International Community | The American Task Force on Palestine

Israel's loyalty oath: Discriminatory by design
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
(Editorial) October 11, 2010 - 12:00am

There are two narratives at work in Israel that have a bearing on the capacity of its leaders to negotiate the creation of an independent Palestinian state next to it. The first is official and intended for external consumption. It is the one that claims Israel is ready to sit down with the Palestinians in direct talks without preconditions and Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, should not have wasted so much of the 10 month partial freeze on settlement building before he did so.

French, Spanish FMs: Lieberman violated every rule of diplomacy
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - October 11, 2010 - 12:00am

The foreign ministers of Spain and France were furious with their Israeli counterpart Avigdor Lieberman, telling him Monday morning during a phone conversation that he had "violated every rule of diplomatic etiquette," an Israeli source reported on Monday. During a dinner meeting on Sunday, Lieberman told France's Bernard Kouchner and Spain's Miguel Angel Moratinos to "solve your own problems in Europe before you come to us with complaints. Maybe then I will be open to accepting your suggestions."

France 'can't rule out' UN creation of Palestinian state
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
October 10, 2010 - 12:00am

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said Sunday that the option of the UN Security Council creating a Palestinian state cannot be ruled out. Kouchner told the Palestinian newspaper Al-Ayyam that France preferred a two-state solution to be negotiated with Israel, but said appealing to the Security Council to resolve the conflict remained a possibility. "We want to be able to soon welcome the state of Palestine to the UN. This is the hope and the desire of the international community, and the sooner that can happen the better," he said.

Israel Signals Settlement Compromise to Save Talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bloomberg
by Gwen Ackerman - October 8, 2010 - 12:00am

Israel signaled that a compromise may be reached in a dispute over settlement construction in the West Bank that threatens to derail U.S.-brokered peace talks with the Palestinians. Incentives offered by the Obama administration to Israel may allow Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to push through his Cabinet a limited renewal of the 10-month freeze on West Bank settlement construction that expired last month, Israel’s ambassador to the U.S. said.

U.S. Believes Arab States Won’t Scuttle Mideast Talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Ethan Bronner, Mark Landler - October 7, 2010 - 12:00am

The Obama administration believes it has persuaded Arab states not to scuttle the fledgling Middle East peace negotiations, officials said Thursday, despite the Israeli government’s refusal to freeze Jewish settlements and a vow by the Palestinians to walk away if Israel did not. With the Arab League’s meeting on Friday expected to deliver a pivotal decision on the future of the talks, the United States has appealed to Jordan and other Arab nations to stop short of pushing the Palestinians to break off the negotiations.

No easing of Palestinian demand seen at Arab League
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Douglas Hamilton - October 7, 2010 - 12:00am

Arab League foreign ministers meet in Libya on Friday to hear Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's case for suspending peace talks with Israel until it extends a moratorium on settlement building in the West Bank. Launched in Washington just five weeks ago, the talks veered into a cul-de-sac on Sept. 26, when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Nentayhu refused to extend a halt to construction of Jewish settlements, which he had said would last 10 months.

How Did Netanyahu Turn the Tables on Abbas?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Tariq Alhomayed - (Opinion) October 5, 2010 - 12:00am

The story revealed by our newspaper yesterday on the new conditions proposed by the Israeli Prime Minister to the US administration for a freeze on settlement construction for a specific period of time – thus leading to a resumption of the peace talks – demonstrates why we had been calling on the Palestinian President to continue negotiations and not fall into Netanyahu's trap.

Israeli Supreme Court rebukes Irish Nobel laureate
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman
by Aisha Mohammed - October 4, 2010 - 12:00am

An Irish Nobel peace laureate called Israel an "apartheid" state during a deportation hearing before the country's Supreme Court Monday, prompting a rebuke from a justice who told her to keep her "propaganda" to herself. Israel has banned Mairead Corrigan Maguire, 66, from entering the country because of her attempt to breach the Gaza naval blockade aboard a vessel in June.

Commentary: Instant diplomacy
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from United Press International (UPI)
by Arnaud De Borchgrave - (Analysis) October 1, 2010 - 12:00am

Along with instant coffee, instant soup, instant oven cleaners, instant Viagra, instant pain relief from four-hour Viagra, it was only a matter of time before instant diplomacy made its debut on the nation's comedy channels. Some foreign leaders have concluded American youth -- and many older Americans, too -- have tuned out serious news and tuned in comedians who make fun of everything from the nuclear ambitions of superannuated Iranian mullahs to Osama bin Laden's air-conditioned deluxe cave in the Hindu Kush.

Video: Inside ATFP Gala 2013

Photo Gallery: ATFP Gala 2013

Recent News