Principles at the foundation of a Palestinian state
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
(Opinion) March 1, 2011 - 1:00am


The West Bank has had an important anchor as a wave of protests and leaks has washed over the region: the Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad's principled and pragmatic approach to state-building. Memos leaked from the Palestinian Authority's negotiations with the Israelis forced top-ranking officials in the West Bank to resign. Other leaders were caught flat-footed as protests reached cities in the West Bank. So much has changed in recent months - not, however, Mr Fayyad's plans for Palestinian statehood, nor their merits.


Salaam Fayyad offers 'pragmatic' olive branch to Hamas
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Hugh Naylor - March 1, 2011 - 1:00am


If nothing else, Salaam Fayyad is reasonable, a trait that befits a man who is a trained economist and has spent more of his life in academia than politics. Which is why after more than four years of bitter infighting between Hamas and Fatah, the largest faction of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, the prime minister of the Palestinian Authority last month invited the Gaza Strip's Islamist rulers to join a national unity government.


Abbas: International consensus against settlement building
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
March 1, 2011 - 1:00am


Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday said there is an international consensus against construction of settlement, when 14 countries in the Security Council voted against it. Abbas told reporters as he met with Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt in Ramallah that the 14 countries representing the international community in the Security Council condemned settlements and called for halting it.


Guest post: Salam Fayyad's Facebook outreach
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy
by Erica Silverman - February 28, 2011 - 1:00am


With Internet-organized protest movements sweeping the Arab world, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad is trying his hand at social networking by posting a request on his Facebook page aimed at young Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, asking for suggestions as to who should fill the seats of the new cabinet that he must form in less than six weeks. "We appreciate the role of the youth and their participation in making this decision, they play a major role in our march toward freedom," said Fayyad.


News Analysis: Israel worried with New Arab system
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
by Khaled Khalefe - March 1, 2011 - 1:00am


Israeli leadership is watching the latest developments in the Arab world with great concern and anxiety, and it's not clear whether the emerging Arab regimes and a new Arab world will enhance the Israeli security or not, according to analysts. Israeli officials are worried about the loss of those leaders who created the environment for the historic reconciliation with the Israeli state, such as former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, said analysts.


Report: Israel to legalize tens of outposts
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
March 1, 2011 - 1:00am


Israel is moving to "immediately dismantle all illegal settlement outposts built on privately-owned Palestinian land," Israeli media reported Tuesday citing army officials. The Israeli daily Haaretz reported that the decision would legalize other outposts, which were determined to be on "state lands." The announcement came hours after Israeli troops took down two sheds in an outpost near Havat Gilad, an illegal settlement in the northern West Bank near Nablus.


PA: Israel assassination probe 'making excuses for murder'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
February 28, 2011 - 1:00am


The Palestinian Authority on Monday slammed an Israeli investigation which found the killing of 13 civilians in Gaza during an assassination was not a disciplinary offense. In July 2002, Israeli forces dropped a one-ton bomb on the Gaza City home of Hamas leader Salah Shehadeh, killing 13 civilians including his wife, daughter and eight other children. Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert appointed a committee of military generals to probe the killings after a rights group petitioned the Israeli Supreme Court demanding an investigation.


Israel shuts down Jerusalem event
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
March 1, 2011 - 1:00am


Israeli police and intelligence agents forcibly shut down two events in East Jerusalem on Tuesday morning, citing "security reasons" for the clampdown. Armed police and border guards prevented guests from entering a conference on "Defending Palestinian Rights in Jerusalem" at the Capitol Hotel on Salah Addin Street in Jerusalem, organizers said. Police handed organizers a warrant signed by minister of internal security Yitzhaq Ahronovitch addressed to the hotel administration. The warrant warned that the meeting was banned for "security reasons."


Future Cloudy As Palestinians Dissolve Peace Team
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from National Public Radio (NPR)
by Sheera Frenkel - March 1, 2011 - 1:00am


As popular uprisings continue to spread across the Middle East, Palestinian leaders have made a number of moves aimed at appeasing would-be protesters in the West Bank. Among those is the dismantling of their entire peacemaking apparatus, which has become deeply unpopular after years of failed peace talks. Palestinian officials say it is now unclear who would negotiate for them if the peace process resumes.


In Mideast, peace map is in sight
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Boston Globe
by H.d.s. Greenway - March 1, 2011 - 1:00am


CONVENTIONAL WISDOM has it that with the Arab world in turmoil, this is a time for Israel to batten down the hatches, and put any talk of peace with the Palestinians on ice for awhile. But there are Israeli voices, both in and out of government, who say this is exactly the time, with the old Arab order changing, to lance the Palestinian boil and go for a two-state solution.



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