Palestinians warn of new "Intifada" against Israeli settlement
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
by Saud Abu Ramadan - September 7, 2009 - 12:00am

Palestinian political figures warned on Monday that if the United States and Europe fail to urge Israel to halt settlement, repression would prevail among the Palestinians, and "it would be an incitement for a popular uprising against Israel." Ghassan Daghlas, a senior Palestinian National Authority (PNA) official in charge of the Israeli settlement file in northern West Bank, said the current Palestinian status concerning the settlement expansion is like "fire under ashes."

»

Israeli settlements: Where, when, and why they're built
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Ilene Prusher - September 6, 2009 - 12:00am

Amid rising anticipation of a US-Israeli agreement on a settlement freeze, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US envoy George Mitchell said they would meet again Wednesday after an inconclusive visit Tuesday in Jerusalem.

»

The Elders' View Of the Middle East
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Jimmy Carter - September 6, 2009 - 12:00am

During the past 16 months I have visited the Middle East four times and met with leaders in Israel, Egypt, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria, the West Bank and Gaza. I was in Damascus when President Obama made his historic speech in Cairo, which raised high hopes among the more-optimistic Israelis and Palestinians, who recognize that his insistence on a total freeze of settlement expansion is the key to any acceptable peace agreement or any positive responses toward Israel from Arab nations.

»

Abbas: Netanyahu's West Bank construction plan 'unacceptable'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - September 4, 2009 - 12:00am

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's planned approval of the construction of hundreds of new housing units in West Bank settlements is "unacceptable," Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Friday in Paris. "What the Israeli government said [about the planned construction] is not useful," Abbas said after a meeting with French President Nicolas Sarkozy. "It is unacceptable for us. We want a freeze on all settlement construction."

»

Embassy source: Doubtful US signed off on Israeli decision
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
September 4, 2009 - 12:00am

Hours after the angered Palestinian response to Israel's plans to authorize the construction of hundreds of new housing units in the West Bank before implementing a settlement freeze it became apparent that the plans were not necessarily approved by the United States. Kurt Hoyer, spokesman for the US embassy in Tel Aviv, said Friday Washington would be unlikely to accept anything "contrary to the spirit of negotiations they've been undertaking" and added it was "doubtful" the US had signed off on the Israeli decision.

»

Erekat: Approval of construction unacceptable
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
September 4, 2009 - 12:00am

Reports that Israel plans to approve the construction of hundreds of housing units in the West Bank before implementing the settlement freeze that was agreed upon with the United States has angered the Palestinian leadership. Top Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said on Friday the planned Israeli move is "unacceptable". Earlier Friday an aide to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, "The prime minister plans to approve the construction of hundreds of news housing units in Judea and Samaria, before the freeze."

»

'Gov't doesn't know where it's going'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
September 4, 2009 - 12:00am

Following reports of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's plan to approve hundreds of new housing units in the West Bank before considering a brief settlement freeze, opposition leader Tzipi Livni said on Friday that the government did not know where is was headed and was playing a dangerous game of trying to please everyone. "Israel's leaders, the elected government, in my opinion, still hasn't made a choice between two different outlooks. One, Jewish existence in every part of Israel, and two, the existence of a Jewish democratic state," she said in a speech at an IDF pensioners' event.

»

Bibi should not be overconfident
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
by Patrick Seale - (Opinion) September 4, 2009 - 12:00am

On two key issues of Barack Obama's foreign policy - Palestinian statehood and reconciliation with Iran - Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's Prime Minister, has chosen to fight the American President. He has refused to bend to Obama's will, and is instead seeking to outwit and defeat him.

»

Obama can still do more
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by George S. Hishmeh - September 4, 2009 - 12:00am

As the stage is being reportedly set for President Barack Obama to spell out his much-awaited ideas for a Palestinian-Israeli settlement at the opening of the UN General Assembly later this month, two issues remain regrettably overlooked or shortsightedly sidetracked. If this neglect persists, they have the potential of derailing a peaceful settlement.

»

ATFP Welcomes White House Statement on Israeli Settlement Activity
Press Release - Contact Information: Hussein Ibish - September 4, 2009 - 12:00am

Washington, DC, Sept. 4 -- The American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) welcomed today's statement issued by the office of the White House Press Secretary stating the United States government's position that Israeli settlement activity should stop. The White House states that, "We regret the reports of Israel's plans to approve additional settlement construction," which importantly allows for the possibility that news reports that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is planning to approve several hundred new settler homes in the occupied West Bank may be inaccurate.



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