International Community | The American Task Force on Palestine

Abbas agrees to peace talks based on 1967 borders
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
June 6, 2011 - 12:00am

President Mahmoud Abbas has told France he is ready to attend a Paris peace conference if Israel accepts talks based on the 1967 borders, an aide told AFP Sunday. Nimr Hammad, a political adviser to Abbas, said the president had told French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe that he agreed officially to a French proposal to host a peace conference in Paris before July. Juppe raised the possibility of the conference during a visit to Israel and the West Bank this week.

Israel to consider French Mideast peace bid: PM
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
June 5, 2011 - 12:00am

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israel would consider a new initiative raised by France to relaunch the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. "I heard the proposal brought by French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe," Netanyahu told ministers at the weekly cabinet session. "We very much appreciate our French friends and I will respond to them after we have considered the matters," he said, according to a statement sent to Xinhua. Netanyahu said Israel, while studying the French proposal, would bring up the option with the American interlocutors as well.

Israel's isolation grows as Gaza noose tightens
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
(Editorial) June 5, 2011 - 12:00am

A year after Israel earned itself a public-relations disaster by killing nine civilians aboard the MV Mavi Marmara, another flotilla is fitting out in Turkey to sail to Gaza. And three weeks after last month's Nakba ("catastrophe") marches, marking the 1948 creation of Israel, ended with Palestinian deaths at border points, more marches to Israel's frontiers have been planned for today. June 5 is set aside to mark the anniversary of the Naksa ("setback"), the 1967 war, in which Israel occupied the West Bank and Gaza.

Beyond Survival
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Shalom Hartman Institute
by Tal Becker - (Opinion) June 5, 2011 - 12:00am

For many years now, the conversation about Israel in the Jewish world has taken a familiar form. With rare exceptions, our sovereign project is spoken of in Jewish communities across the globe with pride about the past and anxiety about the future.

Unarmed demonstrators – the new threat?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Jacques Neriah - (Opinion) June 4, 2011 - 12:00am

Ignoring all the warnings that were readily available, Israel is finding itself facing new, dire challenges – challenges for which it has failed to prepare and for which it has yet to think of a response. For years, the traditional Israeli reaction to provocation has been a show of force – firing tear gas, water cannons and, if needed, sending in the police cavalry.

Barak to Juppe: Israel cannot negotiate with Hamas
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Herb Keinon - June 3, 2011 - 12:00am

Defense Minister Ehud Barak met on Friday with French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe to discuss a French initiative involving a peace conference in Paris next month. The conference would be scheduled to precede September's contentious Palestinian state bid at the UN. During their meeting at Barak's office in Tel Aviv, the defense minister reiterated to Juppe that Israel would be unable to negotiate with Hamas since the group does not either recognize Israel nor denounce terrorist attacks against its civilians.

EU representative says ready to resume Rafah role if requested
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Masry Al-Youm
by Marian Houk - June 3, 2011 - 12:00am

The European Union stands ready - if asked - to resume its Border Assistance Mission (EUBAM) at the Rafah crossing, or take up other similar new tasks there, according to Christian Berger, EU Representative to the Palestinian Authority. In an interview in his East Jerusalem headquarters last Friday, and again in a joint appearance with Palestinian Authority (PA) Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki in Ramallah on Monday, Berger said the EU welcomed the reopening of the only crossing point between Egypt and Gaza. “We’ve always said that all crossing points have to be open,” he added.

French FM arrives in Israel; asserts September deadline
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
June 2, 2011 - 12:00am

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe arrived in Jerusalem late Wednesday on an "exploratory mission" aimed at reviving the stalled peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians through a conference in Paris. "We are convinced ... that maintaining the status quo in the Middle East would be a serious mistake. Everything is changing in this region, in Egypt, in Syria, so we must move to regain the initiative," Juppe said after meeting President Mahmoud Abbas in Rome.

France invites Israel, Palestinians to peace talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
June 2, 2011 - 12:00am

The French foreign minister says he's inviting Israeli and Palestinian leaders to Paris this month to relaunch peace talks. Alain Juppe says "there's a sense of urgency. The status quo is unsustainable." Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, who met with Juppe in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Thursday, would not say whether the Palestinians would accept the invitation. Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said he would not comment before Juppe meets with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later Thursday in Jerusalem.

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