January 21st, 2011

PLO Flag Raised in Washington, D.C.
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from CBN News
January 19, 2011 - 1:00am

The Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) raised its official flag for the first time outside its Dupont Circle offices in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday. The Obama administration granted permission to fly the flag last July, despite the mission's lack of embassy status. PLO official Maen Ariekat raised the flag at a ceremony marking the occasion. "It's about time this flag - that symbolizes the struggle of the Palestinian people for self-determination and statehood - be raised in the United States," Ariekat said.

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Obama at Half Time: Two Years in the Middle East
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Council on Foreign Relations
by Elliott Abrams - (Blog) January 19, 2011 - 1:00am

There will be many assessments of what President Obama has achieved in the Middle East during his two years as President, and few will be positive.

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French FM accosted on her way into Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
January 21, 2011 - 1:00am

A crowd of furious Palestinian protesters have tried to block the French foreign minister on her way into the Gaza Strip, jumping on her vehicle and lying on the road. Dozens of protesters surrounded Foreign Minister Michele Alliot-Marie's convoy and tried to block her passage through the Erez Crossing from Israel on Friday. The protesters were relatives of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons. They were angry about comments made by Alliot-Marie on Thursday in support of Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier held by Hamas militants in Gaza since 2006.

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Israel concerned about possible fallout from Lebanon government split
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Joshua Mitnick - January 20, 2011 - 1:00am

The Lebanese political crisis, triggered by Hezbollah's departure from government last week, has Israel worried that the situation could become violent and spill over the Israel-Lebanon border. Regional efforts to mediate between Prime Minister Saad Hariri's bloc and the Hezbollah-led opposition failed today, with Turkey and Qatar giving up a day after Saudi Arabia pulled out.

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FBI took long look at AIPAC activities
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Times
by Eli Lake - January 18, 2011 - 1:00am

FBI agents thought they were hunting a spy for Israel in 2004 when they sought to raid the offices of a top lobbyist for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), according to a search warrant affidavit obtained by The Washington Times. The 27-page document, which is still under court seal, provides an extraordinary look at what the agents considered to be espionage activity in a nearly five-year counterintelligence probe of one of the pro-Israel lobby's top officials.

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Leader confounds both sides with plans for Palestinian state
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Edmund Sanders - January 21, 2011 - 1:00am

No one seems to know what to make of him. Israelis puzzle over the cleanshaven technocrat who denounces violence. Palestinians see an outsider who never cut his teeth on the tear-gas-choked streets of intifadas. Now, Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad hopes to confound expectations even further, pursuing what some see as a quixotic goal of laying the groundwork for an independent country by August. No matter that peace talks are stalled. If Palestinians build the trappings of a state, he believes, a real state will follow.

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Palestinians, America and the U.N.
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Hanan Ashrawi - (Opinion) January 20, 2011 - 1:00am

Palestinians are well within their rights to bring the issue of Israeli settlements and their illegality before the United Nations Security Council. Our decision to do so follows both Israel’s refusal to cease all settlement activity in the occupied Palestinian territory, and America’s failure to ensure Israel’s compliance with international law and existing agreements. The United States should support such a move, not block it.

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January 20th

Tony Blair addresses the American Task Force for Palestine in Washington DC
Media Mention of ATFP In The Office of Tony Blair - January 20, 2011 - 1:00am

Quartet Representative Tony Blair called today for more international "support for Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and the state-building effort." He stressed that these efforts should continue and intensify in the context of seeking a negotiated two-state solution.

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The immorality of Assaults on Christians in Arab/Muslim Societies
Media Mention of Ziad Asali In Tikkun - January 20, 2011 - 1:00am

We at Tikkun/NSP who often critique the extremism and violence that characterizes Israeli attacks on Palestinians and Arabs have an equal responsibility to critique the extremists in the Arab world. Ziad Asali, former chair of the ADC (Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee), was an honoree at a Tikkun/NSP conference in D.C. in 2004. Asali and Ibish present a critique of extremist ideas in the Arab and Muslim world that should be taken seriously by Arabs and Muslims around the world.

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An Israeli soldier is released after murdering an unarmed Palestinian man in his bed In Hebron by mistake, while attempting to murder a Hamas operative neighbor. Israeli human rights groups claim they are being persecuted by new laws. Israel drops an investigation into the shooting of a Palestinian motorist. Palestinians, with the help of the Arab states, prepare to submit a Security Council resolution on settlements and hope the US will not veto it. Gaza extremists fire at Israeli civilians. The PLO hoists the Palestinian flag at the mission in Washington DC for the first time. Gaza children risk their lives searching for scrap in no man’s lands. Palestinians seek more Arab support on Jerusalem. Leaked cables suggest the US sought more intelligence on Israeli and Palestinian officials. Israel insists a Palestinian protester died from medical malpractice, not teargas inhalation. Israel establishes a homeland security ministry. Israeli teens protest against growing racism. At least half of the pledged aid to Palestine in 2010 was not delivered. The PA promises to stop court-martialing civilians. Israeli tanks attack northern Gaza. Naomi Shepherd says Israel needs a real opposition parties. Israel investigates Arab funding of left-wing Israeli NGOs. Abdul Rahman Al-Rashid says Arab leaders have forgotten the concept of stepping down from power. Jonathan Power says the settler movement is out of control.

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