U.S. Weighs Tactics on Israeli Settlement
Media Mention of Ghaith al-Omari In The New York Times - June 1, 2009 - 12:00am

WASHINGTON — As President Obama prepares to head to the Middle East this week, administration officials are debating how to toughen their stance against any expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank. The measures under discussion — all largely symbolic — include stepping back from America’s near-uniform support for Israel in the United Nations if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel does not agree to a settlement freeze, administration officials said.

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Questions of Legitimacy Loom Over Abbas In Meeting with Obama
Media Mention of Ghaith al-Omari In PBS - May 28, 2009 - 12:00am

President Obama met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Thursday to discuss divisions among the Palestinian people and the ongoing controversy over Israeli settlements on the West Bank. Two Mideast analysts mull the outcome of the meeting.

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Netanyahu: "What the hell do they want from me?"
Media Mention of Hussein Ibish In Foreign Policy - May 28, 2009 - 12:00am



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Obama tells Israel to halt expansion
Media Mention of Ghaith al-Omari In The Boston Globe - May 29, 2009 - 12:00am

WASHINGTON - President Obama received Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the White House yesterday with an invaluable welcoming gift: a toughly worded, categorical US demand for Israel to stop expanding settlements in the West Bank. But hours before the two men met, the Israeli government flatly rejected the demand. Spokesman Mark Regev said that "normal life in those communities must be allowed to continue," including some construction.

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ATFP Welcomes President Obama’s Strong Support for Palestinian Statehood, Israeli Settlement Freeze
Press Release - Contact Information: Hussein Ibish - May 29, 2009 - 12:00am

Washington, DC, May 28 -- The American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) today welcomed President Barack Obama’s statements of strong support for Middle East peace based on the creation of a Palestinian state to live alongside Israel and for a complete freeze to all Israeli settlement activity. President Obama and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met privately at the White House this afternoon before being joined by their delegations, and spoke briefly with reporters afterwards.


ACP Begins Delivery of $200,000 Worth of Laptop Computers to Palestinian Schools
Press Release - Contact Information: Mohammed Maraqa - May 28, 2009 - 12:00am

Washington, DC, May 28 – The American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) is proud to announce that its sister organization, American Charities for Palestine (ACP), has initiated the delivery of laptop computers to schools in Palestine. This project has been coordinated with One Laptop Per Child, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Palestinian Ministry of Education.


High stakes for Obama-Abbas talks
Media Mention of Ziad Asali In BBC News - May 28, 2009 - 12:00am

When they met last summer in Ramallah, on the West Bank, Barack Obama promised Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas he would be an active partner for peace, if he made it into the White House. A year later, President Obama is sitting in the Oval Office, keeping his promise to tackle the Middle East conflict from the start of his term, but he is probably wondering whether Mr Abbas is the partner he was hoping for.

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University of Iowa Arab Student Association Forum Features Ibish
Media Mention of Hussein Ibish In Washington Report On Middle East Affairs - May 27, 2009 - 12:00am

THE ARAB STUDENT Association (ASA) at the University of Iowa sponsored a public forum in Iowa City on Feb. 21 at which the featured speaker, Dr. Hussein Ibish, senior fellow at the American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP), delivered a presentation titled “Is Obama Ready for a Middle East Change?”

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Obama Deserves Palestinian Support
In Print by Ghaith al-Omari - Israel Policy Forum (Opinion) - May 27, 2009 - 12:00am

Over the course of successive visits by Middle Eastern leaders to the White House, President Obama's policy for resolving the Arab-Israeli conflict is starting to unfold. King Abdullah of Jordan's visit highlighted the important role the Arab world should play in support of the peace process. Prime Minister Netanyahu's visit reiterated President Obama's commitment to the two-state framework and the centrality of freezing settlement construction. President Abbas' visit will play an important role in clarifying what the Palestinians need to do.

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Breakthrough or Breakdown: The Obama Administration and the Arab-Israeli Peace Process
Press Release - Contact Information: Ghaith al-Omari - May 21, 2009 - 12:00am

On May 11th, 2009 ATFP Advocacy Director Ghaith Al-Omari took part in a panel at the Woodrow Wilson Center entitled "Breakthrough or Breakdown: The Obama Administration and the Arab-Israeli Peace Process". Mr. Al-Omari mapped the current Palestinian political scene, focusing on the schism between Hamas and Fatah, the efforts to form a new PA government, and internal Fatah dynamics. He also laid out steps necessary to move the peace process forward.



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