Diplomacy | The American Task Force on Palestine

Report: East Jerusalem residents exempted from municipal taxes
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
March 17, 2011 - 12:00am

Jerusalem city officials have notified East Jerusalem residents living beyond the separation fence that they are no longer required to pay municipal taxes, the official Palestinian news agency reported on Thursday. Citing a report by the rights group Center for Social and Economic Rights, the Wafa Palestinian news agency said that the city of Jerusalem were notified residents of these areas that they do not have to pay municipal taxes, known as arnona tax, after years of paying it.

Egypt resumes natural gas flow to Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Batsheva Sobelman - March 17, 2011 - 12:00am

Egypt resumed natural gas shipments to Israel on Wednesday for the first time since the fall of former President Hosni Mubarak. But many here remain worried about the long-term prospects for the $2.5-billion export deal, which when signed in 2005 was touted as an indication of warming bilateral relations, but could soon turn into an uncomfortable diplomatic dispute with Egypt's new government.

Israeli flight attendants turn diplomats
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Ronen Medzini - March 16, 2011 - 12:00am

A new joint initiative between the Foreign Ministry and El Al will place flight attendants at the forefront of Israeli diplomacy. They flight attendants will undertake PR assignments which will, among other places, include university campuses around the world. As part of the project, dozens of attendants will undergo a series of interviews and training program in Public Diplomacy ahead of their participation in the project, which will see them taking advantage of their stay abroad for PR missions.

Screening of 'Miral' at the United Nations draws protests from Jewish groups
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Melissa Maerz, Nicole Sperling - March 15, 2011 - 12:00am

Israeli-Palestinian politics often prove polarizing at the United Nations, but rarely does the furor involve Hollywood celebrities and power brokers, a red carpet and a film screening at the world body's own headquarters in New York.

Israeli-Arab leaders under fire for Libya visit
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Diaa Hadid - March 4, 2011 - 1:00am

Israeli-Arab leaders are on the defensive over a much-publicized visit to Libya last year, where they fawned over Moammar Gadhafi and posed for a series of photographs beaming alongside the longtime ruler. Known as loud critics of Israel's treatment of its Arab minority, they are now facing uncomfortable questions about their long history of cozying up to some of the Middle East's most authoritarian leaders.

Palestinians may be looking for peace beyond Washington
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Jonathan Schachter - (Editorial) March 4, 2011 - 1:00am

President Barack Obama has spoken more forcefully than any of his predecessors about the importance of a Palestinian state. His eagerness to advance that goal undoubtedly influenced his introduction of the unprecedented and unrealistic position ? then adopted by the Palestinian Authority ? to make a total Israeli construction freeze in the West Bank and East Jerusalem a precondition for further peace negotiations ?(though progress was scant following an earlier freeze?).

Netanyahu ponders peace initiatives
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
March 4, 2011 - 1:00am

Israel has concluded that a final peace deal with the Palestinians cannot be reached at present and is weighing alternatives to try to prove that it is interested in keeping peacemaking with the Palestinians alive, officials said yesterday. With popular protests shaking the Middle East, the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is under international pressure to prove he is serious about peacemaking, especially after the US vetoed a UN Security Council resolution condemning Israel's West Bank settlement construction last month.

PA: 150 states to recognize Palestine by Sept.
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Elior Levy - March 3, 2011 - 1:00am

Palestinians expect broad global support: Some 150 countries will recognize a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders by September of this year, Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki said Wednesday. Maliki claimed that 10 more states in the Caribbean region will be declaring their recognition of Palestine this month. In an interview with The Media Line last week, the PA foreign minister said the Palestinians were on track to declaring an independent state by September.

Swedish FM: We won’t unilaterally recognize PA state
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Herb Keinon - March 3, 2011 - 1:00am

Sweden is not considering going the way of a number of South American countries and unilaterally recognizing a Palestinians state within the 1967 lines, Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday. Bildt’s words come amid consistent reports of concern in Jerusalem that a number of European nations might follow the lead of Brazil, Argentina, Chile and other South American states and recognize a Palestinian state.

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