Media Mentions | The American Task Force on Palestine

New talks may be Mitchell's moment
Media Mention of Hussein Ibish In Politico - March 8, 2010 - 12:00am

For much of the past year as he has shuttled dozens of times to the Middle East and Europe quietly trying to persuade Israelis and Palestinians back to the peace table, U.S. Special Envoy George Mitchell has borne the brunt of criticism of both those offended by the Obama administration’s early pressure on Israel to halt new settlements on the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and others disappointed that Obama failed to follow through when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refused to stop the new construction as a precondition for negotiations.

Palestinians reverse on terror victim
Media Mention of Hussein Ibish In Politico - February 15, 2010 - 12:00am

In a highly unusual step likely to come as a significant relief to U.S. officials, the Palestinian Authority has quietly paid an undisclosed amount to settle a lawsuit by the widow of an American killed in Israel in 2002.

Bit of a Stir as Clinton Strays From Script on Mideast Peace
Media Mention of Ziad Asali In The New York Times - February 4, 2010 - 12:00am

With an inadvertent bit of shorthand, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton set off a buzz in diplomatic circles on Wednesday, and may have offered a glimpse into how the Obama administration hopes to revive the stalled peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. Answering a question at a news conference about how the talks might be revived, Mrs. Clinton said, “Of course, we believe that the 1967 borders, with swaps, should be the focus of the negotiations over borders.”

PA issues 2010 state-building budget
Media Mention of Hussein Ibish In Politico - January 27, 2010 - 12:00am

The Palestinian Authority has issued a 2010 budget document laying out a state-building plan. Palestine: Moving Forward: Priority Interventions for 2010, issued this week by the Palestinian Authority finance and planning ministries, is a Palestinian state and institution building program that complements the diplomatic process the Obama administration is trying to revive, the American Task Force for Palestine's Hussein Ibish told POLITICO.

Clinton urges Israel, Palestinians to plunge into talks
Media Mention of Ziad Asali In The Los Angeles Times - January 9, 2010 - 12:00am

By Paul Richter January 9, 2010 Reporting from Washington

Clinton urges Israel, Palestinians to plunge into talks
Media Mention of Ziad Asali In The Los Angeles Times - January 9, 2010 - 12:00am

Reporting from Washington-- Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Friday urged Palestinians and Israelis to plunge into negotiations over the most difficult issues dividing them as a way of breaking an impasse in peace talks. Clinton said negotiations on major issues, such as the borders of a future Palestinian state or the status of Jerusalem, would help defuse the dispute over the growth of Jewish settlements in the West Bank that has obstructed progress toward peace.

The Pragmatist
Media Mention of Hussein Ibish In Tablet Magazine - December 8, 2009 - 12:00am

The Palestinian prime minister, Salam Fayyad, was sharing his vision for the future. “The key requirement for a Palestinian state,” he began, speaking on a cellular telephone from his office in Ramallah. Then the line went dead, a dropped call. “You’ll have to excuse,” he said when he rang back. “We have a lot of competing cellular networks here, and sometimes our signals get crossed.”

East Jerusalem Settlement Plan Deepens Rift With Washington
Media Mention of Ghaith al-Omari In The Wall Street Journal - November 19, 2009 - 12:00am

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. sharply criticized Israel's decision to move ahead with a building expansion in East Jerusalem, underscoring the rift between the Obama administration and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over how to push forward the stalled Middle East peace process. The U.S. has unsuccessfully lobbied Mr. Netanyahu over the past nine months to agree to a total Israeli construction freeze in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, to underpin negotiations aimed at creating an independent Palestinian state.

Expanding 'settlements' in eastern Jerusalem? Part 1
Media Mention of Ghaith al-Omari In The Examiner - November 19, 2009 - 12:00am

The government of Israel is in process of approving 900 new houses in the Gilo neighborhood of Jerusalem, on land acquired in 1967. The U.S. calls this “expanding a settlement.“ The White House press secretary “was ‘dismayed” and asking both parties to avoid unilateral actions that could ‘pre-empt or appear to pre-empt negotiations.’” “Disagreements over settlement building are in large part the reason that the negotiations, which have been stalled for months, have not resumed.”

Obama's Middle East Strategy Stalls
Media Mention of Ghaith al-Omari In Voice of America - November 12, 2009 - 12:00am

From the beginning of his administration, U.S. President Barack Obama said resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict would be a top foreign policy priority. After nearly 10 months of diplomacy, however, the peace process appears to be stalled and no negotiations are on the horizon. Some Middle East analysts say the failure to make progress is due, at least in part, to missteps made by the Obama administration.

Recent In Print Articles


New talks may be Mitchell's moment	March 8, 2010
Palestinian Prime Minister to Israeli Leaders: We are Building a State While Under Occupation to End the Occupation	February 23, 2010
Palestinians reverse on terror victim	February 15, 2010
Bit of a Stir as Clinton Strays From Script on Mideast Peace	February 4, 2010
Build a Partnership for Peace, Right Here in America	February 3, 2010
A real plan to build Palestine	February 2, 2010
Palestine must be a secular state	January 27, 2010
PA issues 2010 state-building budget	January 27, 2010
Clinton urges Israel, Palestinians to plunge into talks	January 9, 2010
Clinton urges Israel, Palestinians to plunge into talks	January 9, 2010