Pope Criticizes Israel On Palestinian Policy
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Howard Schneider - May 14, 2009 - 12:00am

Pope Benedict XVI criticized Israel's construction of a security barrier through the West Bank and urged a loosening of restrictions on the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, a day of speeches and symbolic appearances that amounted to a running critique of Israeli policies toward the Palestinians. From a morning address alongside Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to a late-afternoon visit to a refugee camp, the pontiff used a full day in the occupied West Bank to highlight some of the main issues on the Palestinian agenda.

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Israel has become its own worst enemy
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
(Editorial) May 7, 2009 - 12:00am

The UN Security Council was handed a report on Tuesday by the UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon about Israel’s campaign in Gaza and its targeting of UN facilities earlier this year. The report’s conclusions are damning: Israel’s actions “breached the inviolability of United Nations premises” and amounted in many cases to “recklessness”. As usual, Israel retorted that the report was patently biased. In this matter, Israel is right: there are no two sides to the truth, and as UN investigators found out, the blame for disproportionate and thoughtless violence lies squarely with Israel.

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Lieberman takes first foreign trip as minister
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Vita Bekker - May 4, 2009 - 12:00am

vigdor Lieberman embarks today on his first official European tour since becoming Israel’s new foreign minister as his hardline government bids to mitigate escalating tensions with the European Union, prompted by its resistance to the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel. The top diplomat, who has drawn fire for controversial statements against Israel’s Arab minority and his opposition to making territorial concessions in exchange for peace, will meet his counterparts in Italy, France, the Czech Republic and Germany this week.

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Mr Lieberman, eyeless in Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
(Editorial) May 4, 2009 - 12:00am

Chutzpah is a Yiddish word that means shameless audacity. Soon, it may have a synonym: to do a Lieberman. Avigdor Lieberman, the right-wing caricature who is foreign minister in the cabinet of Benjamin Netanyahu, is taking his first steps on the international stage with trips to Italy, France, the UK and the Czech Republic, and he is making waves even before landing on European soil. According to one of his senior officials, Europe is in danger of making itself irrelevant and losing its seat at the peace process table if its criticism of Israeli policies continues.

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ATFP Backs UN Call for End to Home Demolitions in Jerusalem
Press Release - Contact Information: Hussein Ibish - May 1, 2009 - 12:00am

Washington, DC, May 1 – The American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) today voiced strong support for a report from the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs calling for an end to Israel’s demolitions of Palestinian homes and other restrictions on Palestinian living conditions in occupied East Jerusalem.


Obama move alarms Israel supporters
Media Mention of Ziad Asali In The Los Angeles Times - April 27, 2009 - 12:00am

The administration seeks changes that would permit aid to Palestinians even if officials backed by Hamas, which has been designated a terrorist group, become part of a unified Palestinian government. By Paul Richter Reporting from Washington — The Obama administration, already on treacherous political ground because of its outreach to traditional adversaries such as Iran and Cuba, has opened the door a crack to engagement with the militant group Hamas. The Palestinian group is designated by the U.S. government as a terrorist organization and under law may not receive federal aid.

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Israel defies US and destroys Palestinian home
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent
by Ben Lynfield - April 23, 2009 - 12:00am

Brushing aside international criticism, Israel demolished a Palestinian house in East Jerusalem in the latest in a series of actions that critics say is racheting up tensions in the city, harming chances for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Ammar Hudidon, a resident of the Jebel Mukaber neighbourhood and a father of seven children, said a bulldozer flattened his home yesterday after the Jerusalem municipality said he lacked building permits. Palestinians complain that the permits are virtually impossible to obtain.

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Rights Group Challenges Israel's Gaza War Probe
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP)
April 23, 2009 - 12:00am

Human Rights Watch said on Thursday that the Israeli army's investigation of troop conduct during its war on Gaza appeared to be an attempt to cover up "violations of the laws of war." The army defended its conduct during the massive 22-day offensive against the Hamas rulers of Gaza in December and January, saying five military probes found its forces "operated in accordance with international law." But Joe Stork, a deputy director of Human Rights Watch, said: "The conclusions are an apparent attempt to mask violations of the laws of war by Israeli forces in Gaza."

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White phosphorus in Gaza: from flat denial to final admission
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Times
by Catherine Philp - April 23, 2009 - 12:00am

The “media buzz” to which Israel claims to have bowed began on the morning of January 5. The Times broke news that Israel was using white phosphorus against Gaza and carried a photograph of the distinctive white plumes above densely populated civilian streets. The Israeli military was quick to deny the story, but as the days and weeks wore on, the evidence mounted.

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US rejects Netanyahu’s peace talks condition
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
by Mohammed Mar’i - April 20, 2009 - 12:00am

The United States rejected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s demand that the Palestinians recognize Israel as the state of the Jewish people as a condition for renewing peace talks between the two sides, a report said yesterday. The Israeli daily Haaretz quoted the US State Department as saying in a press statement, during special envoy George Mitchell’s visits over the weekend to Ramallah and Cairo, that Netanyahu’s demand is unacceptable to the US and that the Palestinians need not recognize Israel as Jewish state before talks.

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