International Community | The American Task Force on Palestine

Protests continue in West Bank as Israel unlikely to amend economic deal
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
September 10, 2012 - 12:00am

RAMALLAH, Sept. 10 (Xinhua) -- An Israeli official on Monday ruled out that Israel would accept the Palestinians' request to modify Paris protocol that regulates economic relations between the two sides, as public sectors went on strike in the West Bank to protest the rising cost of living.

Love, bankruptcy and buffoonery in our region
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Tariq Alhomayed - (Opinion) September 10, 2012 - 12:00am

The Iranian President told his Palestinian counterpart that he loves the Palestinians, prompting Abbas to reply: “For God’s sake, love us all”, i.e. not just Hamas. But it is hard for Ahmadinejad to do that, for Iran and its adherers will not be satisfied with the Palestinians until they are a game in their hands, like Hamas, Hezbollah and al-Assad.

Peel back time: Should Israelis revisit the partition plan of 1937?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Eyal Chowers - (Opinion) September 6, 2012 - 12:00am

In the summer of 1937, the Yishuv − the Jewish community in Mandatory Palestine − was in uproar over the Peel Commission’s publication of its conclusions concerning the Arab-Jewish dispute in the country. For several decades the Zionist movement’s political vision remained vague, with the very revival of Jewish nationalism still in doubt. However, in the 1930s, Jews fleeing Europe’s darkening skies reached Palestine in increasing numbers and the Yishuv stepped up its land purchases.

Israel urged to facilitate entry of French prosecutors investigating Arafat's death
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
September 5, 2012 - 12:00am

The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) on Wednesday asked Israel to allow a French delegation to visit the West Bank for investigations related to the death of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat in 2004, a Palestinian official said. The Palestinian Minister of Justice Ali Muhanna said that a formal request had been submitted to the Israeli authorities to facilitate the entry of the French criminal investigation delegation to Ramallah.

Israel, Palestinians may lose chance for two-state solution, Norway FM says
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Akiva Eldar - September 5, 2012 - 12:00am

The international community must consider how to relate to the import of goods that are produced in the settlements, "which we consider illegal according to international law," the Norwegian Foreign Minister, Jonas Gahr Store told Haaretz on the eve of his visit to Jerusalem and Ramallah. Store, head of the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee - a donor support group to the Palestinian Authority - said that Norway would "consider various options to demonstrate its policy in regard to the expansion of the settlements."

Egypt's holy war against Sinai jihadists leaves many questions unanswered
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Avi Issacharoff - (Opinion) September 4, 2012 - 12:00am

In contrast to the sloppy-looking Egyptian soldiers we saw here three weeks ago, the troops we encountered on Monday of last week at a fortified position close to the Kerem Shalom crossing seemed to be from a different unit. They wore helmets and protective vests and held their Kalashnikov rifles at the ready. They bore no resemblance to the Egyptian border police who were here until a few days after the August 5 attack on an Egyptian outpost which left 17 of their troops dead.

The Arabs are no longer the same Arabs
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Oudeh Basharat - (Opinion) September 4, 2012 - 12:00am

At the time of writing these lines, the sun continues to shine and even though the Muslim Brotherhood is in power in Egypt, the country has not been cloaked in darkness. It was not out of excessive love of secularism that Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi declared in Tehran that Egypt is a modern, constitutional democracy. Egypt has not adapted itself to the Brotherhood, it is the Brotherhood that has adapted itself to Egypt, which is known as "Umm al-Dunya," the mother of the world.

Visit Israel at your own risk, warn many Western countries
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Ilan Lior - August 31, 2012 - 12:00am

Israel has long starred in other countries' travel advisories, and reading these warnings isn't particularly flattering. The warnings about terror attacks are predictable: Most countries urge their citizens to stay alert while visiting Israel and to avoid certain areas, such as Gaza, the Lebanese and Egyptian borders, and sometimes the West Bank - though no country has yet included a warning about the Iranian threat.

Bring Israel into NATO
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Yehuda Lukas - (Opinion) August 31, 2012 - 12:00am

A nuclear Iran is virtually a fait accompli. A military strike by Israel, the United States or both may delay but will not prevent the Islamic Republic from eventually acquiring such capability. Decision-makers ought to consider devising a new security architecture, one that would deter Iran and guarantee Israel's long-term survival. A radical alternative to war is required - one that would make Israel a member of NATO, protected by the "one-for-all, all-for-one" policy of the 28-member alliance.

Iran, Israel and the birth of new alliances
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
by Mahdi Abdul Hadi - (Opinion) August 30, 2012 - 12:00am

The Non-Aligned Movement of 120 nations are at a crossroads in their 16th Summit in Tehran this week where the longer term impacts of the Second Arab Awakening (the Arab Spring) are likely to reveal themselves. The NAM was established in Ban Dong in 1955 by Nasser (Egypt), Nihro (India), and Sukarno (Indonesia), and joined later by Marshall Tito of Yugoslavia in 1961 to create an alternative political narrative to those offered by Western capitalist nations and Soviet-style socialism during the Cold War.

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