ATFP Joins With Groups Urging Travel Rights for Palestinian Students
Press Release - Contact Information: Hussein Ibish - July 15, 2008 - 12:00am

Washington, DC, July 16 - The American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) has joined with six other American organizations to urge Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to use her good offices to convince Israel to allow hundreds of Palestinian students in Gaza to travel to their universities around the world. The organizations sent a letter to Secretary Rice dated July 15 asking the Administration to help secure travel permission for hundreds of Palestinian students in Gaza who have been accepted in foreign universities but who are not being allowed to leave the territory by Israel.


Marwan Muasher Stresses Importance of A Two-State Solution for Arab Reform
Press Release - Contact Information: Hussein Ibish - June 26, 2008 - 12:00am

On Friday, June 27, the American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) and the Foundation for Middle East Peace (FMEP) hosted a discussion the National Press Club in Washington of “The Arab Center: The Promise of Moderation” (Yale University Press, 2008) with its author, Dr. Marwan Muasher. Dr. Muasher is a former Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign and Information Minister of Jordan, as well as Jordan’s first Ambassador to Israel.


ADC, AAI, and ATFP meet with State Department
Press Release - Contact Information: Hussein Ibish - June 18, 2008 - 12:00am

On June 19, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), the American-Arab Institute (AAI), and the American Task Force for Palestine (ATFP) met with State Department officials from the Bureau of Consular affairs, and the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs to discuss the practice of denying entry to US citizens of Palestinian or Arab descent into Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT).


Palestinian-Americans Concerned about New Jerusalem Settlement Plans
Press Release - Contact Information: Hussein Ibish - June 1, 2008 - 12:00am

Washington, DC, June 2 – New Israeli settlement expansions in and around occupied East Jerusalem threaten prospects for a Palestinian-Israeli peace agreement, according to the American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP). On Monday ATFP warned that further Israeli construction in and around Jerusalem dangerously prejudiced final status talks and made the creation of an independent Palestinian state with its capital in East Jerusalem more difficult.


Mideast Conflict: Need For A New Perspective
In Print by Ziad Asali - Arab News (Opinion) - May 6, 2008 - 12:00am

Peace is not easy. Achieving it requires summoning the deepest forms of courage. It means examining one?s darkest prejudices that dehumanize and demonize the other. The quest for mutual recognition of humanity and dignity is an arduous task. The question facing both Israelis and Palestinians is: Do they prefer to cling to the pain of past injuries and the suffering of their forefathers, or will they determine to move forward and build a better future for their children?


The Perils Of Unconditional Engagement
In Print by Ghaith al-Omari - Middle East Progress (Opinion) - May 1, 2008 - 12:00am

The issue of whether or not to engage Hamas boils down to the following question: would such engagement help moderate the organization, or would it simply improve Hamas? chances of dominating the Palestinian political scene and encourage extremism throughout the Middle East? For now, any engagement that goes beyond achieving de-escalation in Gaza would serve to bolster Hamas at the expense of those working toward a two-state solution.


Ziad Asali on Rosner's Guest
Interview with Ziad Asali - Haaretz - April 28, 2008 - 12:00am

Ziad J. Asali, M.D., is the president and founder of the American Task Force on Palestine, a non-profit, non-partisan organization based in Washington, D.C.


ATFP, Secretary Rice, Private Sector Leaders Promote Investment in Palestine
Press Release - Contact Information: Hussein Ibish - April 28, 2008 - 12:00am

Washington DC, April 29 – Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice today convened a meeting of American private sector business leaders and leaders of the US-Palestinian Public-Private Partnership initiative to explore opportunities for investment in Palestine in the run-up to the Palestine Investment Conference in Bethlehem on May 21-23, 2008. Partnership chair Walter Isaacson and co-chairs Jean Case and ATFP President Ziad J. Asali attended the meeting at the State Department along with Secretary Rice and other senior government officials.


Mideast Peace Prospects
In Print by Ziad Asali - The Washington Times (Opinion) - April 20, 2008 - 12:00am

Though I have been to the region many times, my most recent trip to Israel, the Palestinian territories and Jordan confirmed the alarming new obstacles facing the quest for peace in the Middle East and the urgency with which they need to be addressed by all parties.


Abbas Turns To Russia For Help
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Middle East Times
by Sana Abdallah - April 18, 2008 - 6:25pm


As fighting continues to rage in the Gaza Strip and progress bogs down in the U.S.-sponsored peace negotiations with Israel, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has turned to Russia for help. Abbas was in Moscow Thursday calling to convene a conference in the Russian capital "as soon as possible" because the Palestinian-Israeli peace negotiations that were re-launched at Annapolis in November were not moving forward.



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