February 27th

CHF International Announces New Partnership with the American Charities for Palestine and the Sheikh Mohammad Shami Foundation Media Mention of ATFP In - January 25, 2009 - 1:00am CHF International is pleased to announce that in partnership with the American Charities for Palestine, with funding from the Sheikh Mohammed Shami Foundation, we have commenced a Three Hundred Thousand Dollar ($300,000) development project in the West Bank village of Beit Ur Al-Tahta. ACP, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, is a sister organization of ATFP dedicated to help build the education and health sectors in Palestine. » Read more

Obama Empowers Jewish Insurgency Media Mention of ATFP In The Huffington Post - February 21, 2009 - 1:00am The other day I was asked if the existence of Israel Policy Forum "really makes a difference." My interlocutor went on: "I would not expect you to have ended the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. That is not something Americans can do. But I would think you and your allies would have cut into the power of the right-wingers by now. But they still seem to own Capitol Hill, almost as if you guys didn't exist." It's a good question, but it is also one that I had no problem answering. » Read more

US Congress hears urgent appeal for aid to Gaza Media Mention of ATFP In The Daily Star - February 14, 2009 - 1:00am US Congress hears urgent appeal for aid to Gaza Daily Star staff Saturday, February 14, 2009 WASHINGTON: While urgent humanitarian aid for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip is immediately required, the long-term consequences of the recent Gaza war depend on advancements in the peace process and a settlement freeze, Ziad J. Asali, president of the American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) told a congressional hearing on Thursday. » Read more

Rescue a two-state solution in Palestine In Print by Ziad Asali - The Daily Star - February 27, 2009 - 1:00am In the wake of the devastating war in Gaza, the immediate challenge facing the United States, its Arab allies, and the international community, is providing essential aid and reconstruction to the people of Gaza without bolstering Hamas. Hamas launched reckless and provocative rocket attacks against Israel. But Gazans, already suffering under siege, are not Hamas, they are not combatants, and should not be punished. » Read more

Remembering Edward Said - Worth a Thought. And Many more In Print by Ziad Asali - United Press International (UPI) (Blog) - September 26, 2003 - 12:00am A university professor of literature at Columbia University has died. He was witty, elegant and powerful, passionate about his field of study and a man of aristocratic bearing. He loved opera and art and wrote lovely, erudite books. What made him especially important, however, was none of the preceding. Edward W. Said was one of the architects of all reasonable discussion on the question of Palestine and commanded the moral authority to discuss the subject honestly and outside the rhetoric of hatred and violence. He was a brilliant man who sought to improve the world through the » Read more

A Palestinian View: In search of a Palestinian strategy In Print by Ziad Asali - Bitterlemons - April 26, 2004 - 12:00am The foundations of the historic compromise have been shaken in this cruelest month of April. The president of the United States, publicly and clearly, redefined the right of return to mean the return to the yet-to-be-born Palestine. He questioned the "sanctity" of the 1967 borders and sanctioned "reality on the ground" as a determining factor for the future of settlements and borders. » Read more

Palestinian Politics in Crisis: A Trip Report Speech by Ziad Asali at Foundation for Middle East Peace - Washington, DC - August 3, 2004 - 12:00am Simply stated, crossing the bridge from Jordan to the West Bank is a hassle. However, it is also an orderly juncture over an established state border with nothing temporary about it. Traversing it gives the traveler a sense of his powerlessness in the dominant military presence of the officials of the State. The July sun scorches the lowest spot on earth and the forbidding arid and naked landscape makes you wonder how strange the Palestinians and Israelis must seem to others: Are these people serious in fighting over this barren land? » Read more

Statement of Ziad Asali at Special Senate Hearing Speech by Ziad Asali at U.S. Senate - October 30, 2003 - 1:00am Mr. Chairman, Honorable Members of the Committee, It is an honor and a privilege to appear before you to testify about yet one more vexing problem of the Palestinian Israeli conflict, that of the Palestinian education. » Read more

The Geneva Proposals for Peace: Still Viable? Speech by Ziad Asali at Washington, DC - April 15, 2004 - 12:00am Thank you, Mr. Ambassador Freeman. I will try. Good morning everyone. The Hall of Justice in Geneva was packed with dignitaries, delegates, hardened peaceniks and guests from Palestine, Israel, the Arab world, Europe and the United States. The festive celebration with speeches, music and live performances, correctly and evenly divided between Israelis and Palestinians in joint appearances while a full court of world media was providing sympathetic attention -- an auspicious and promising occasion. » Read more

The Road to Peace - Vision and Courage Speech by Ziad Asali at Washington DC - February 23, 2003 - 1:00am In these times of great peril and uncertainty, with talk of war in the air, with military men and women mobilized and ready to unleash their might, with institutions and alliances that have served the cause of peace for decades fragmented and at cross purposes, it is hard to see through the fog and to advocate a course of moderation when the word moderation itself has become loaded and suspect. However, it is my intention to do just that. » Read more