June 4th

Tensions in J'lem ahead of Obama's speech
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Herb Keinon - June 3, 2009 - 12:00am

Jerusalem will be listening intently along with the rest of the world to US President Barack Obama's speech Thursday in Cairo, hoping his outreach to the Muslim world does not come at Israel's expense. "Like everyone else we will be following the speech very closely," one senior official said Wednesday. While officials in Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's office did not see a draft of the speech, nor were they asked for their input, they were briefed on the overall content, the official said.

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'We're launching a campaign against anti-Semitic Obama'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Raphael Ahren - June 4, 2009 - 12:00am

Some 130 protesters gathered in front of the American Consulate in Jerusalem Wednesday afternoon to rally against U.S. President Barack Obama, who had just launched his Middle East tour, during which he is expected to reach out in friendship to the Muslim world. As more than a dozen local and international journalists looked on, the protesters chanted "No, You Can't" and waved posters saying "20 new 'settlements' by 2010 - Yes We Can!"

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How Not To Protect the Jewish State
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by Eric Yoffie - (Opinion) June 3, 2009 - 12:00am

During his recent visit to the United States, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeated his demand that Palestinian recognition of Israel as a Jewish state should be a precondition for talks aimed at achieving a peace settlement. While such a request might seem reasonable — after all, Israel is a Jewish state — it is actually a serious mistake.

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Netanyahu Will Comply With US Demands
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Aluf Benn - (Analysis) June 4, 2009 - 12:00am

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will back down. Another week, another month, and he will give into American pressure and will be forced to accept the two-state solution and also agree to some sort of concessions on settlements. So far there has been no real negotiation between Israel and the Obama administration, just an exchange of declarations. There are no personal links between the Prime Minister's Bureau and the White House. Only after Thursday, following the "conciliatory address" of U.S. President Barack Obama to the Arab and Muslim world in Cairo, will the real discussion begin.

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Four die in Palestinian clash in West Bank
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC World News
June 4, 2009 - 12:00am

hree Hamas militants and a member of the Palestinian Authority security forces died in the clashes, a Palestinian official has said. The clashes took place in the the northern West Bank town of Qalqilya. It comes days after six people died in a gun battle in the town between Hamas fighters and police. A Hamas spokesman in Gaza Strip said the operations against Hamas members had "killed all chances" for the success of the talks in Egypt aimed at reconciling Hamas and the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority.

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Obama in quest for peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Rushdi Abu Alouf - June 4, 2009 - 12:00am

US President Barack Obama discussed the quest for Middle East peace and Iran’s disputed nuclear ambitions in Cairo with the Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak today in this ancient seat of Islamic learning and culture before delivering a dose of “truth-telling” about the often fraught relations between Americans and Muslims.

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US policy needs to change
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
by George S. Hishmeh - (Opinion) June 3, 2009 - 12:00am

There are great expectations that a new, friendlier era of US policy towards Arab and Muslim countries will be ushered in by Barack Obama's trip to the Middle East. Not only will he make an important visit to Saudi Arabia, but also he is due to give a major address in Egypt, underlining his administration's praiseworthy attempt to engage the Arab and Muslim world to a degree unmatched by his predecessors.

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Obama: Step by Step with the Palestinians
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Ghassan Al-Imam - (Opinion) June 3, 2009 - 12:00am

Europe sees in Obama another John Kennedy, and the United States sees in him Abraham Lincoln, who reconciled the country with itself after a bitter civil war, and then compares him to Franklin Roosevelt, the author of the "New Deal" who got the country out of its economic crisis in the thirties.

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June 3rd

With Speech in Egypt, Obama Calculates Risk of Alienating Israel
Media Mention of Ghaith al-Omari In Fox News - June 3, 2009 - 12:00am

As President Obama prepares to depart for the Middle East to promote improved U.S. relations with Muslim nations, he has reaffirmed Iran's right to develop nuclear energy and met with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak. The president is not headed to Israel on his five-day tour, one of the most important trips of his fledgling presidency. Instead, he will arrive in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday and deliver a speech at Cairo University in Egypt on Thursday. He then travels to France and Germany for D-Day commemorations.

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President Obama arrives in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia to kick off his highly anticipated Mideast tour (1) (10) (11). Speculation continues regarding the issue of a potential Israeli settlement freeze (3) (4) (5). Before leaving for the Mideast, President Obama joins a White House meeting between National Security Advisor Jim Jones and Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak (15). Israeli police remove a West Bank settler outpost and two roadblocks in Ramallah (17).

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