Palestinians strike to protest demolition of homes in East Jerusalem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
February 28, 2009 - 1:00am

Palestinians held a strike Saturday to protest Israel's demolition orders of homes in east Jerusalem. Shops and schools were shuttered throughout the West Bank and Arab neighborhoods of east Jerusalem after Palestinian officials announced the strike. Official Hatem Abdul Qader said the strike was called after municipal officials and security forces visited several homes in the Palestinian neighborhood of Silwan in east Jerusalem. That spiked fears that the homes would be imminently demolished.

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Zero tolerance now
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Lara Friedman, Hagit Ofran - (Opinion) February 27, 2009 - 1:00am

Media reports that Israel has approved the massive expansion of the West Bank settlement of Efrat represent the first lesson for the Obama administration as to why it must establish a policy of zero tolerance for settlement expansion before it is too late.

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Israel’s Settlement Expansion Plans Seriously Threaten All Hopes for Peace
Press Release - Contact Information: Hussein Ibish - February 27, 2009 - 1:00am

Washington DC, Feb. 27 – The American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) today warned that a series of planned major expansions in Israel’s settlements in the occupied West Bank constitute an exceptionally dangerous threat to the prospects of a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.


Israel’s Settlement Expansion Plans Seriously Threaten All Hopes for Peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from ATFP
February 27, 2009 - 1:00am

Washington DC, Feb. 27 – The American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) today warned that a series of planned major expansions in Israel’s settlements in the occupied West Bank constitute an exceptionally dangerous threat to the prospects of a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.

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Why 88 Arab homes received eviction notices
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Ilene Prusher - February 26, 2009 - 1:00am

Israel plans to demolish 88 homes in Silwan, a Palestinian neighborhood in East Jerusalem, to make way for a new archaeological park, adding new fuel the slow-burning dispute over Jerusalem. A variety of neighborhood activists, Muslim leaders in Jerusalem, and even figures from the Palestinian Authority (PA) held a press conference Wednesday, saying that Israel was trying to minimize the Arab presence in this city claimed by both Palestinians and Jews as their capital. They say such a move amounts to ethnic cleansing.

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Prime Minister Salam Fayyad: Palestinian factions should unite and make peace with Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Israel Policy Forum
by Sadie Goldman - (Interview) February 24, 2009 - 1:00am

In an interview released yesterday, Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, called for a united Palestinian government that includes Fatah and Hamas, and would continue the peace process with Israel. The following are key excerpts: On Palestinian reconciliation,

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The Palestinian Perspective: Prime Minister Faya'd in Conversation with TML's Felice Friedson
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line
by Felice Friedson - (Interview) February 23, 2009 - 1:00am

The Media Line’s Felice Friedson conducted an exclusive interview with Prime Minister Faya’d in his Ramallah office on February 19, 2009. Among the issues they discussed were the current state of the Palestinian Authority, the crisis in Gaza, Fatah vs. Hamas, and the future of relations with Israel. TML: Mr. Prime Minister, what is the most serious problem caused by the division of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank: in effect the creation of two Palestinian states?

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Colleges join hands in U.S.-Palestinian venture
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from International Herald Tribune
by Ethan Bronner - February 16, 2009 - 1:00am

It would be hard to find two institutions of higher learning that seem more different than Bard College, an upscale, bucolic college in Dutchess County, New York, and Al Quds University, a struggling, sprawling Palestinian institution in and near this disputed capital.

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ATFP Urges US Government to Take Action on New Planned Israeli Settlement
Press Release - Contact Information: Hussein Ibish - February 16, 2009 - 1:00am

Washington DC, Feb. 16 – The American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) today urged the United States government to use its influence to work with the Israeli government to stop announced plans for a major expansion of the Givat Ha'eytam settlement in the occupied West Bank. The Israeli occupation Civil Administration has reportedly declared 1,700 dunams (approximately 370 acres) of land in the northern part of the Efrat settlement, south of Jerusalem between Bethlehem and Hebron, to be “state land,” which sets the stage for the potential construction of 2,500 new settlement housing units.


Palestinians gloomy as Israel moves right
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Andrew Hammond, Ali Sawafta - February 11, 2009 - 1:00am

Palestinians reacted gloomily to Israeli election results on Wednesday, as the likelihood rose of a more right-wing government opposed to returning land for a Palestinian state. But the self-rule Palestinian Authority (PA) said the next Israeli cabinet would be obliged to continue peace talks and meet international obligations. "The ascent of the Israeli right does not worry us," President Mahmoud Abbas told Italy's La Repubblica newspaper. "In whatever form, the government, once in power, will ultimately end up with responsibility, pragmatism prevailing."

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