Fatah Congress | The American Task Force on Palestine

Hope from Bethlehem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Yariv Oppenheimer - August 11, 2009 - 11:00pm

What great disappointment and what a blow to peace-lovers: The Fatah Congress that convened in Bethlehem did not recognize Israel as a Jewish state, did not adopt Hebrew as an official language, and did not end with the singing of Israel’s national anthem. The Palestinians have remained the same; a beaten and persecuted people seeking independence alongside Israel, but without recognizing or endorsing the Zionist idea and the principals of the Jewish State.

Fatah needs new political options
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
by Francis Matthew - (Opinion) August 4, 2009 - 11:00pm

This week's Fatah Congress was based on the hope that the Palestinians can find a successful political way forward, but there is the all-too-real dreadful possibility that the Palestinians will fail and the Israelis will continue their decades of occupation and domination. At the Congress, Fatah did not debate what political and social alternatives there might be for the Palestinians if the two-state solution turns out to be unworkable. And it is all too easy to see Israel refusing to withdraw from its colonies and safe corridors on the West Bank.