Internal American Politics | The American Task Force on Palestine

Op-Ed: Jewish vote in play for 2012
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
by Lawrence Grossman - September 26, 2011 - 12:00am

NEW YORK (JTA) -- Will the Jewish vote, normally overwhelmingly Democratic, be up for grabs in 2012? That question became a subject of intense debate when a Republican was elected recently to the House of Representatives from New York’s 9th Congressional District for the first time in 90 years. The district, which encompasses parts of Brooklyn and Queens and is about one-third Jewish, had been predictably Democratic and liberal. But in the blink of an eye it gave the non-Jewish Republican candidate an 8-point victory over the Democrat, an Orthodox Jew.

Et tu Obama?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
(Editorial) September 23, 2011 - 12:00am

The United States was presented with a historic opportunity this week to demonstrate it believes in what it preaches and it blew it. President Barack Obama’s UN address on Wednesday will go down in history as one of the most disgraceful examples of a US leader’s self-serving groveling before Israel and abdication of leadership.

Obama at the UN on Israel-Palestine: Good Politics, Poor Diplomacy
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Atlantic
by Hussein Ibish - (Opinion) September 23, 2011 - 12:00am

If you'd wanted to gauge how strained relations between the Obama administration and the Palestinian leadership have become, all you'd need do is watch the shaking heads of the Palestinian representatives at the United Nations General Assembly during the U.S. President's speech there on Wednesday. Obama reiterated the American commitment to a two-state solution and the creation of an independent Palestine, both established U.S. policy. Rhetorically, however, his speech recognized most of the core elements of the Israeli narrative but virtually none of the Palestinian one.

The Do-Nothing Strategy
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy
by Aaron David Miller - (Analysis) September 23, 2011 - 12:00am

Governing is about choosing. And a much-diminished American president has made his choice. Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking isn't and shouldn't be Barack Obama's top priority. Getting reelected is. And that means carefully husbanding his eroding political currency and expending it on matters domestic and economic. Despite all the kerfuffle at the United Nations this week, the last thing he needs to do is pick an unproductive fight with Israel or the Republicans on an Israeli-Palestinian peace process that has been dead for some time now.

The US elections and pandering to Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Alertnet
by Bernd Debusmann - (Opinion) September 23, 2011 - 12:00am

So much for charges from conservative contenders for the 2012 U.S. presidential elections that Barack Obama is not pro-Israel enough -- the president just won seals of approval from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his far-right foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, and the U.S. lobby that usually reflects their views. If the elections, as some predict, will include a contest on who loves Israel most, Obama can use their praise to good effect. How much it will contribute to his legacy is another matter.

U.S. Makes Security Preparations for After Palestinian Bid at UN
Media Mention of Hussein Ibish In Bloomberg - September 23, 2011 - 12:00am

The U.S. has laid the groundwork for maintaining security in the aftermath of the Palestinian bid for statehood at the UN, including the possibility of violence. The effort includes discussions with Gulf countries, planning with Israeli and Palestinian security forces, and aid to ensure the Palestinian Authority can pay its personnel. The U.S. has made clear its intent to block a Palestinian request for United Nations recognition. To avoid needing to exercise its veto power, the U.S. has been working with Israel to persuade members of the Security Council to abstain from voting.

For love or money?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Douglas Bloomfield - (Opinion) September 22, 2011 - 12:00am

It is easy to get the impression the GOP-led House of Representatives is trying to out-Likud the Likud. The reaction on Capitol Hill to Palestinian plans to seek UN membership may be more strident than that of the Israeli government. But it’s hard to tell because the Israelis are delivering a very mixed message.

Show, don’t tell
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
(Editorial) September 22, 2011 - 12:00am

U.S. President Barack Obama couldn’t have said it any better when he told the United Nations General Assembly that there was “no shortcut” to peace in the Middle East. Obama was responding to the drive by the Palestinians to secure official U.N. recognition for their independent state. The U.S. president probably thought he was being statesmanlike and realistic by solemnly declaring that “statements and resolutions” at the U.N. will not bring such a state into existence. Obama is resoundingly and definitively correct when he says there is no short-cut to a durable peace.

U.S. Jews give Obama mixed reviews for 'pro-Israel' UN speech
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Natasha Mozgovaya - September 22, 2011 - 12:00am

It was quite clear that U.S. President Barack Obama's speech, which Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said he "would sign with both hands," would draw mixed reactions. Its failure to go into details about the Israeli-Palestinian issue was assumed to be due to a combination of re-election concerns and those of slipping Jewish support. But the U.S. Jewish organizations provided varying - in some cases even polar - responses to the speech.

Defending Obama’s pro-Israel credentials
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Robert Wexler - (Opinion) September 22, 2011 - 12:00am

It is ironic that Republican presidential candidates Rick Perry and Mitt Romney, as well as numerous other Republican groups and individuals, have chosen this month to escalate their smear campaign against President Obama’s pro- Israel record. While President Obama has consistently acted to protect Israel’s safety and interests over his entire time in office, the events of this month in particular – both in the US and in the Middle East – serve as a sharp rebuttal to these partisan efforts to spread misrepresentations and falsities.

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