CIA launches TV campaign to recruit Arab-Americans
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
November 19, 2009 - 1:00am


There's a swirl of activity in a spacious, modern kitchen as final meal preparations are made. An older man tries to swipe a felafel off an appetizer plate but instead gets a loving hand slap from a woman. The happy, well-dressed guests move to a table full of food in a dining room adorned with Middle Eastern wall-hangings.


Dilemma of the peace process
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by Hassan Barari - (Opinion) November 17, 2009 - 1:00am


Now, in the absence of a peace process in the Middle East, one feels compelled to discuss two main obstacles to conciliation that have been debated time and again to no avail. First, Israel will not proceed towards peace if the Americans are not on board. This explains the explicit demand, mainly voiced by the Arabs, that a third party intervention be secured if we really aspire to a quick fix to the seemingly intractable conflict between Israel and its Arab neighbours.


Between a rock and a hard place
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
by Hussein Ibish - (Opinion) November 16, 2009 - 1:00am


It is almost impossible to adequately convey the present degree of Palestinian despair but the recent announcement that President Mahmoud Abbas might resign and that the rest of the Palestinian Authority (PA) leadership may follow – in effect dissolving the PA – should provide some indication.This seems to many to be the only real remaining weapon the Palestinian leadership has, albeit something of a doomsday scenario. Abbas and the others clearly feel all their other options have been systematically foreclosed.


Amid Growing Crisis, U.S. Asks Israel for Action To Boost Abbas
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by Nathan Guttman - November 12, 2009 - 1:00am


Facing a political crisis in the Palestinian Authority, the Obama administration has privately presented Israel with a list of measures it should take to bolster embattled leader Mahmoud Abbas. Abbas’s recent decision not to run again for the P.A. presidency was one of the main topics discussed in a November 9 meeting between President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.


Perfect Storm: Wide Gaps, Weak Leaders, Elusive Peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by Aaron David Miller - (Analysis) November 12, 2009 - 1:00am


Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s threat to withdraw from Palestinian Authority politics — an act that could have grave consequences should he make good on it — is only the tip of a large iceberg threatening to sink the very structure of Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking.


Obama must get tough
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
by George S. Hishmeh - (Opinion) November 12, 2009 - 1:00am


Like most of his predecessors, US President Barack Obama has failed to come up with a logical approach to resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, now in its 62nd year. Many optimists on both sides of the great divide had believed that he would this month take his first, tough step towards bringing the two sides to agree on the outlines of a settlement.


Abbas’ move signals end of Oslo phase
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by Daoud Kuttab - (Opinion) November 12, 2009 - 1:00am


In the midst of discussions regarding possible scenarios following Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ decision not to run for president, few have paid attention to the larger picture. Abbas’ refusal to run for a second term as president of the Palestinian Authority signals a clear end of the Oslo phase in which he, Yitzhak Rabin, Yasser Arafat and Shimon Peres were key players.


A Palestinian Response to David Suissa
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Journal
by Ameen Estaiteyeh - (Opinion) November 12, 2009 - 1:00am


David Suissa thinks that what is needed now “more than anything today is not a J Street but an A Street,” “an Arab organization that would…rally peace-seeking Arab moderates to the cause of peaceful coexistence with a Jewish state” (November 5, 2009, We Need ‘A Street,’ Not J Street). Perhaps he should take a look at the work of the American Task Force on Palestine. (ATFP). It is precisely the “pro-Arab, pro-peace” group he imagines does not exist, and performs exactly the work he should learn is, in fact, being done.


Washington Insider: "Politics always interferes with policy"
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line
by Michael Friedson - (Interview) November 12, 2009 - 1:00am


Dr Ziad J Asali, founder and president of the American Task Force on Palestine, in conversation with Michael Friedson, executive editor of The Media Line News Agency. Dr. Ziad J. Asali is the president and founder of the American Task Force on Palestine, an organization that in a few short years has made a strong presence in Washington and Capitol Hill speaking on behalf of the Palestinian people. Dr. Asali was interviewed at The American Colony Hotel in Jerusalem by The Media Line’s Executive Editor Michael Friedson.


Washington Insider: "Politics always interferes with policy"
Media Mention of Ziad Asali In The Media Line - November 12, 2009 - 1:00am

Dr Ziad J Asali, founder and president of the American Task Force on Palestine, in conversation with Michael Friedson, executive editor of The Media Line News Agency. Dr. Ziad J. Asali is the president and founder of the American Task Force on Palestine, an organization that in a few short years has made a strong presence in Washington and Capitol Hill speaking on behalf of the Palestinian people. Dr. Asali was interviewed at The American Colony Hotel in Jerusalem by The Media Line’s Executive Editor Michael Friedson.



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