Palestinian Public Opinion Poll No (29)
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Palestinian Center For Policy And Survey Research
September 8, 2008 - 8:00pm

These are the results of the latest poll conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PSR) in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip between 28 and 30 August 2008. This period witnessed a relative consolidation of the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel in the Gaza Strip and the release by Israel of about 200 Palestinian prisoners as a gesture to President Mahmud Abbas.

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Israel plans referendum on land concessions
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
by Mohammed Mar - September 8, 2008 - 8:00pm

A joint panel of the Israeli Knesset House and Law Committees approved a proposal that a national referendum must be held before concessions on any territory under Israeli legal jurisdiction, including Jerusalem, a report said yesterday. The Israeli daily Jerusalem Post said that the proposal, aimed to amend the national referendum bill, had originally called for a referendum only on concessions on the occupied Golan Heights.

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Darwish to Peres: PA has ?no more to give?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Greer Fay Cashman - September 8, 2008 - 8:00pm

Israelis and Palestinians have never been closer to making strategic decisions than they are today, and at the end of the day, each side wants to win a little more than the other, Sheikh Abdallah Nimr Darwish, founder of the Islamic Movement, told President Shimon Peres on Tuesday. "But the Palestinians have nothing left to offer Israel," he added. Darwish spoke at the traditional Iftar meal for leaders of Israel's Arab communities hosted by President Shimon Peres during Ramadan.

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The 2008 Democratic Party Platform and the Middle East
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy In Focus
by Stephen Zunes - September 4, 2008 - 8:00pm

The excitement over the nomination of Barack Obama as the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party has been tempered by some key foreign policy planks in the 2008 platform, particularly those relating to the greater Middle East region. These positions appear to run counter to Obama's pledge early in the primary race to end the mindset that led to the Iraq War.

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Gaza hospitals strain under pressure of strikes
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Ibrahim Barzak - September 3, 2008 - 8:00pm

A walkout of medical staff throughout Gaza has strained services at hospitals and clinics throughout the territory, the latest in a series of crippling strikes that are deepening bitter divisions between Gaza's militant Hamas rulers and loyalists of moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. The strike has forced non-complying doctors to pull double shifts and left residents struggling for treatment, adding to the hardships in a territory suffering from international isolation since Hamas wrested control of Gaza from Fatah-allied security forces in June 2007.

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Olmert Grasps at Straws as Kadima Primary Heats Up
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Middle East Times
by Mel Frykberg - September 2, 2008 - 8:00pm

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is trying desperately to salvage what remains of his tattered reputation in a last ditch bid to achieve some success on the Palestinian-Israeli front before he steps down as premier in the next couple of weeks. Last week he underwent his seventh interrogation in the last few months by Israeli police on allegations of fraud and accepting bribes.

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Egypt, Jordan wary of partial Israeli-Palestinian deal
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
September 2, 2008 - 8:00pm

Egypt opposes an Israeli-Palestinian partial agreement because Cairo doesn't think such a deal would end the conflict in the region, and Jordan fears that such an agreement would force it to take in hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees. The Egyptian and Jordanian position is encouraging to the Palestinian Authority, which opposes an agreement in principle. In talks with the PA, Israel has suggested signing a partial agreement in a bid to realize the goal of reaching an Israeli-Palestinian deal by the end of this year. That goal was set at the Annapolis summit last November.

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Forcing the neighbors into play
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Ghassan Khatib - September 2, 2008 - 12:00am

The Israeli strategy for dealing with the Palestinians has changed significantly since the first agreement was reached between the two sides in 1993. This change is forcing Jordan and Egypt, unwillingly, to adapt.

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Olmert Turmoil Slows Mideast Peace Effort
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from International Herald Tribune
September 1, 2008 - 8:00pm

Israeli and Palestinian officials on Sunday played down the prospect of any immediate peace agreement as Ehud Olmert, the discredited prime minister of Israel, begins his final phase in office. Mark Regev, a spokesman for Olmert, noted "considerable gaps" in the negotiating positions and said it was unrealistic to expect to resolve all the issues on the table "in the next two or three weeks."

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American Charities for Palestine signs “Historic” Partnership Agreement with USAID
Press Release - Contact Information: Hussein Ibish - August 31, 2008 - 12:00am

Washington, DC, August 1 – Today the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with American Charities for Palestine (ACP) initiating a partnership to help harness the generosity of the American people to help meet Palestinian humanitarian needs. USAID Administrator Henrietta H. Fore, who presided over the ceremony, described this achievement as “historic” and “the first of its kind.”



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