'Obama taking reins on policy towards Mideast conflict'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Yitzhak Benhorin - April 15, 2010 - 12:00am

US President Obama has taken control over US policy towards the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, particularly since Israel announced the construction of 1,600 new housing units in Jerusalem's Ramat Shlomo neighborhood during Vice President Joe Biden's visit, according to an opinion piece published in the New York Times on Thursday.

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Obama aide at Independence Day event: 2-state solution in Israel's interest
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Yitzhak Benhorin - April 15, 2010 - 12:00am

During a ceremony held at the Israeli Embassy Wednesday night to mark the Jewish state's 62nd Independence Day, a senior advisor to Barack Obama said the US president is committed to the alliance between the two countries. David Axelrod said that despite the disagreements, the bond between Israel and the US is unshakable, adding that Washington remains committed to Israel's security and to preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

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Obama's theological Israel mission
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Carlo Strenger - April 15, 2010 - 12:00am

The press and the blogosphere keep stating that the Obama administration is considering launching its own peace initiative. The details mentioned are neither new nor surprising: Israel should live alongside a Palestinian state; the Arab parts of Jerusalem will be the Palestinian capital, and there will be a land swap to compensate the Palestinians for the major settlement blocs.

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What an American peace plan requires
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
by Rami Khouri - April 14, 2010 - 12:00am

The Obama administration is indicating that it may offer its own version of a reasonable Palestinian-Israeli peace plan, if the parties themselves cannot agree to start the US-mediated “proximity talks.” This may be useful, but it must be carefully thought out – much more carefully than all other American-organized Mideast peace moves in the past generation.

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Remarks by Ambassador Alejandro D. Wolff, U.S. Deputy Representative to the United Nations, on the Middle East, in the Security Council Chamber
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from United Nations
by Alejandro Wolff - (Opinion) April 14, 2010 - 12:00am

Thank you, Mr. President, and thank you, Under Secretary-General Pascoe, for your briefing. Before turning to the subject at hand, let me join my other colleagues in extending our own condolences the government and people of China for the loss of life and injuries suffered by so many as a result of the devastating earthquake.

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Israel's peace dividend
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Seth Freedman - (Opinion) April 12, 2010 - 12:00am

The beauty of Israel's economy is in the eye of the beholder: some sceptics routinely sound the death knell for the country's finances, while their optimistic opponents claim the state's coffers have never been in ruder health. Last week, traders and investment funds delivered a resoundingly clear verdict in the latter camp's favour, driving the benchmark TA-25 index to an all-time high.

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Hussein Ibish and Joel Kovel debate one-state agenda at University of Chicago
Press Release - Contact Information: Hussein Ibish - April 12, 2010 - 12:00am

On February 23, the Platypus Affiliated Society hosted an event at the University of Chicago entitled "Which Way Forward for Palestinian Liberation?" in which Joel Kovel, author of Overcoming Zionism and frequent commentator on the Israel-Palestine conflict, and Hussein Ibish, political analyst and senior fellow at The American Task Force on Palestine, answered questions posed by Richard Rubin of Platypus. An audience question and answer session followed. Below is an edited transcript of the event.


To achieve Mideast peace, Obama must make a bold Mideast trip
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Zbigniew Brzezinski, Stephen Solarz - (Opinion) April 11, 2010 - 12:00am

More than three decades ago, Israeli statesman Moshe Dayan, speaking about an Egyptian town that controlled Israel's only outlet to the Red Sea, declared that he would rather have Sharm el-Sheikh without peace than peace without Sharm el-Sheikh. Had his views prevailed, Israel and Egypt would still be in a state of war. Today, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, with his pronouncements about the eternal and undivided capital of Israel, is conveying an updated version of Dayan's credo -- that he would rather have all of Jerusalem without peace than peace without all of Jerusalem.

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A US Middle East peace plan in theory and practice
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ibishblog
by Hussein Ibish - (Blog) April 10, 2010 - 12:00am

A few days ago a David Ignatius column in the Washington Post introduced a new Obama administration concept in the standoff with PM Netanyahu: the idea that the United States might develop and begin promoting its own specified plan for a Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement. In effect, this plays on Israel's deep concern about a settlement that is "imposed" by outside powers rather than one that is negotiated with the Palestinians.

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Asharq Al-Awsat Talks to Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Ali El-saleh - April 9, 2010 - 12:00am

Fayyad stressed in an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat that the Palestinian State exists and that the Israeli occupation is bound to end. Fayyad still believed that the establishment of a State is possible within two years, in the second half of 2011 to be specific, as stated in the State blueprint he announced last August.

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