abu Marzuk, Hamas’ deputy political bureau chief criticized Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, for not consulting Hamas. But the Islamic movement, which seized control of the Gaza Strip in 2007 and opposes the existence of Israel, has officially refrained from taking a position on statehood.

Arabs pledge to lobby for Palestinian UN membership
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
September 13, 2011 - 12:00am

Arab foreign ministers agreed in a meeting attended by President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday to marshal support for a Palestinian bid for UN membership this month despite Israeli and US opposition. Abbas, who backed out of US-sponsored negotiations with Israel because of its settlement construction in occupied Palestinian lands, is expected to make the request when the UN General Assembly opens on September 20.

Pro-Palestinian activists in U.S. optimistic about UN vote
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Natasha Mozgovaya - (Blog) September 13, 2011 - 12:00am

Despite the rapid unraveling of Israeli ties with both Turkey and Egypt, September is still seen as the month that would precipitate a “diplomatic tsunami" as a result of the impending UN vote on Palestinian statehood, letting the fact that two Israeli ambassadors were forced to leave neighboring countries take a distant backseat.

Salam Fayyad's bid to prepare Palestine for statehood dying after foreign aid dries up
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Hugh Naylor - September 13, 2011 - 12:00am

Two years after launching an ambitious plan to trim bureaucracy and root out corruption, Salam Fayyad's "good government" initiative aimed at preparing Palestinian institutions for statehood is stagnant and dying. As the deadline to meet his goals came and went last month, a moment of pride for the Palestinian Authority prime minister and his attempt to foster Palestinian independence has become a disappointment.

Israel's political tsunami is largely of its own making
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Faisal Al Yafai - (Opinion) September 13, 2011 - 12:00am

When Recep Tayyip Erdogan stepped off the plane last night in Cairo, the Turkish prime minister stepped into a new political world. This is the first visit of a Turkish leader to Cairo in 15 years and, coming after Turkey expelled the Israeli ambassador from Ankara, is the first time in three decades Israel finds itself without an embassy in the Arab world's largest country. Barely nine months after the Arab Spring began, the region's old certainties are being swept away.

Palestinians Pressured to Seek General Assembly Vote on Statehood
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by David Kirkpatrick - September 13, 2011 - 12:00am

A top negotiator for the Palestinian Authority said Tuesday night that its leadership was weighing the strong urging of both the Arab states and the Europeans to turn to the General Assembly of the United Nations — and not its Security Council — in a bid to win international recognition as a state.

18 years after Oslo, Palestinians try a new tack
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Maher Abukhater - (Blog) September 13, 2011 - 12:00am

On Sept. 13, 1993, current Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and current Israeli President Shimon Peres signed at the While House the so-called Oslo Accords, ushering in a new era and hopes of peace in the decades-old Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The agreement was signed in the presence of President Bill Clinton, former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.

Video: Inside ATFP Gala 2013

Photo Gallery: ATFP Gala 2013

Recent News