Netanyahu rejects Clinton criticism
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Joel Greenberg - January 11, 2011 - 1:00am

Rebuffing U.S. criticism of a new housing project for Jews in an Arab neighborhood of East Jerusalem, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's office said Monday that the project was a private initiative in which the government "was not involved." Bulldozers tore down a wing of the former Shepherd Hotel on Sunday to make way for the project. That drew a rebuke from Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who said the action undermined peace efforts.

»

US not convinced on settlements-Palestinian envoy
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Louis Charbonneau - January 10, 2011 - 1:00am

The Palestinian U.N. envoy said on Monday that his and other U.N. delegations have yet to persuade Washington to support a Security Council push to condemn Israeli settlement work, but they will keep trying. Riyad Mansour, the permanent Palestinian observer to the United Nations, said that an initial draft resolution that condemns and calls for a halt to all West Bank settlements was delivered to the 15-nation U.N. Security Council in December.

»

UPDATE 1-UN's Ban "deplores" Israel demolition of hotel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Louis Charbonneau - January 10, 2011 - 1:00am

The U.N. chief "deplores" Israel's demolition of the Shepherd Hotel in East Jerusalem and said it only served to heighten tensions between Israel and the Palestinians, a U.N. spokesman said on Monday. The Shepherd Hotel, torn down as part of a settlement project first announced in 2009, was declared "absentee property" by Israel after it captured and annexed East Jerusalem. Israel views all of Jerusalem as its capital, a claim that is not recognized internationally.

»

Another right step
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
(Editorial) January 5, 2011 - 1:00am

The Palestinians decided to go to the UN Security Council and seek censorship of Israel’s continued settlement activities on territories seized from them. It would not be the first time the Security Council condemns such act; it has repeatedly done so, calling on Israel to cease and desist from this illegal action.

»

Abbas backs UN attack on Israeli settlements
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent
by Donald MacIntyre - January 1, 2011 - 1:00am

The Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, has voiced his personal backing for the first time for a draft UN resolution condemning Israeli West Bank settlements, which he said had been worded in an effort to attract US support. The Ramallah-based Palestinian leadership is promoting the UN resolution as part of a diplomatic effort to secure international declarations of support in the absence of progress towards direct negotiations with Israel.

»

Erdogan: Israel is to blame for failed peace talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
December 20, 2010 - 1:00am

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday that while there were recently high level talks between the Turkish Foreign Ministry and Israel in Geneva, there were no changes in Turkish demands regarding the "Israeli aggression against the humanitarian aid ships in Gaza" and the "murder" of nine Turkish citizens, Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported.

»

Barak: Without peace deal, Israel will deteriorate
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Hilary Leila Krieger - December 14, 2010 - 1:00am

Defense Minister Ehud Barak Tuesday morning said that without a peace deal with the Palestinians, Israel's situation will deteriorate and the delegitimization campaigns in the third world will increase, Israel Radio reported. Barak called this a danger no less than Hizbullah, in an interview with Tom Brokaw, according to the report. “We will have serious discussions in the coming month on security, borders, Jerusalem, refugees,” the defense minister told reporters in Washington Monday. “The mechanisms will be resolved in the coming weeks.”

»

Obama's dose of reality may be a cure for the Palestinians
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
December 13, 2010 - 1:00am

The Obama administration's announcement that it had capitulated before Israeli recalcitrance on a settlement freeze should be read as a cry for help. Mr Obama has, in fact, taken a bold step in acknowledging frankly that he has a problem. He has been repeating the rituals and catechisms of the failed Oslo peace process in the hope of producing a different outcome. Now, he's been forced to acknowledge that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not a communication problem that can be solved by simply getting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Mahmoud Abbas to talk.

»

Israel draws international rebuke over settlements
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman
by Karin Laub - December 10, 2010 - 1:00am

The European Union, the United Nations and the Arab League have rebuked Israel after its refusal to halt settlement construction forced Washington to drop efforts to relaunch Mideast peace talks. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday stuck to his position that he won't negotiate without a freeze of Jewish settlement building in the West Bank and east Jerusalem — lands captured by Israel and sought by the Palestinians for their state. He spoke after meeting in Cairo with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and intelligence chief Omar Suleiman.

»

20 diplomats attend hearing of anti-wall activist
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
December 7, 2010 - 1:00am

Twenty diplomats attended a military court on Monday to hear an appeal to extend the sentence of non-violent protest leader Abdallah Abu Rahmah, the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee said. Abu Rahmah was due to be released on 18 November, having served a 12-month sentence. The anti-wall activist was convicted of incitement and organizing illegal demonstrations for his role in Bil'in's campaign against the construction of Israel's wall on its lands. He has been kept in detention at the military prosecution's request despite having served the term of his sentence.

»


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