February 29th

NEWS: ATFP hosts a hosts a Washington dinner for the Council of Religious Institutions of the Holy Land. Israeli occupation forces raid two private TV stations in the West Bank and confiscate equipment, which the PA says violates the Oslo Accords. Israel criticizes an invitation from the PLO to Security Council members to visit the occupied territories, as Palestinians begin to lobby for a resolution condemning settlement activity. The PA says it has made no decision regarding the future of security cooperation with Israel. Palestinians say the Chief Justice of their high religious court died two days after a raid on his home by occupation forces and hold Israel responsible. Israel uses its new “skunk” weapon against protesters in Hebron. A new Israeli study holds that the country's security situation is the worst in decades. Billionaire Sheldon Adelson reportedly gives another “substantial” donation to an organization associated with Newt Gingrich. Pro-Israel voices in the United States join calls for removing the Iranian MEK organization from the official list of designated foreign terrorist groups. COMMENTARY: Zvi Bar'el says the Israeli government believes in numerous mirages. Yitzhak Laor says Israelis are too insulated from the costs of occupation. Arieh O’Sullivan tracks the growing Palestinian opposition to armed resistance. Jonathan Marcus speculates about how Israel might go about attacking Iran if it decided to do so. Daniel Zemel and Jack Moline say Israelis should return to the more tolerant Zionism of the late PM Rabin. Emad El Din Adeeb says the coming phase in Palestinian politics will favor Hamas and its politburo chief. Osama Al Sharif asks if it's too late to save Arab East Jerusalem. Lara Friedman recounts her second, more encouraging, day at a conference on East Jerusalem in Qatar. Tony Karon asks if Hamas' break with Iran is good for Israel. Shibley Telhami looks at Israeli public opinion regarding a possible attack against Iran.

ATFP Hosts Washington Dinner for Council of Religious Institutions of the Holy Land
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from American Task Force on Palestine
February 29, 2012 - 1:00am


Washington DC, Feb 29 -- The American Task Force on Palestine yesterday hosted a Washington dinner for the Council of Religious Institutions of the Holy Land (CRIHL), the consultative body that comprises the most senior official Israeli and Palestinian religious leaders. CRIHL was established as the implementing body of the historic declaration signed in Alexandria, Egypt in 2002 in which Israeli and Palestinian religious leaders pledged to work together to end violence and promote peace. The event was sponsored by ATFP board member Dr. Adnan M. M. Mjalli and moderated by ATFP President Dr.


ATFP Hosts Washington Dinner for Council of Religious Institutions of the Holy Land
Press Release - February 29, 2012 - 1:00am

Washington DC, Feb 29 -- The American Task Force on Palestine yesterday hosted a Washington dinner for the Council of Religious Institutions of the Holy Land (CRIHL), the consultative body that comprises the most senior official Israeli and Palestinian religious leaders. CRIHL was established as the implementing body of the historic declaration signed in Alexandria, Egypt in 2002 in which Israeli and Palestinian religious leaders pledged to work together to end violence and promote peace. The event was sponsored by ATFP board member Dr. Adnan M. M. Mjalli and moderated by ATFP President Dr.


Do Israelis support a strike on Iran?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Politico
by Shibley Telhami - (Opinion) February 28, 2012 - 1:00am


When President Barack Obama meets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington next week, Iran’s nuclear program is likely to top their agenda. With increasing signals that Israel may be contemplating a strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities, the United States and its European allies have made no secret of their opposition. In the face of this mounting public disapproval, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman declared that the issue is no one else’s business and that the allies’ opposition won’t influence Israel’s decision. But how do the Israeli people feel?


Hamas Signals Break with Iran, But Is That Good for Israel?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Time Magazine
by Tony Karon - (Opinion) February 29, 2012 - 1:00am


A popular Washington illusion once held that the right combination of incentives and punishments might “peel off” Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad from Iran’s “Axis of Resistance,” but nobody would have predicted that the weak link in Iran’s alliance of radicals would turn out to be the Palestinian Islamists of Hamas.


The Jerusalem Conference in Doha: Day 2
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Huffington Post
by Lara Friedman - (Opinion) February 28, 2012 - 1:00am


Yesterday I posted at the Forward with some of my concerns at the end of day one of the Arab League conference on Jerusalem in Doha. Below are my comments at the end of day two. ?Given my frustrations over day one's speeches and discussion, I steeled myself today to speak up. I did so in the closing round of comments in the committee I was attending (the Civil Society Group). When the moderator called on me I introduced myself as follows (not verbatim, but close):


Is it late to save East Jerusalem?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by Osama Al-Sharif - (Opinion) February 28, 2012 - 1:00am


In the frustrating pursuit of Palestinian-Israeli peace settlement, based on the concept of a two-state solution, one particular issue emerges as the most cumbersome and, in the view of most Israelis, non negotiable. It is the fate of Arab East Jerusalem, occupied along with the rest of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Golan Heights in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.


Pro-Israel Voices Joining Bid to Get Iranian Dissidents Group off U.S. Terror List
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
by Ron Kampeas - February 28, 2012 - 1:00am


WASHINGTON (JTA) -- Famed attorney Alan Dershowitz, former Canadian Justice Minister Irwin Cotler, Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel -- three prominent Jewish activists who have joined with other prominent people in a bid to remove a group with a blood-soaked history from the State Department’s list of foreign terrorist organizations. The names on the growing list of influential American advocates to de-list the Mujahedin-e Khalq, or MEK -- known in English as the National Council of Resistance of Iran -- suggest an effort to give the bid a pro-Israel imprimatur.


The imminent rise of Hamas
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Emad El Din Adeeb - (Opinion) February 29, 2012 - 1:00am


I recently met with Khaled Mishal, Chairman of the Hamas Political Bureau, at a special dinner in Cairo. The conversation was heated and extremely candid on both sides, and there was no agreement between us regarding the publication of its contents. However, I maintain the right to make some remarks that do not violate the rules of our meeting.


Adelson Reportedly Gives ‘Substantial’ New Donation to Gingrich PAC
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
February 28, 2012 - 1:00am


(JTA) -- Casino and hotel magnate Sheldon Adelson reportedly has given a “substantial” new donation to a group supporting Newt Gingrich for the Republican presidential nomination. Adelson gave the donation to Winning Our Future, an independent committee, or Super PAC, that is run by former Gingrich associates, Politico reported Tuesday, one week ahead of the Super Tuesday primary vote in 10 states. Adelson and his wife already have given $11 million to the PAC.



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