NEWS: Senior Obama administration official Dennis Ross resigns. Israeli occupation forces accidentally kill a settler near Hebron. The family of the late Pres. Arafat say they have discovered the cause of his death. UNESCO suspends projects after US funding is cut. Ireland urges Israel to release activists from the latest flotilla. Fatah officials say there will be no surprises in the next meeting with Hamas. Planned demolitions of “unauthorized” settlement outposts could endanger PM Netanyahu's coalition. Palestinian officials say they're worried about an outbreak of violence in the occupied territories. Raw sewage is a huge problem in Jerusalem streets. Bedouins oppose Israeli plans to relocate them. COMMENTARY: Tom Perry says Pres. Abbas needs at least a symbolic victory at the UN. Yoel Marcus says Israelis need to be protesting about their country's foreign policy as well as the economy. Analysts look at Palestinian options following UNESCO membership. Uri Savir says Israel must freeze settlements immediately in its security interests and to deal with Iran. Hassan Haidar says Israel is using the Iranian nuclear threat to “blackmail” its allies. Stuart Reigeluth says Israel's destruction of a Palestinian solar plant demonstrates the worst aspects of the occupation. Lina Attalah describes being involved in the latest Gaza flotilla. Edwin Brown says Israel should face consequences for its violations of international law. Harriet Sherwood says Palestinians might force a Security Council vote even though they know it will fail. Joshua Hersh says the US will not make any new diplomatic initiatives during the election season. Elliott Abrams says no one can blame Ross for resigning under the present circumstances, but Michael Hirsh says he's the symbol of a failed policy.

Middle East Envoy Dennis Ross: Symbol of a Failed Policy
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Atlantic
by Michael Hirsch - (Opinion) November 11, 2011 - 1:00am


Dennis Ross, during his tenure as a highly respected Mideast envoy back in the then-hopeful 1990s, was a visible if soft-spoken presence in Washington and around the world. He looked in control and held fairly regular news conferences, as public officials are wont to do when they have some progress to report. He talked regularly to reporters. This time around, serving first in Hillary Rodham Clinton's State Department and then as President Obama's adviser in the White House, Ross was the invisible man.


The Departure of Dennis Ross
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Council On Foreign Relations
by Elliott Abrams - (Analysis) November 11, 2011 - 1:00am


The announcement that Dennis Ross is leaving his post creates a serious problem for the Obama administration.


Israel-Palestinian Negotiations: Peace Process Faltered Over Domestic Politics
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Huffington Post
by Joshua Hersh - (Blog) November 10, 2011 - 1:00am


WASHINGTON -- Last August, Dennis Ross, President Obama's top Middle East peace negotiator, paid a visit to a pro-Israel think tank in Washington. Speaking privately before a small gathering of experts and analysts at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, he offered a dire prognosis for the state of peace talks between Palestinians and Israelis, according to multiple people in the room.


Palestinians may push for UN vote they expect to lose
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Harriet Sherwood - (Opinion) November 10, 2011 - 1:00am


The Palestinians are resigned to losing their battle for majority backing within the United Nations security council for their application for full UN membership but may still press for a vote next week in an attempt to discomfort countries who abstain or vote against. The security council is to meet in New York on Friday to consider a report on the Palestinian bid. However, the Palestinians have failed to muster the required two-thirds majority among its 15 members, thus sparing the US the need to use its veto to prevent the application being approved.


Getting it wrong in the Mideast
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asheville Citizen Times
by Edwin L. Brown - (Opinion) November 8, 2011 - 1:00am


United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon has it exactly backward when he criticizes the Palestinians for seeking membership in UNESCO and perhaps other U.N. agencies. Rather than blame the Palestinians for having the temerity to seek their rights and freedom, Ban ought to criticize the U.S. Congress for antiquated 20th-century legislation requiring our country to defund any U.N.


Captured in international waters en route to Gaza: An eyewitness account
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Masry Al-Youm
by Lina Attallah - (Opinion) November 5, 2011 - 12:00am


Lina Attalah, Al-Masry Al-Youm English's managing editor, recently took part in the "Freedom Waves" flotilla carrying aid to Gaza. She was captured at sea by Israeli security forces on Friday along with the rest of the passengers, 27 activists and journalists from around the world. She returned to Egypt safely on Saturday. The two boats, one Irish and one Canadian, were an attempt to draw the world's attention to the Israeli blockade imposed on Gaza since 2007. This is her account.


Destroying Palestinian solar plant
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
by Stuart Reigeluth - (Opinion) November 11, 2011 - 1:00am


With international attention focusing on the Palestinian UN bid, the prisoner swap and the absurd US response to Unesco accepting Palestine, a much smaller event but no less revealing has been largely overlooked: Israel wants to destroy a Spanish-sponsored solar power plant in the West Bank. The solar plant is not particularly big — as far as solar plants go. This is nothing compared to China's massive solar farms, but it does provide electricity for 40 Palestinian families, a school and a medical centre in a town called Emnaizel, south of Hebron in the West Bank.


Israeli Disruption
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat
by Hassan Haidar - (Opinion) November 10, 2011 - 1:00am


The report of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Iran’s activities could have had a greater impact, despite its highly dangerous nature, had not Israel anticipated its being issued with media and political uproar over its resolve to wage a military attack against Iran.


Failure to secure UNSC majority a temporary setback for the Palestinians
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
by Adam Gonn - (Analysis) November 11, 2011 - 1:00am


JERUSALEM, Nov. 10 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian National Authority ( PNA) Foreign Minister Riad al Malki has announced that after recognizing the difficult in gaining a majority in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for their statehood bid, an alternative route would now be pursued instead. PNA President Mahmoud Abbas in September formally submitted an application to the UN, asking the world body to upgrade their current status from an observer entity to full member.



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