A: In 2006, ATFP published in the New York Times a vision of the Palestinian state it advocates: democratic, pluralistic, tolerant and peaceful. Obviously the nature of Palestinian society and a Palestinian state will be up to the Palestinian people. This is not for ATFP to dictate. Yet the organization believes that it has a serious contribution to make to the Palestinian and Palestinian-American debate about what sort of state and society Palestinians are struggling to create.

Moreover, ATFP believes that the same values now apply more broadly in the rest of the Arab world in the context of the so-called "Arab Spring." Indeed, ATFP has noted on several previous occasions that some of the PA institution-building and reform measures initiated in 2010 anticipated and predated many of the demands for greater accountability, transparency and good governance that have been a hallmark of uprisings against dictatorships in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and elsewhere. ATFP believes that the Palestinian struggle for freedom is now more deeply conjoined to regional developments than ever before and that the two are inextricably intertwined.

ATFP's vision for Palestine, as articulated in 2006, is now relevant to the broader Arab world, as developments in the Middle East will be essential in laying the groundwork for achieving Palestinian independence. Recently ATFP expanded its mission with the approval of its Board of Directors to reflect these new realities. It now recognizes the centrality of regional developments to promoting the cause of Palestinian independence, and advocates that American values of democracy, pluralism, accountability, transparency and the rule of law, be seen as complementary and not contradictory throughout the region and especially with regard to Palestine.

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