May 28th

Obama Draws Line on Israeli Settlements
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
May 28, 2009 - 12:00am

US President Barack Obama has drawn a line on Israeli settlement expansion before he meets with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas as part of his urgent quest to revive peace talks. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Obama made it clear, when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited here last week, that he wants "no natural growth exceptions" to his call for a settlement freeze.

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May 27th

University of Iowa Arab Student Association Forum Features Ibish
Media Mention of Hussein Ibish In Washington Report On Middle East Affairs - May 27, 2009 - 12:00am

THE ARAB STUDENT Association (ASA) at the University of Iowa sponsored a public forum in Iowa City on Feb. 21 at which the featured speaker, Dr. Hussein Ibish, senior fellow at the American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP), delivered a presentation titled “Is Obama Ready for a Middle East Change?”

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Obama Deserves Palestinian Support
In Print by Ghaith al-Omari - Israel Policy Forum (Opinion) - May 27, 2009 - 12:00am

Over the course of successive visits by Middle Eastern leaders to the White House, President Obama's policy for resolving the Arab-Israeli conflict is starting to unfold. King Abdullah of Jordan's visit highlighted the important role the Arab world should play in support of the peace process. Prime Minister Netanyahu's visit reiterated President Obama's commitment to the two-state framework and the centrality of freezing settlement construction. President Abbas' visit will play an important role in clarifying what the Palestinians need to do.

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As Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas arrives in Washington, the U.S. moves to bolster the Palestinian Authority (1) (3). The New York Times remembers Amos Elon’s warnings on the dangers of building settlements in the Occupied Territories (2). Israel evacuates two more settler outposts in the West Bank (13) (16). The Canadian government urges a halt to all settlement activity (4). Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu pledges to abide by existing Israeli agreements (12), while Vice-Premier Moshe Ya’alon rules out the creation of any “Palestinian entity” (17).

Encountering Peace: Partner or pariah?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Gershon Baskin - May 25, 2009 - 12:00am

There is no solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict other than "two states for two peoples." Any other proposal guarantees the continuation of the conflict and the end of the Zionist enterprise, the State of Israel.

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Ya'alon: 'Palestinian entity cannot be formed'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Gil Hoffman - May 26, 2009 - 12:00am

Vice Premier Moshe Ya'alon, who is very close to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, ruled out the creation of any "Palestinian entity" at a conference at the Knesset on Tuesday entitled "Alternatives to the Two-State Outlook."

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Police evacuate 2 huts, tent in West Bank
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Erfat Weiss - May 27, 2009 - 12:00am

Evacuation continues, bit by bit: Police and Civil Administration forces destroyed two hits on Hill 18 (Mitzpe Avihai), near the Jewish settlement of Kiryat Arba, on Tuesday night. Six teenagers were present at the place at the time of the operation, but no unusual incidents were recorded.

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Welcome to Realistan
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Aluf Benn - May 27, 2009 - 12:00am

President Barack Obama's speech in Cairo will give voice to a turning point in U.S. foreign policy - not because of what he is expected to say about the peace process, but because of the change in direction. He aims to maintain order and stability, not educate the world and spread liberty and democracy. The choice of the stage is no coincidence: Obama will express support for President Hosni Mubarak's regime and tell the world that he has buried the doctrine of former president George W. Bush, who wanted to transform the Arab states into democracies.

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Peres: 'Jordan is Palestine' plan is baseless hallucination
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Yuval Azoulay - May 27, 2009 - 12:00am

President Shimon Peres on Wednesday criticized a rightist lawmaker's suggestion that Jordan should serve as the Palestinian state. National Union MK Aryeh Eldad's proposal that Jordan take responsibility for the Palestinians' welfare is a "baseless hallucination," the president told Israel Radio. Peres said Eldad had flagrantly intervened in Jordan's internal affairs and that his suggestion was a provocation that was made merely for the sake of arousing a commotion.

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Settler youth clash with leftists after trying to rebuild outpost
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
May 27, 2009 - 12:00am

Border Police officers on Wednesday were forced to dismantle for the second time in less than 24 hours an illegal West Bank outpost. Settler youth had tried in the afternoon to rebuild structures in the Givat 18 outpost near Kiryat Arba, one of two settlement outposts razed overnight. After the troops left, a quarrel broke out between the youth and Palestinian and left-wing Israeli activists. There were no casualties reported.

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