Peaceful protesters of Bil'in say struggle is far from over
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Hugh Naylor - June 27, 2011 - 12:00am


BIL'IN, WEST BANK // A dedicated supporter of his village's weekly demonstrations against Israel's separation barrier, Ahmed Abu Rahme, 38, turned up to Friday's protest in a solemn mood. Two days earlier, Israel's military began re-routing a 3-kilometre segment of the massive barrier that severed his community of 1,800 people from an estimated two thirds of its farmland.


Getting on board with peace in Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Hagit Borer - (Opinion) June 26, 2011 - 12:00am


Later this month an American ship, the Audacity of Hope, will leave Greece on a journey to the Gaza Strip to attempt to break Israel's blockade. It will join an expected nine other ships flying numerous flags and carrying hundreds of passengers from around the world. I will be one of those passengers.


'Hamas will not work with German mediator again'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
June 27, 2011 - 12:00am


The deputy chairman of Hamas' political bureau, Moussa Abu Marzouk, told London-based al-Hayat on Monday that his organization would not work with German mediator Gerhard Konrad again after he failed to secure a prisoner exchange agreement between Hamas and Israel in negotiations for the release of captured IDF soldier Gilad Schalit. The last time talks broke down with the German mediator, Abu Marzouk said that while Konrad's role in the negotiations had ended, Hamas would "not oppose his return if the Israeli government wants it."


Suspect dies in custody in Palestinian jail
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
June 27, 2011 - 12:00am


GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — A Palestinian human rights group is demanding an inquiry into the death of a Gaza man in Hamas police custody. The Gaza-based Palestinian Center for Human Rights says it fears Ibrahim Aaraj might have been tortured while in custody at the Nusseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip. Center staff said Monday that they saw a fracture on the top of his head and bruises on his forehead, face, back and limbs.


Palestinians seek support for UN recognition
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Mohammed Daraghmeh - June 27, 2011 - 12:00am


RAMALLAH, West Bank — Palestinian delegations will make the rounds of nearly a dozen countries to try to drum up more support for their bid to have the United Nations recognize a Palestinian state, senior officials said Monday. Palestinian officials will visit Canada, Australia, New Zealand and several other countries that have not yet endorsed the Palestinian plan for recognition, said Hana Amireh, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization's decision-making Executive Committee.


Buying Into Palestinian Statehood
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Yossi Alpher, Colette Avital, Shlomo Gazit, Mark Heller - (Opinion) June 24, 2011 - 12:00am


TEL AVIV — Instead of wasting time and energy trying to revive a moribund Israeli-Palestinian peace process, the United States and European Union should take another look at the Palestinian initiative to seek U.N. recognition in September. What is described in some quarters as a recipe for new strife and confrontation can actually be leveraged into a win-win situation for Israelis, Palestinians and the world.


Israel moves West Bank barrier after 4-year delay
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Maayan Lubell - June 26, 2011 - 12:00am


BILIN, West Bank, June 26 (Reuters) - Israel began repositioning part of its contested barrier in the occupied West Bank on Sunday, four years after a court ruled it should be re-routed to give Palestinians greater access to farmland. Israeli tractors tore down a section of the barrier, a metal fence, as a clutch of journalists watched. A new concrete barrier has been erected some 600 meters from the old route near the Jewish settlement of Modiin Illit. The Israeli military tore down a watchtower overlooking Bilin on Wednesday and protesters rammed a bulldozer into the fence on Friday.


Palestinians going ahead with statehood bid
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
June 27, 2011 - 12:00am


RAMALLAH (AFP) -- President Mahmoud Abbas said Sunday that with no renewal of peace talks on the horizon, the Palestinians would pursue their unilateral bid for recognition in September. "I say that if negotiations have failed we will go to the United Nations for membership," Abbas told a meeting of the Palestine Liberation Organization and his Fatah party. "Until now there have been no new incentives to return to negotiations," he said.


Israel urged to speak directly to Arab world
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Edmund Sanders - June 26, 2011 - 12:00am


Few countries are as active in courting international opinion as Israel. An entire ministry is devoted to a kind of global PR called hasbara, the Hebrew word for "explaining." Israelis studiously track public opinion in the United States and Europe, and Israel's military has taken to using YouTube, Twitter and an army of bloggers to disseminate real-time updates around the world, sometimes in the middle of battle. But the public diplomacy campaign, which has largely focused on the West, has ignored the Arab world, which many in Israel have viewed as a lost cause.


Ahead of U.N. Vote, Effort to Restart Mideast Talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Ethan Bronner - June 24, 2011 - 12:00am


JERUSALEM — Intensive efforts are under way to stave off a Palestinian bid for United Nations membership in September, with diplomats trying to lure Israeli and Palestinian leaders back to negotiations on the basis of President Obama’s formula of a state based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed land swaps.



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