ATFP President Ziad Asali Speaks at Annual Conference on World Affairs
Press Release - Contact Information: Hussein Ibish - April 7, 2009 - 12:00am

Ziad Asali, President of the American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP), spoke at several panels at the Sixty-first Annual Conference on World Affairs at the University of Colorado, Boulder, held from April 6 –10.


Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas tells the Quartet that continued peace talks with Israel are conditioned on its acceptance of previous agreements and the freezing of settlement growth (1). British Foreign Secretary David Miliband affirms that Jerusalem should be the capital of both Israel and a Palestinian state (2). A Jordanian sponsored summit of Arab foreign ministers meets to discuss a unified Arab position towards peace (3). A recently released poll shows that a majority of American Jews show strong support for a more assertive U.S. role in Mideast peace efforts (6). Reema Ali gives her perspective on the issue of a settlement freeze (7) In the New York Review of Books David Hare examines the development and significance of the West Bank separation barrier (8). MJ Rosenberg urges President Obama to endorse the Arab Peace Initiative (9).

Missing a Historic Opportunity
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Khaleej Times
(Editorial) April 10, 2009 - 12:00am

That the change of guard in Israel and the rise of radical Zionists like Avigdor Lieberman to power is bad news for peace process cannot be overemphasised. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, himself renowned for absurdly unreasonable views, couldn’t have made a more disastrous choice when he picked up Lieberman as his foreign minister.

»

Christians mark Good Friday in Jerusalem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent
April 10, 2009 - 12:00am

Hundreds of Christian clergymen, worshippers and pilgrims are marking Good Friday at Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulcher, where Christian tradition says Jesus was crucified and resurrected. Brown-robed Roman Catholic friars filed into the ancient church after its doors were unlocked this morning. Pilgrims knelt to kiss a stone believed to mark the spot where Jesus' body was placed after he was crucified. Processions following Jesus' footsteps through the alleys of Jerusalem's Old City are planned for later in the day.

»

Deputy FM: Obama's Ankara speech did not favor Annapolis
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
April 10, 2009 - 12:00am

Deputy Foreign Minister Daniel Ayalon (Yisrael Beiteinu) said Friday that U.S. President Barack Obama's speech in Turkey earlier this week did not include any support for the Annapolis peace process, Army Radio reported. Ayalon denounced calls which interpreted Obama's reference to the Israeli-Palestinian negotiation launched in Annapolis in 2007 as a warning against the policies of Israel's government, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and against Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman's statement that the new government was not bound by Annapolis understandings.

»

Soccer, a Link to Normalcy For West Bank Palestinians
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Howard Schneider - April 10, 2009 - 12:00am

Like any soccer match among 6-year-olds, the gang behind the village school brought as much structure to the game as a swarm of bees. But Omar Abu Hamad, coach of the champion Wadi al-Nees Blue Eagles of the Palestinian Football Association, was already scouting his next generation of players -- including the speedy sons of two of his current stars. If all goes well, he said, this village of 800 in the occupied West Bank will continue to produce a punch-above-its-weight squad for Palestinian league play, and contribute to a Palestinian national team worthy of the world stage.

»

Blair: Netanyahu will back establishment of Palestinian state
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Yitzhak Benhorin - April 10, 2009 - 12:00am

International Middle East peace envoy Tony Blair said he estimates Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will promote the establishment of a Palestinian state.  

»

All he did was kill an Arab
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Nehemia Shtrasler - April 10, 2009 - 12:00am

Julian Soufir wants to be let out. He doesn't even understand why he's being kept at the Abarbanel Mental Hospital. He says he's recovered and feels fine. His doctors say he has made progress and should be released in a few months. But he already wants to be put in less restrictive conditions and immediately afterward be granted parole. After all, Passover is the holiday of freedom and all he did was kill an Arab.

»

Obama to keep the ball rolling
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by George S. Hishmeh - April 10, 2009 - 12:00am

Barrack Hussein Obama hit the jackpot during his visit to Turkey when he was introduced with stress on his rarely used middle name to the Turkish parliament and, in response, the visiting American president assured the legislators that the United States is not at war with Islam. Likewise, Turkey’s recently acquired role, as a much-needed bridge for some feuding Middle Eastern nations, won high praise from Obama, a gesture that contrasted sharply with the failed US policies during the Bush administration.

»

Colonial values rule again in Palestine
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by Rami Khouri - April 10, 2009 - 12:00am

For years, pro-Israeli zealots and other fanatics in the United States who run out of arguments quickly revert to their fallback position that Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East - and thus should be supported against Arab dictators. There is some truth to this argument, but not compelling integrity. Israel is indeed a domestic democracy for its Jewish citizens, and most Arab countries are not convincingly democratic.

»


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