New Conservative Group Targets Democrats Working With J Street
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by Nathan Guttman - August 30, 2010 - 12:00am

With two months left before the midterm elections, a hawkish group is targeting several congressional Democrats who last January signed a letter sponsored by J Street, the dovish Israel lobby, pressing the administration to get Israel to loosen its blockade of Gaza. As the newly founded Emergency Committee for Israel airs attack ads against these congressional candidates, J Street is responding with a campaign of its own seeking to discredit the group as extreme and out of sync with the mainstream Jewish community.

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Ground Zero's wounds are still too deep to build upon
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Aaron David Miller - August 18, 2010 - 12:00am

If there is one lesson to be learned from the controversy over the proposed mosque near Ground Zero, it is that messing with memory, particularly traumatic memory of the first order, is akin to messing with Mother Nature: It rarely ends well, no matter how good the intention.

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Pennsylvania Senate Race Turns Into Battlefield for Dueling Pro-Israel Groups
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by Josh Nathan-Kazis - July 26, 2010 - 12:00am

Two self-described pro-Israel groups are trading barbs and pointed advertisements in a dispute over the record of Rep. Joe Sestak, the Democratic candidate for Senate in Pennsylvania. The dueling advertisements, sponsored by the left-wing group J Street and a new right-wing group called the Emergency Committee for Israel, present diverging views of Sestak’s positions on Israel. Meanwhile, the two groups are targeting each other in a secondary dispute over which organization best represents the interests of Israel.

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Waiting for November
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by George S. Hishmeh - (Opinion) July 16, 2010 - 12:00am

The love fest held here for all to see, with Barack Obama escorting Benjamin Netanyahu on the front lawn of the White House and at a joint press conference, was a marked difference from the two leaders’ contentious, behind-closed-doors meeting here last April. But judging from the early assessments, it is not certain that their relationship will bear fruit in the near future.

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U.S. conservatives form new pro-Israel lobby group
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
July 13, 2010 - 12:00am

Washington observers may feel there is no obvious shortage of pro-Israel lobbyists in the city – but a group of leading American conservatives thinks otherwise and has set up a new campaign group to attack President Obama over his "anti-Israel" stance, U.S. website Politico reports.

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MESS Report / Key U.S. figure in Israel-PA talks, Lt. General Dayton, steps down
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amos Harel - May 26, 2010 - 12:00am

The United States government's special security coordinator in the Middle East, Lt. General Keith Dayton, who has played a key role in peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, will step down from the post in the fall, Haaretz has learned. Though initially scheduled to serve in his capacity for one year, Dayton has remained in the region for five years, at the behest of the U.S. government.

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The US may have no Plan B, but the Palestinians do
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
by Hussein Ibish - May 20, 2010 - 12:00am

The Obama administration was successful in arranging for the resumption of Palestinian-Israeli negotiations through “proximity talks,” which began recently. However, expectations in all quarters are understandably low for any near-term breakthrough. Consequently, Palestinians have been systematically developing a new set of peaceful strategies to achieve independence and advance a resolution to the conflict.

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Obama reassured Jewish members on 'Obama plan'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Politico
by Ben Smith - May 19, 2010 - 12:00am

President Obama and Jewish members of Congress emerged from an hour-and-a-half meeting yesterday presenting a united front on the touchy subject of Middle East peace, but the meeting itself featured some sharp exchanges as Obama sought to quell concerns that he would impose a peace plan on Israel without the country's consent, two attendees said.

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Leading Jewish and Palestinian American Groups Announce Joint Internship Program
Press Release - May 17, 2010 - 12:00am

Americans for Peace Now (APN) and the American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) are today announcing a new joint summer internship program. APN will host a Palestinian student and ATFP will host an Israeli student. The two interns are part of a group of students – Israelis and Palestinians – who are participating this summer in the first-ever Middle East program of New Story Leadership, a locally-based organization that offers young adults from both sides of the conflict a transformative leadership experience in Washington.


High School Students Object to AP Test’s Use of a Quote by Edward Said
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by Debra Nussbaum Cohen - May 12, 2010 - 12:00am

Nearly 2 million high school students worldwide are taking Advanced Placement tests this May, hoping to impress college admissions counselors with high scores and, perhaps, earn a few college credits. But one test question citing the late Palestinian-American scholar and activist Edward Said on the theme of exile is prompting protests from some Jewish students.

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