Interviews and Speeches | The American Task Force on Palestine

On the Historic Compromise
Speech by Ziad Asali at Cornell University - November 4, 2004 - 1:00am

Last year, my wife and I had the pleasure of visiting Ithaca and enjoyed the hospitality of Watermargin. The idyllic surroundings, which I assume most of you take for granted, and the kind and inquisitive reception by your students as I addressed them, has created in my mind an association of Cornell with pleasant and soothing memories. So when Professor Michelle Campos asked me to come to Cornell, all we needed to discuss was when, because I could not resist visiting these gorges again.

Beyond Revenge: Support Peace, Tolerance, & Reconciliation
Speech by Ziad Asali at Carnegie Endowment for International Peace - October 21, 2004 - 12:00am

We are here today to pay respect to members of the families whose lives have been shattered by the untimely and violent and death of their relatives. They are here today, not just to share their grief, but also to share it publicly so other parents will be spared this unspeakable pain.

What is to be done?
Speech by Ziad Asali at Newark, New Jersey - October 18, 2004 - 12:00am

A consensus, that is, nearly a consensus, about the contours of the final agreement for a genuine and lasting peace is known. It is a variation of the themes of Clinton’s Taba proposal, The Geneva Initiative, Nusseibeh- Ayalon, One Voice and most importantly, the Road Map. Polls and surveys of Palestinians, Israelis, American Jews and Arabs, as well as the general American public, indicate support for a Two-State solution based on what has come to be called the Historic Compromise.

The Past, the Present and a Better Future
Speech by Ziad Asali at Carnegie Mellon University - October 18, 2004 - 12:00am

This is my first visit to Pittsburgh and it is quite a pleasure to be here. In the mid-seventies my son, barely four years at the time, became a big fan of the Steelers and Bradshaw, so I became one too. I watched more football games with him than I would by temperament, past the glory days of his beloved Steelers, to shift my loyalty, after my son’s, to our home team, the Chicago Bears, through their short lived glory in 1985, but we stuck with them. We still support a struggling team.

Palestinian Politics in Crisis: A Trip Report
Speech by Ziad Asali at Foundation for Middle East Peace - Washington, DC - August 3, 2004 - 12:00am

Simply stated, crossing the bridge from Jordan to the West Bank is a hassle. However, it is also an orderly juncture over an established state border with nothing temporary about it. Traversing it gives the traveler a sense of his powerlessness in the dominant military presence of the officials of the State. The July sun scorches the lowest spot on earth and the forbidding arid and naked landscape makes you wonder how strange the Palestinians and Israelis must seem to others: Are these people serious in fighting over this barren land?

The Geneva Proposals for Peace: Still Viable?
Speech by Ziad Asali at Washington, DC - April 15, 2004 - 12:00am

Thank you, Mr. Ambassador Freeman. I will try. Good morning everyone. The Hall of Justice in Geneva was packed with dignitaries, delegates, hardened peaceniks and guests from Palestine, Israel, the Arab world, Europe and the United States. The festive celebration with speeches, music and live performances, correctly and evenly divided between Israelis and Palestinians in joint appearances while a full court of world media was providing sympathetic attention -- an auspicious and promising occasion.

Remarks by Ziad Asali at Congressional Middle East Coexistence Conference
Speech by Ziad Asali at 2325 Rayburn Building - February 12, 2004 - 1:00am

The Holy Land, a tiny sliver of the landmass of this earth, has generated emotions of unbridled intensity. It offered sublime guidance to mankind and made unparalleled contributions to the best in civilizations and cultures while at the same time releasing wayward passions that bred violence, death and destruction. It appealed to the most noble of instincts as it did to the most base and banal corners of people's souls. It has been an open wound whose healing has defied the wisdom of the best minds for a century or more.

Statement of Ziad Asali at Special Senate Hearing
Speech by Ziad Asali at U.S. Senate - October 30, 2003 - 1:00am

Mr. Chairman, Honorable Members of the Committee, It is an honor and a privilege to appear before you to testify about yet one more vexing problem of the Palestinian Israeli conflict, that of the Palestinian education.

Palestine and Israel: Unkind History, Uncertain Future
Speech by Ziad Asali at Cornell University - September 3, 2003 - 12:00am

For a conflict that has been described as intractable, insoluble and “centuries old”, the most dramatic feature about the Palestine/ Israel conflict is the near unanimous agreement about the contours of its final resolution. Think about that. The majority of the Palestinians, Israelis, Arabs, Jews, Americans, Europeans, and people all over the world as well as global institutions and bodies are in support of an outline that goes as follows:

The Mideast crisis: Ziad J. Asali
Interview with ATFP - USA Today - August 22, 2003 - 12:00am

This week's devastating violence between Israel and the Palestinians appears to have rendered the eight-week-old truce, or hudna, null and void. After Thursday's killing of a senior Hamas official by Israel in retaliation for a suicide bombing of a bus in Jerusalem which 20 people died. The Islamic militant group Hamas threatened revenge and formally abandoned the cease-fire.

Video: Inside ATFP Gala 2013

Photo Gallery: ATFP Gala 2013

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