Build on Bush's Middle East progress
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Robert Zelnick - March 4, 2009 - 1:00am

George W. Bush made his greatest Middle East mistake before becoming president. Had he embraced rather than disowned Bill Clinton's desperate efforts to secure an agreement, Israeli and Palestinian leaders might have gone the extra mile to accommodate the new administration. The tragedy of the second intifada might have been averted. The seizure of Gaza by Hamas might never have occurred.

»

The monumental folly at Sharm el-Sheikh
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
by Rami Khouri - (Opinion) March 4, 2009 - 1:00am

The international pledges at Sharm el-Sheikh on Monday of some $4.5 billion in aid to the Palestinians to rebuild the Gaza Strip and promote the development of the West Bank seem like a monumental folly in view of the surrounding political context of this gesture. The financial generosity of the donors was largely offset by their political cowardice on two fronts: in challenging Israel to live according to the norms of law in its treatment of the Palestinians under its occupation; and in coming to grips with Palestinian political realities, especially the legitimacy and role of Hamas.

»

Re-Engagement
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Times
(Analysis) March 3, 2009 - 1:00am

Hillary Clinton answered the question yesterday of who in the West is driving policy on the Middle East. She began her first visit to the region as Secretary of State with the most intractable issue: what to do about Gaza. At a pledging conference in Sharm el-Sheikh she joined dozens of others promising Gaza substantial cash to rebuild houses and infrastructure destroyed by three weeks of Israeli air attacks.

»

Netanyahu's naysaying
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
March 3, 2009 - 1:00am

United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's debut trip to the Middle East will be depicted - as usual - as a "familiarization tour," aimed at meeting with regional leaders and listening to their ideas. However, there should be no mistake about Clinton's message: President Barack Obama's administration expects the negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians to continue, with the aim of advancing a two-state solution and establishing an "independent and viable" Palestinian state in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

»

Stop Israel's expansionist plan
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
(Opinion) March 3, 2009 - 1:00am

As the international donors for Gaza gathered on Monday to discuss rebuilding the devastated Gaza Strip, it was revealed by the Israeli group Peace Now that Israel is planning to expand colonies in the West Bank. There are now plans to build more than 70,000 illegal homes on the occupied Palestinian land.

»

Aid without peace ‘insufficient’: Abbas
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP)
March 2, 2009 - 1:00am

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas told international donors gathered in Egypt on Monday that financial aid without an end to the conflict with Israel would be 'insufficient.' "We are all conscious that the reconstruction and development efforts will remain insufficient, powerless and threatened in the absence of a political settlement," Abbas said at the conference in Sharm El-Sheikh.

»

Leading article: Blair's visit to Gaza opens a door that must not be closed
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent
March 2, 2009 - 1:00am

Tony Blair's first visit to Gaza yesterday as envoy of the Quartet on the Middle East, comprising the EU, America, the UN and Russia, could not have been more timely. Weeks after the end of Israel's 22-day military offensive in Gaza, the work of reconstruction is being held up by two separate, albeit related, issues.

»

The Path of Realism or the Path of Failure
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Weekly Standard
by Elliott Abrams - March 2, 2009 - 1:00am

Repetition of failed experiments is not a sign of mental health or a path to scientific progress, nor is it a formula for Israeli-Palestinian peace. Yet that is the road we may again take, unless the lessons of the Bush years are learned.

»

U.S. Talks Tough on Gaza Aid
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Glenn Kessler - March 1, 2009 - 1:00am

The United States on Monday will pledge $300 million in humanitarian relief for people in Gaza after the 22-day war with Israel but will maintain restrictions to prevent any assistance from reaching Hamas, State Department spokesman Robert A. Wood said. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, attending an international conference here to raise funds for the Gaza Strip, will also announce $600 million in assistance to the Palestinian Authority, which is controlled by Fatah, a rival of Hamas that is dominant in the West Bank.

»

Rescue a two-state solution in Palestine
In Print by Ziad Asali - The Daily Star - February 27, 2009 - 1:00am

In the wake of the devastating war in Gaza, the immediate challenge facing the United States, its Arab allies, and the international community, is providing essential aid and reconstruction to the people of Gaza without bolstering Hamas. Hamas launched reckless and provocative rocket attacks against Israel. But Gazans, already suffering under siege, are not Hamas, they are not combatants, and should not be punished.

»


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