April 8th

Witnesses: Soldiers look on as setters beat 2
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
April 8, 2010 - 12:00am

Two 19-year-old men were transferred to a Hebron hospital for treatment Wednesday after being harshly beaten by Israeli settlers near the Ibrahimi Mosque, locals said. Witnesses identified the two as Muhammad Abdul Raouf Al-Muhtaseb and Rushdi Al-Muhtaseb, both 19, and said soldiers looked on as settlers attacked the men and did nothing to interfere. On 31 March a similar incident was reported, with A’teiyah Yousef Maswada, 31, transferred to hospital following an attack by some 10 settlers outside of the mosque.

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U.S. has considered offering Mideast peace proposal, officials say
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Paul Richter - April 8, 2010 - 12:00am

President Obama and other U.S. officials have explored whether the administration should offer its own Middle East peace proposal to break the logjam between Palestinians and Israelis, officials said Wednesday. At a time of growing frustration in the White House over the lack of a peace agreement, Obama and aides recently discussed whether the administration may need to turn to such an approach, officials said.

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Discussions, but no decisions, on an Obama plan for Mideast peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Glenn Kessler - April 8, 2010 - 12:00am

Senior Obama administration officials have discussed whether President Obama should propose his own solution to the intractable conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, including in a recent meeting between the president and seven former and current national security advisers, U.S. officials said Wednesday.

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I.M.F. Says West Bank Economic Growth Is Imperiled by Israel and Arab States
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Ethan Bronner - April 7, 2010 - 12:00am

The International Monetary Fund is preparing a report on the Palestinian economy that praises the actions of the West Bank government and the large donations of Western countries, especially European ones, but argues that healthy recent growth rates are imperiled by the parties that claim to have the most at stake — Israel and the Arab states.

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The Nation: A Visit With Salam Fayyad
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Nation
by Letty Cottin Pogrebin - April 8, 2010 - 12:00am

Before I arrived in Israel a few weeks ago, I'd read that Israeli President Shimon Peres had likened Salam Fayyad, the prime minister of the Palestinian Authority, to David Ben-Gurion, Israel's George Washington. So I was intrigued when, on my first night in Jerusalem, the conversation at my Israeli friends' Sabbath table was about the impressive speech Fayyad had delivered to the princes of Israel's security establishment at the recent Herzliya conference.

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Israeli settlement push hurts U.S. interests, peace process
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from USA Today
(Opinion) April 8, 2010 - 12:00am

Support for Israel doesn’t mean accepting its misguided policies. It has never been a secret that the United States pays a steep price in the Muslim world for being Israel's staunchest ally. But when a U.S. official actually says so, as Gen. David Petraeus did during a Senate hearing last month, it's a sure sign that tension between the allies is rising. And so it has, reaching a peak not seen in some time.

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April 7th

ATFP Senior Fellow Discusses Palestine and the Art of the Possible at Monmouth University
Press Release - Contact Information: Hussein Ibish - April 7, 2010 - 12:00am

A two-state negotiated agreement between Israel and the Palestinians is the only workable formula for peace, ATFP Senior Fellow Hussein Ibish told an audience of 50 at the ninth annual global understanding conference at Monmouth University. The address on the second day of the conference, April 6, 2010, touched on a number of themes centered around the idea of the art of the possible. Ibish explained in detail his view that alternatives to a two-state solution are all fanciful because one or more of the parties in question would simply not agree to them.


In addition to state building and diplomacy, the PA increasingly backs nonviolent protests against the occupation. David Ignatius says Pres. Obama is "seriously considering" issuing a US peace plan, and Rami Khoury says the US must clarify its position. Palestinians say US efforts to influence Israeli policy have met with a "dead end." A projectile fired by Gaza militants injures 5 Palestinians. The PA will license a third mobile provider. Israel seizes land for a checkpoint near a highway that will now be open to Palestinians. FM Lieberman warns Palestinians not to declare statehood. PM Fayyad says municipal elections will pave the way for presidential and legislative ones. Settlers push to evict more Palestinian families. Israel admits to illegally removing large amounts of money from the occupied territories. Due to a dispute with DM Barak, the IDF Chief of Staff will not be reappointed. A YNet commentary asks what Israel is doing to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state, and another says a deal on Jerusalem should be prioritized. David Newman says Israel should not link the restoration of the Hurva synagogue to broader ambitions in Jerusalem. Schmuley Boteach is appalled that Jewish Americans, especially in Congress, are siding with Pres. Obama. Palestinians say the recent shipment of clothes to Gaza has been ruined by storage.

The US must put bite into its position
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
by Rami Khouri - (Opinion) April 7, 2010 - 12:00am

The open disagreement and tough words exchanged in public by the United States and Israel a few weeks ago on Washington’s demand that Israel freeze all new settlements in occupied Arab East Jerusalem has now entered Phase Two. Now, both sides are working quietly behind the scenes to harness their political resources, gauge the other side’s intentions, and prepare to continue the battle.

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Small comfort for traders as Gaza blockade loosened
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Rory McCarthy - April 7, 2010 - 12:00am

Israeli authorities have allowed shoes and clothes into the Gaza Strip for the first time in three years of the tight economic blockade of the Palestinian territory. But Gazan businessmen say much of the shipment is ruined and their spiralling costs will never be recovered. Ten containers were allowed into Gaza on Sunday and a further 10 today of goods have sat in storage for three years, costing their owners thousands of pounds in fees and in some cases arriving so riddled with damp that the items are unsellable.

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