PA Prime Minister Fayyad Interviewed on Economy, Debt Payments, Future Projects
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Ayyam
by Ja'far Sadaqah - November 11, 2008 - 8:00pm

[Sadaqah] In a few hours, the Palestinian Authority [PA] will have finished paying all its debts to the employees and others. What does it mean to get rid of a legacy that has been bothering it for 16 months, and what does this mean to you?

»

Israel needs to show it is serious about peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
by George S. Hishmeh - October 29, 2008 - 8:00pm

And now it's Israel's turn to vote in a new parliament. What is good for the goose is good for the gander. The results of the elections in Israel and America are bound to affect the Middle East and, hopefully, the new leaders of the two countries will bring good tidings for traumatised Arabs and Israelis.

»

West Bank hit hard by Israeli restrictions: World Bank
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP)
October 22, 2008 - 8:00pm

The West Bank's economy is suffering from precarious lack of investment, largely because of Israeli restrictions on movement and despite increased international aid, the World Bank said on Thurday. The 48-page report comes nearly a year after Israel and the Palestinians formally relaunched peace talks at a conference in the United States with the goal of resolving their decades-old conflict by the end of 2008. It also comes less than a year after international donors pledged more than seven billion dollars over three years to aid the creation of a Palestinian state.

»

Road Map To A Gaza War
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Jackson Diehl - (Opinion) April 7, 2008 - 5:32pm

Seven years ago George W. Bush's incoming foreign policy team blamed the Clinton administration for an eleventh-hour rush for a Middle East peace agreement that ended with the explosion of the second Palestinian intifada. Now, with less than 10 months remaining in office, Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice are engaged in a similar last-minute push -- yet they don't seem to recognize the growing risk that their initiative, too, will end with another Israeli-Palestinian war.

»

U.s. To Transfer $150 Million In Aid To The Palestinians
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
March 19, 2008 - 7:07pm

The U.S. is transferring $150 million in aid to the Palestinian government in coming days, the Palestinian Prime Minister announced Wednesday. The payment is part of a total of $550 million the U.S. pledged to pay to the Palestinians over three years, part of a total of $7.7 billion in pledges from international donors made at a conference in Paris in December.

»

Abu Mazen’s Conundrum
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Miftah
by Caelum Moffatt - January 25, 2008 - 6:24pm

Israel’s current siege of Gaza must be inflicting the Palestinian President, Abu Mazen, with a sharp pain to the temples. This ache, which has been intermittent since June 2007, is undoubtedly caused this time by the confusion over how to act in response to the newest demonstration of Israeli aggression. The 1.5 million people of Gaza, the president’s people, are caught up as innocent victims in a fray between Palestinian rockets from the coastal strip and Israeli air strikes.

»

Silence Of The Lambs
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
by George S. Hishmeh - (Special Report) January 24, 2008 - 6:06pm

Before it is dark and when there is no communication with the world," wrote Dr Eyad Sarraj, the prominent human rights advocate, from Gaza last Tuesday night, "I want to tell you that current Israeli policy of squeezing on has the aim of pushing Egypt to open its borders with Gaza and bring the situation to prior 1967." He went on: "Israel will then close its borders with Gaza, separate the (Gaza) Strip from the West Bank and destroy the peace proposals of one or two states. In short Israel is fulfilling the (Ariel) Sharon unilateral withdrawal strategy.

»

Trapped In Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
(Editorial) January 24, 2008 - 5:56pm

The neglect and mistreatment of the 1.5 million Palestinians trapped in the Gaza Strip is a disgrace, and a very dangerous one. They are pawns in the struggle among Hamas, which controls Gaza and uses the territory to bombard Israel daily; its rivals in the Fatah movement that run the Palestinian Authority and the West Bank; and Israel. If something isn’t done quickly to address the Gazans’ plight, President Bush’s Annapolis peace process could implode.

»

Leading Article: An Unlawful Policy Of Collective Punishment
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent
(Commentary) January 22, 2008 - 7:09pm

The siege of Gaza has reached a vicious new intensity. Last Thursday, Israel blocked the delivery of fuel oil supplies to the Strip. The result is that Gaza's only power station has not functioned since the weekend. Hundred of thousands of homes in the territory have been left without power. Hospitals have been forced to rely on diesel generators. Bakeries and petrol stations have closed. International aid organisations working in the Strip have warned of a threat to sewage and water supplies if the blockade continues.

»

ATFP calls for ceasefire in Gaza, lifting of siege
Press Release - Contact Information: Hussein Ibish - January 21, 2008 - 1:00am

Washington, DC, Jan. 22 – The American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) today called for an urgent ceasefire between Israel and militia groups based in the Gaza Strip, and an end to measures that threaten to impose a humanitarian crisis on the population in Gaza. In particular, ATFP called for an immediate end to the latest moves by the government of Israel including cutting of fuel supplies for Gaza's only electricity plant, and other restrictions threatening international aid supplies of food and medicine.



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