The Obama Administration and the Unavoidable Issue of Palestine
Policy Focus by ATFP - February 5, 2009 - 1:00am

Overview

»

ICC takes first step toward Gaza war-crimes probe
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP)
February 4, 2009 - 1:00am

The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court said Tuesday he would determine whether there was such a legal entity as a Palestinian state, a precursor to a possible probe of war crimes in Gaza. Having received a request from the Palestinian National Authority to investigate the recent Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip, Luis Moreno-Ocampo said: "My work is now to analyze this in accordance with [international] law."

»

Lieberman set to swing Israel to the right
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP)
February 4, 2009 - 1:00am

Israel’s Avigdor Lieberman, much-needed iron fist to some, racist to others, is steamrolling into elections next week as the poll’s biggest spoiler, set to swing the balance of power sharply to the right. The Soviet immigrant’s ultra-nationalist Yisrael Beitenu (Israel is Our Home) party is poised to become parliament’s third-largest, nudging out centre-left Labour, which ruled Israel for more than half of its 60 years, polls say.

»

Lieberman set to be Israel’s kingmaker
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Financial Times
by Tobias Buck - February 4, 2009 - 1:00am

Avigdor Lieberman has been called a racist and a fascist, ridiculed as a former nightclub bouncer and branded a threat to Israeli democracy. He is under investigation for alleged corruption, and the target of torrents of abuse from his political opponents. Yet Mr Lieberman, the leader of the far-right Yisrael Beiteinu party and a political bruiser of the first order, may yet have the last laugh. With just a week to go until Israel’s general election, his party looks certain to emerge as one of the big winners.

»

Israeli planes hit Gaza tunnels
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News
February 3, 2009 - 1:00am

Israeli planes have bombed smuggling tunnels on Gaza's border with Egypt, the Israeli military says. The raid came after a rocket fired from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip hit the Israeli city of Ashkelon. The attacks are the latest violations of ceasefires declared by both sides after an Israeli assault on Gaza meant to stop militant rocket fire on Israel. Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton promised a sustained effort to create a Palestinian state.

»

Abbas attacks Hamas over PLO call
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Jazeera English
February 2, 2009 - 1:00am

Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, has said he will not talk with any group that fails to recognise the legitimacy of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) after Hamas called for it to be sidelined. The comments in Cairo came before a meeting on Monday with Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian president, for talks on Palestinian unity and the fragile ceasefire in Gaza. "We say this with utmost clarity - no dialogue with whoever rejects the Palestine Liberation Organisation," Abbas said as he visited Palestinian victims of the Israeli assault on Gaza in a Cairo hospital.

»

Bad news from a new neighborhood
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
(Editorial) February 2, 2009 - 1:00am

The news that Israel has invested close to NIS 200 million in Mevasseret Adumim, a new Jewish neighborhood east of Jerusalem where 3,500 housing units are slated to be built, reveals the real intentions of the outgoing government. As Amos Harel reported in Haaretz yesterday, for the past two years, Israel has invested massive amounts of money on infrastructure for the construction of housing units to create a contiguous bloc between Ma'aleh Adumim and East Jerusalem.

»

Hamas Leads Largest Suicide Operation
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Tariq Alhomayed - (Opinion) February 2, 2009 - 1:00am

In Doha [on Wednesday] Khalid Mishal announced his intentions to form a new [alternative representative] authority for the Palestinian people in order to replace the Palestinian Liberation Organization [PLO] in what represents the first practical steps to bury the Arab Peace Initiative, and in the process reverting the Palestinian cause back to square one.

»

Israel's Key Election Issue: Did War End Too Soon?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Griff Witte - February 2, 2009 - 1:00am

Just over a week before Israel holds elections to choose a new government, the outcome of the war in the Gaza Strip has emerged as a central issue in the campaign, with the candidates sparring over whether the massive military operation went far enough. The argument reflects the reality that elections here often turn on a single question: Who looks tougher on national security?

»

The Palestinian revolution of rising expectations
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Ellis Weintraub - (Opinion) February 2, 2009 - 1:00am

Israelis will head to the voting booths on February 10, and polls indicate that Likud will have a strong showing. Such a scenario will see Binyamin Netanyahu ushered back into the position of prime minister. Immediately, the issue of the West Bank settlements will come to the forefront as he deals with the Obama administration's special envoy to the Middle East, George Mitchell.

»


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