June 12th

Netanyahu cornered by hawks and Obama
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Steven Gutkin - (Analysis) June 11, 2009 - 12:00am

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will attempt to narrow a growing divide with the Obama administration when he delivers a major policy speech in the coming days, his aides say — perhaps even endorsing the concept of a Palestinian state at the risk of alienating his hawkish coalition. In one curious twist, Netanyahu's message — and his room to maneuver — could be at least partially linked to the outcome of Friday's election in Iran.

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US calls for more Arab concessions
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
June 12, 2009 - 12:00am

Egyptian officials said yesterday that America’s Mideast envoy has urged Arab countries to reopen Israeli diplomatic missions and take other steps to normalize relations immediately as incentives for the Jewish state to revive the peace process with Palestinians.

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Jerusalem plan nixed over too much zoning for Arabs
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
by Mohammed Mar’i - June 12, 2009 - 12:00am

Israeli Interior Minister Eli Yishai has instructed his ministry staff to nix a master plan for Jerusalem on the grounds that it allocates too much territory for Palestinian construction, the daily Haaretz reported yesterday. In recent days Yishai instructed Ruth Yosef, tapped as the ministry’s new supervisor for Jerusalem, to shelve the program - the fruit of several years of labor by dozens of Israeli architects.

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Netanyahu yields on Palestinian sovereignty
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Times
by Eli Lake - June 12, 2009 - 12:00am

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a major shift, will accept the notion of a Palestinian state -- a policy pushed by the Obama administration but resisted until now by Mr. Netanyahu, Israeli officials and Americans briefed on the Israeli leader's thinking said. The policy reversal, which is expected to go public this weekend, could help restart negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians and allow the Israeli leader to steer a course between Mr. Obama's view and those of his own hawkish base.

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June 11th

ATFP President Joins Wilson Center Panel on “Obama and the Two-State Solution”
Press Release - Contact Information: Hussein Ibish - June 11, 2009 - 12:00am

Washington, DC, June 8 -- Dr. Ziad Asali, President of the American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP), joined a panel discussion on “Obama and the Two-State Solution: An Israeli, Palestinian, and Egyptian Perspective” at the Woodrow Wilson Center on June 8, 2009. The panel was moderated by Dr. Aaron David Miller, a Public Policy Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Institute and also included included Dr. Martin Kramer, Adelson Institute Senior Fellow at the Shalem Center in Jerusalem, and Dr. Samer Shehata, a Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center.


Pro-Palestinian Advocates Sense Winds of Change in Washington
Media Mention of Ghaith al-Omari In The Jewish Daily Forward - June 11, 2009 - 12:00am

Changes in America’s policy toward the Middle East conflict are sending positive vibrations throughout the small and struggling pro-Palestinian advocacy community.

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CBS News reports on Israeli settlers' angry reaction to President Obama's call for a settlement freeze (1), while the Reform rabbinate backs Obama's stance (6). ATFP Senior Fellow Ghaith al-Omari is featured in an article about the changing attitude in Washington towards Mideast peace (2). Palestinian police arrest 36 Hamas activists in the West Bank (4). Special Mideast Envoy George Mitchell meets with Palestinian leadership in Ramallah (6) (8) before flying to Cairo to meet with Egyptian leadership (11). Israeli President Shimon Peres says it is time to move into phase two of the Road Map, establishing a Palestinian state with provisional borders (13).

A sign of optimism for Palestinian freedom
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Chicago Tribune
by Mustafa Barghouthi - (Opinion) June 10, 2009 - 12:00am

Throughout decades of struggle for Palestinian freedom, there has been little cause for optimism. Today, I am optimistic.

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Reform rabbis back Obama on settlements
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
by Eric Fingerhut - June 10, 2009 - 12:00am

The Reform rabbinate is backing President Obama's position on Israeli settlements. The Central Conference of American Rabbis, which represents nearly 2,000 Reform rabbis, said it believes the president's call for a stop to all Israeli settlement activity and his "outspokenness" on the issue is "in the best interest of the United States, of the State of Israel, and of peace."

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Bottom line for Palestinian entrepreneurs: Reinvent the economy
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Joshua Mitnick - June 10, 2009 - 12:00am

nder pressure from visiting US Mideast envoy George Mitchell, Israeli cabinet ministers mulled easing a siege on the Gaza Strip that was designed to weaken Hamas. Amid US-Israeli disagreement over the Gaza blockade, West Bank settlements, and other issues involved in restarting the peace process, there is one point both sides agree on: The promises to boost the Palestinian economy during the recent round of talks stretching the final year of the Bush administration have produced insufficient results.

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