"What’s Wrong with the One-State Agenda?"
Press Release - Contact Information: Hussein Ibish - August 28, 2009 - 12:00am

ATFP presents a new Task Force book publication: What’s Wrong with the One-State Agenda? Why Ending the Occupation and Peace with Israel is Still the Palestinian National Goal by ATFP Senior Fellow Hussein Ibish


The State Department confirms that it is holding firm on the policy of no new Israeli settlements, while Palestinian leadership insists that a full settlement freeze is a preconditions for new peace talks and the Israeli government confirms there has been no agreement on settlements with the US. The New York Times looks at the long history of non-violent civil disobedience in the West Bank village of Bilin. The Toronto Star examines how new construction of Jewish homes in Arab East Jerusalem is harming urban relations. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas plans to tour a number of Arab and European countries before the end of the year. Hamas chief Khaled Meshal is reportedly planning to fly to Cairo next week to approve a possible deal that includes the release of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.

Obama steers the peace train
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Inter Press Service (IPS)
by Jerrold Kessel, Pierre Klochendler - August 28, 2009 - 12:00am

It isn't formal yet, but it's bound to be soon - within the coming six weeks, Palestinians and Israelis will again sit down around the peace table. That's the upshot of Wednesday's London meeting between United States President Barack Obama's special Middle East envoy, Senator George Mitchell, and Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu. Mitchell is set to come to Jerusalem in a fortnight's time with the goal of finalizing an agreement on both an Israeli settlement freeze and the consequent re-igniting of direct peace talks.

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Hamas fights the Salafists to gain more legitimacy
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
by Mkhaimar Abusada - August 28, 2009 - 12:00am

The recent shoot-out in a Gaza mosque between Hamas security officers and militants from the radical jihadist group the Warriors of God brought to the surface the deep tensions that divide Palestinian Islamists. Twenty-two people died, including the Warriors of God’s leader, Abdel-Latif Moussa. But Palestinian security officials doubt that these will be the last casualties.

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Bibi in control until Obama calls settlements illegal
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent
by Alan Philps - (Opinion) August 27, 2009 - 12:00am

In June, Barack Obama declared to the consternation of Israel that “the United States does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements”. Since then the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has chipped away at the principle of a total freeze on settlement building with what looks like increasing success.

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Netanyahu: We haven’t agreed to a settlement freeze
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
August 27, 2009 - 12:00am

Israel’s prime minister denied reports that Israel has agreed to halt construction in West Bank settlements. At a news conference in Berlin on Thursday following his meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Benjamin Netanyahu also said the Palestinians first must recognize Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state before negotiations could be held.

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Israel hobbling West Bank economy, says Tony Blair
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent
by Ben Lynfield - August 28, 2009 - 12:00am

Israel's delaying tactics over the launch of a new Palestinian mobile phone network could deal a substantial blow to the West Bank's economy, Tony Blair warned yesterday in his capacity as the international community's Middle East envoy. Wataniya Mobile, based in Qatar, has been preparing for the launch of Palestine's second mobile telecoms company since 2007, with the second largest private investment in West Bank history, amounting to $700m.

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PM faces uprising over 'settlement halt'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Gil Hoffman - August 28, 2009 - 12:00am

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will return from his European trip to find that two Likud rallies have been organized to express opposition to the settlement freeze he reportedly negotiated with US envoy George Mitchell in London. The first, scheduled for Tuesday at Tel Aviv's Azrieli Tower, was organized by Minister-without-Portfolio Yossi Peled. It is not officially an anti-Netanyahu rally but rather a "pro-Jerusalem event," and yet MKs who attend are expected to bash the deal the prime minister is negotiating with the Americans.

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US: Settlements no precondition on Mideast talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
August 28, 2009 - 12:00am

The United States indicated Friday that its calls on Israel to freeze settlements were not a precondition for restarting Middle East peace talks, as the Jewish state held firm in its refusal. President Barack Obama's administration insisted it was not changing its stance, which has caused friction with the close US ally, that Israel halt all settlements in the West Bank and in east Jerusalem. But State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said the main US goal was to relaunch talks between Israel and the Palestinians, who will decide for themselves on the contours of a peace deal.

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Israel arrests 5 Palestinians ahead of Ramadan prayers
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
August 28, 2009 - 12:00am

Jerusalem Police on Friday arrested five Palestinians in the vicinity of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and Temple Mount ahead of Ramadan prayers, Israel Radio reported. One of the men, a resident of the Isawiyah neighborhood in East Jerusalem, attacked a police officer and lightly hurt him after being asked to undergo a security check. Another man, a resident of Rahat, was arrested for carrying a knife, while a Gaza man was detained for being in the area without a permit.

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