Remarks by President Obama and President Abbas of the Palestinian Authority after Meeting
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from White House Office of the Press Secretary
June 9, 2010 - 12:00am

The White House

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Abbas Arrives
Media Mention of Hussein Ibish In Politico - June 9, 2010 - 12:00am

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and his delegation have arrived in Washington, ahead of a meeting with President Barack Obama at the White House Wednesday. “The whole entourage is here,” the American Task Force for Palestine’s Hussein Ibish said. “The real ask they have is really for the U.S. to tell Israel to simply be more serious about peace negotiations, to talk about the substantive issues, in a more permanent, serious way, and not kind of dance around the problem – to focus on a well in Nablus or a procedural question.”

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Palestine's Great Hope
Media Mention of Hussein Ibish In Slate - June 9, 2010 - 12:00am

Given the deadly confrontation off the coast of Gaza, the recent froideur in U.S.-Israeli relations, Iran's defiant pursuit of a nuclear weapon, not to mention two ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the broader fight against al-Qaida, it's perhaps forgivable that the biggest news story to emerge from the Middle East in years has been eclipsed. But no one can accuse the Palestinian prime minister of neglecting to call attention to himself.

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Pres. Abbas arrives in Washington to meet with Pres. Obama, and says leadership and courage are now required. Daniel Williams profiles the PA settlement goods boycott. Flotilla activists continue to strongly contradict Israel's narrative. The CSM asks if Israel's blockade is legal. Ron Grossman says Israel finds itself in a similar position as Britain did in 1947. Pres. Obama may offer more Gaza aid. Many Gazans are leaving the territory through the reopened crossing with Egypt. Flotilla leaders say they will return with more ships. The Palestine Investment Conference garners $940 million in new projects. Britain denies a Daily Telegraph report that Israel has agreed to ease the siege of Gaza in exchange for a watered down investigation. Israeli police describe violent clashes with settlers. Elias Harfoush says the rise of Turkish PM Erdogan in the region is a symptom of Arab decline. Osama Al Sharif says Turkey is being bold while the Arabs are being “muted and shy.” Michael Weiss says the emergence of PM Fayyad is “the best thing to happen in the Middle East in ages.”

Beyond the Turkey-Israel rift
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
by Osama Al-Sharif - (Opinion) June 9, 2010 - 12:00am

Scores from different nationalities were also injured in the raid, some of them seriously. The angry reaction from Ankara to the notorious commando raid, in international waters, has not subsided. On the contrary, there is a calculated and consistent escalation by Turkey against Israel, which is slowly gathering regional and international momentum. The end game remains uncertain, but the repercussions of the Turkey-Israel crisis could prove costly - for both.

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The Rise of Erdogan and the Fall of the Arabs
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat
by Elias Harfoush - June 9, 2010 - 12:00am

On the flip side of the picture of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, boarding the Freedom Flotilla, we should observe the fall of the Arabs, in all of their variations. It is no small thing for Turkish flags to fill the space of the rally organized by Hizbullah, and for the party’s secretary general to compare what the “red flag” can do, along with the “yellow flag” of the resistance.

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Israel 'to accept British plan to ease Gaza blockade'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Telegraph
by Adrian Blomfield, Alex Spillius - June 9, 2010 - 12:00am

Britain is understood to have taken a leading role in the negotiations and last week circulated a confidential document proposing ways of easing the blockade, according to Western officials familiar with a draft version of the report. Facing growing international criticism over the humanitarian situation in Gaza, Israeli officials said that would agree, in principle, to permit the passage of substantially more aid through Israel's land crossings with the Hamas-controlled territory.

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8 cops, 38 settlers hurt in Beit El clashes
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Yaakov Lappin, Tovah Lazaroff - June 9, 2010 - 12:00am

In one of the most violent incidents since the start of the moratorium on new Jewish construction in the West Bank, eight police officers and 38 settlers were lightly hurt at the Beit El settlement Tuesday morning in clashes between the two groups. Settlers claimed that police had attacked them with pepper spray, while police contended that they had been stoned and called “Nazis.”

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Britain: No quid pro quo deal on Gaza blockade
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Natasha Mozgovaya, Barak Ravid - June 9, 2010 - 12:00am

Britain has denied a report in The Daily Telegraph of a British plan wherein Israel will ease the Gaza siege in exchange for decreased world pressure for an international probe into the events of the Gaza flotilla, the British Embassy in Tel Aviv said in a statement on Wednesday. "We don't know where the idea of a quid pro quo came from… the Foreign Secretary has made clear that the current restrictions on Gaza must be lifted in line with UNSCR 1860," the statement read.

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Obama to offer Abbas fresh aid for Gaza in flotilla aftermath
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
June 9, 2010 - 12:00am

President Barack Obama on Wednesday is expected to offer Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas fresh U.S. aid for Gaza as Washington seeks to contain the fallout over Israel's raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla. Hosting Abbas at the White House, Obama will also try to ensure that heightened Middle East tensions over last week's deadly Israeli commando operation do not derail sputtering U.S.-led peace efforts between Israel and the Palestinians.

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