March 13th

Israeli and Palestinian Leaders Call for Disengagement, Settlement Evacuation Press Release - Contact Information: Hussein Ibish - October 13, 2004 - 12:00am Washington DC, Oct. 13 -- If the Gaza disengagement plan does not succeed, Yossi Alpher, former senior adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, said, Israelis and Palestinians “are on a slippery slope towards South Africanization, without a South African solution.” Ziad Abu Zayyad, member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, said that planting Jewish settlements in the West Bank undermines the prospect for a two-state solution as well, and that it is in Israel’s best interest to withdraw from the settlements. Read more

Palestinian Negotiators Outline Prospects for Peace Following Gaza Disengagement Press Release - Contact Information: Hussein Ibish - September 27, 2004 - 12:00am Washington DC, Sep. 27 -- The American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) hosted a briefing by members of the PLO Negotiations Support Unit (NSU), who are making a week-long tour of congressional offices and non-profit groups. Read more

Joint Statement on May 19, 2004 Attacks Press Release - Contact Information: Hussein Ibish - May 19, 2004 - 12:00am We, the undersigned organizations, strongly condemn Israel’s recent indiscriminate killings of innocent Palestinians, including many children. In particular, we cite the May 19, 2004 Israeli strike on peaceful demonstrators resulting in the death of at least 20 innocent Palestinians. In addition, we denounce the demolition of Palestinian homes in Gaza’s Rafah refugee camp. Read more

ATFP Hosts Initiators of Geneva Accords for Extraordinary Week of Events Press Release - Contact Information: Hussein Ibish - December 10, 2003 - 1:00am Washington DC, Dec. 10 -- The American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) hosted the initiators of the Geneva Accords for a week of events in Washington and New York ending Sunday December 7,2003. The delegation consisted of former Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo, Dr. Nabil Kassis, Dr. Samih Al Abed, and Governor of Bethlehem Zuhair Al Manasreh from the Palestinian side; and former Israeli Justice Minister Yossi Beilin, Shaul Arieli, Daniel Levy, and General Amnon Lipkin-Shahak from the Israeli side. Read more

Obama Administration Overhauls US Mideast Policy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Voice of America March 11, 2009 - 12:00am The Obama administration is moving quickly to overhaul American policy on the Middle East, sending top envoys to the region and promising to push hard for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Some regional analysts warn conditions on the ground may make progress especially difficult. U.S. President Barack Obama has been in office less than two months. During that brief period, however, he has already dispatched Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, special envoy George Mitchell, and other diplomats from the State Department and White House to the Middle East. » Read more

The Real Israel Is Its Own Saving Grace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Israel Policy Forum by M.J. Rosenberg - March 13, 2009 - 12:00am It's like this. If the only page you read in the newspaper is the obituary section, it's going to appear to you that people are sure dying a lot. That same metric applies to news about Israel. If you confine your reading to news about the Gaza war, the continuing blockade, and the rise of Avigdor Lieberman, it is pretty easy to give up on the whole place. » Read more

Concern as ultra-right winger set to lead Israel's foreign policy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Scotsman by Ben Lynfield - March 13, 2009 - 12:00am CONCERN was mounting last night over Israel's plans to appoint as foreign minister an ultra-nationalist politician who based his election campaign on stoking fear of and hatred against the country's Arab minority. However, European Union countries are poised to give Avigdor Lieberman a chance unless the guidelines of the new right-wing coalition headed by Benjamin Netanyahu contain elements directed against Israel's Arab minority, a European diplomat said last night. » Read more

A Reality Check ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews March 12, 2009 - 12:00am The (enhanced) Grad missiles that hit the southern city of Ashkelon several days ago underscore the bitter strategic defeat Israel incurred in the recent Operation Cast Lead. » Read more

Likud-Kadima coalition talks resumed ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Atilla Somfalvi - March 13, 2009 - 12:00am Netanyahu government continues to materialize: The secret talks between the Likud and Kadima parties have been resumed recently in a bid to form a joint coalition, sources in both parties confirmed Friday. Senior officials in both parties have been discussing this possibility in the past few days. According to the sources, Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu and Kadima Chairwoman Tzipi Livni and are aware of these talks and were even involved in some of them Netanyahu himself has spoken to senior Kadima officials, but Likud sources clarified that these were not negotiations. » Read more

Is a right-wing government the answer? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz March 13, 2009 - 12:00am A right-wing Israeli government led by Benjamin Netanyahu is widely seen as spelling the end of a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict. Given the ongoing expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which Netanyahu has promised to accelerate, no other outcome seems conceivable. » Read more