The New York Times | The American Task Force on Palestine

Rebuilt Synagogue Is Caught in Disputes Over Jerusalem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - March 15, 2010 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM — In what appeared to be a case of unfortunate timing, Israel officially inaugurated a rebuilt synagogue in Jerusalem’s Old City on Monday, entangling what was intended to be a festive cultural event with the diplomatic row over new Israeli construction in the contested territory.

The New Israel Lobby
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by James Traub - September 10, 2009 - 12:00am

In July, President Obama met for 45 minutes with leaders of American Jewish organizations. All presidents meet with Israel’s advocates. Obama, however, had taken his time, and powerhouse figures of the Jewish community were grumbling; Obama’s coolness seemed to be of a piece with his willingness to publicly pressure Israel to freeze the growth of its settlements and with what was deemed his excessive solicitude toward the plight of the Palestinians.

Accusation of Organ Theft Stokes Ire in Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - August 23, 2009 - 12:00am

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel urged the Swedish government on Sunday to condemn an article in a Swedish newspaper last week accusing the Israeli Army of harvesting organs from Palestinians wounded or killed by soldiers.

A View from the Ground
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Middle East Progress
by Taghreed El-Khodary - (Interview) July 28, 2009 - 12:00am

Tell us what the situation on the ground is like.

Israel and U.S. Can’t Close Split on Settlements
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - June 1, 2009 - 12:00am

Thirty Israeli couples are on a waiting list to move into the Kfar Tapuah settlement, which teems with children on the hilltops south of Nablus. Some on the list grew up here. But there is not an apartment available for sale or rent, or even a stifling trailer to be had. If Israel built all the housing units already approved in the nation’s overall master plan for settlements, it would almost double the number of settler homes in the West Bank, according to unpublished official data provided to The New York Times.

Driver Shot Dead After Rampage in Jerusalem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - March 5, 2009 - 1:00am

The Palestinian driver of a construction vehicle flipped over an Israeli police car and rammed an empty bus here on Thursday, injuring two police officers before he was shot dead, police said. Police later identified the assailant as a Palestinian resident of Beit Hanina, a predominantly Arab neighborhood in northeast Jerusalem. Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the man, Mari al-Radeideh, 26, was married and the father of one child. Jerusalem’s deputy police commander, Niso Shahar, told reporters: “We have no doubt that it is a terror attack.”

Clinton Says She Pressed for Gaza Border Opening
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Mark Landler - March 4, 2009 - 1:00am

A day after announcing a new diplomatic initiative in the Middle East, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton traveled here Wednesday to show support for the Palestinian Authority, saying she had pressed the Israeli government to open border crossings to war-torn Gaza. “We have obviously expressed concern about the border crossing,” Mrs. Clinton said after a meeting with the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas. “We want humanitarian aid to get into Gaza in sufficient amounts to help alleviate the suffering of the people in Gaza.”

Clinton should not listen to Netanyahu
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
by Francis Matthew - (Opinion) March 4, 2009 - 1:00am

Every four years there is a depressing ritual in which a new US Secretary of State agrees that the US will secure Israel's security, but will also support the establishment of a Palestinian state. As has happened many times before, this week the Palestinians told Hillary Clinton that the Israelis should stop building illegal colonies in the West Bank. The Palestinian point was vindicated by the discovery this week of an Israeli government plan for a massive expansion of Israeli colonies, which was published by Peace Now, an Israeli peace lobby.

Clinton Starts Mideast Diplomacy With Cash for Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Mark Landler - March 2, 2009 - 1:00am

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton embarked on her first foray into Middle East diplomacy on Monday, offering a pledge of $300 million for war-torn Gaza and urging accelerated efforts for peace. Mrs. Clinton was attending an international donors’ conference in this Egypt resort on the Red Sea that may well prove to be the simplest part of a visit to a region shadowed by deep mutual distrust between Israelis and Palestinians and the still-unresolved political situation in Israel.

U.S. Helps Palestinians Build Force for Security
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Ethan Bronner - February 26, 2009 - 1:00am

They rappel down a 65-foot tower, navigate obstacle courses, shoot in the firing range and sleep in pristine barracks. They eat in an air-conditioned mess where brushed aluminum glints from every kitchen surface. Rows of Land Rovers stand by. The entrance reads “The Presidential Guard, Always in Front: Strength, Sacrifice, Redemption.”