Humanitarian | The American Task Force on Palestine

Deibes: PA will include Area C in plans
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
February 19, 2010 - 1:00am

The Palestinian Authority plans to include Area C in it strategic planning in an effort to lay the groundwork for a future state, Tourism Minister Khouloud Deibes said on Thursday. Deibes made this remark following a meeting in Jericho with a visiting delegation from the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She also said her ministry is committed to attracting private sector investment to tourism-related projects in the West bank, particularly north of the Dead Sea, and also attract more tourists to the area.

ICRC condemns Israeli occupation
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News
February 18, 2010 - 1:00am

Israeli restrictions make normal life "close to impossible" for many West Bank Palestinians, the International Committee of the Red Cross has said. Some Palestinians are often unable to reach a hospital or visit relatives, while 50% live in poverty, it said. They are also frequently harassed by Jewish settlers, the organisation said. An Israeli foreign ministry spokesman said the ICRC had ignored statements by the Palestinian Authority that West Bank residents lived a "normal life".

Don't deny peaceful protests in West Bank
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from CNN
by Bill Fletcher Jr. - (Opinion) February 17, 2010 - 1:00am

Every year, beginning with the January birthday celebrations for the Rev. Martin Luther King and moving through Black History Month in February, Americans and others revisit the history, role and significance of the black freedom movement in the United States. But there is a frequent tendency to misrepresent the lessons of that movement and apply them to other social movements overseas in a way that misses the mark. This has been happening increasingly with the historical lessons that are being misapplied to the Palestinian freedom movement.

Confronting Settlement Expansion in East Jerusalem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Middle East Report
by Joel Beinin - February 14, 2010 - 1:00am

The neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, a 20-minute walk up the hill from the Damascus Gate to the Old City of Jerusalem, has become the focal point of the struggle over the expanding project of Jewish settlement in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.

A Museum of Tolerance we don't need
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Saree Makdisi - (Opinion) February 12, 2010 - 1:00am

The Simon Wiesenthal Center's plan to construct an outpost of Los Angeles' Museum of Tolerance atop the most important Muslim cemetery in Jerusalem is temporarily in disarray. This presents an opportunity to call on the center to abandon this outrageous project once and for all. The site in question is Ma'man Allah, or the Mamilla Cemetery, which had been in continuous use for centuries until 1948, when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were expelled or driven into flight and their private property, including Ma'man Allah, was handed over to Jewish users.

A proper site for a Museum of Tolerance
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Marvin Hier - (Opinion) February 12, 2010 - 1:00am

Listening to the few vocal opponents of our Museum of Tolerance Jerusalem project -- among them the notorious Sheik Raed Salah, leader of the extremist Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel -- you would never know that the Israeli Supreme Court deliberated for almost three years before unanimously rejecting all their claims and authorizing the Wiesenthal Center to begin construction. Just six weeks ago, Chief Justice Dorit Beinish also rebuked those who re-petitioned the Supreme Court for an "abuse of court proceedings," ordering them to pay professional costs.

Peace making requires application of the law
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by Rami Khouri - (Opinion) February 12, 2010 - 1:00am

Of the many long-running conflicts that see two communities competing for the same piece of land, three in particular have always caught my attention: Northern Ireland, Cyprus and Palestine-Israel. The first is on the way to being resolved through peaceful political negotiations, with another advance this week in the areas of police powers and administration of justice. The Cyprus conflict has long lost its military edge, and shows signs of moving towards a breakthrough, due to both internal leadership changes and external pressures and inducements.

Major outbreak unlikely despite flare-up in Israeli- Palestinian clashes
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
by David Harris - February 11, 2010 - 1:00am

For months Palestinian leaders have warned that if there is no progress on the peace front with the Israelis, Palestinians will become increasingly disillusioned and frustrated, with some likely to resort to violence. This week has seen clashes between the Palestinians and Israeli security personnel in Jerusalem and a deadly stabbing attack at an Israeli soldier in the West Bank.

Land of landmines
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Batsheva Sobelman - (Blog) February 8, 2010 - 1:00am

All Israelis know the iron rule: never stray off the main roads in the Golan Heights, and never ever cross cattle fences. The cows aren't dangerous, but the mines are. There are said to be around 2,000 minefields in the Golan Heights alone, its landscape concealing hundreds of thousands of anti-tank mines and anti-personnel mines. Some are Syrian; many others Israeli, planted around army bases and other places. There are countless other minefields throughout the country, mostly the Jordan Valley and the desert plains of the Arava.

Israeli conservatives attack U.S.-based philanthropy as unpatriotic
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Edmund Sanders - February 7, 2010 - 1:00am

A U.S.-based philanthropy that funds human rights groups in Israel is under fire amid accusations that its recipients provided the bulk of evidence to a U.N. commission that issued a report highly critical of Israel's Gaza Strip war a year ago. Leaders of the Washington-based New Israel Fund, whose recipients include several groups that promote Palestinian rights, said Sunday that they are being unfairly targeted by conservatives in Israel seeking to silence opposing viewpoints.

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