International Condemnation | The American Task Force on Palestine

Israeli, Syria, and the Double Standard of the Free World
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Carlo Strenger - (Opinion) February 8, 2012 - 12:00am

I have for years opposed Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, and I continue to be appalled by Israel’s continuing expansion of settlements. But I'm running into a linguistic problem: if I use ‘appalled’ for Israel’s treatment of Palestinians, what term is left for Assad’s butchering of his own people for almost a year?

Syria crisis reveals hypocrisy of Israel's Arab MKs
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Eliezer Yaari - (Opinion) February 6, 2012 - 12:00am

More than 300 people were murdered in Syria by their own government over the weekend, killed by tank, cannon and mortar fire. Their homes were destroyed and hundreds still remain buried under the ruins. There's a long trail of blood behind these numbers, flickering pictures of small children being thrown from windows and video taken with a cellphone of a man walking, a shot being heard and the man falling to the ground.

Ban Says ‘Time Running’ for Israel, Palestinian Talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
February 3, 2012 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM (Reuters) -- UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon said Thursday Israel and the Palestinians were running out of time to solve their conflict and ought to give "highest priority" to resuming stalled peace talks. Ban, wrapping up a two-day visit to the region, said he had pushed for faster progress in separate meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Mahmoud Abbas.

UN Chief Urges Israel to Halt Settlement Construction in Bid to Salvage Mideast Peace Efforts
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
February 1, 2012 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM — U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon pressed Israel on Wednesday to do more to get flagging Mideast peace efforts back on track, calling for a halt in West Bank settlement construction and urging the Israelis to submit concrete proposals on the key issues of borders and security ties with a future Palestine.

Deep in the Sinai, a looming Crisis Threatens Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Bradley Hope - February 1, 2012 - 12:00am

CAIRO // The owner of a Sinai Peninsula holiday resort taken over by a group of armed Bedouin is refusing to pay the four million Egyptian pound (Dh2.4m) ransom the tribesmen are demanding. Hesham Nessim, proprietor of the Aqua-Sun Resort 30km south of Egypt's border with Israel, says he will wait them out or retake his property with police help. His brother Fouad says the Bedouin should expect a long stand-off. "It would be easier to go to the moon than to get that money from my brother," he told The National.

UK deputy prime minister accuses Israel of 'vandalism'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by David Sapsted - January 17, 2012 - 12:00am

LONDON // Israel's insistence on continued settlement building in Jerusalem and the West Bank amounted to "an act of deliberate vandalism", Britain's deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, said yesterday. In a stinging attack on Israel, Mr Clegg said that its policies were doing "immense damage" to hopes of reaching a Middle East peace settlement. Mr Clegg made his remarks after meeting with the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, who embarked on a new diplomatic offensive in Europe yesterday aimed at putting pressure on Israel to halt settlement building.

EU Report: Israel Policy in West Bank Endangers Two-State Solution
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amira Hass - January 12, 2012 - 12:00am

The European Union will direct its activities towards supporting the West Bank’s Palestinian population, a report by the European Heads of Mission in Jerusalem and Ramallah said on Thursday, over what the survey said was Israeli efforts to muscle out Palestinians from Area C.

U.S.: Muslim Brotherhood gave assurances on Egypt-Israel peace treaty
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Natasha Mozgovaya - January 6, 2012 - 12:00am

The Muslim Brotherhood gave the United States assurances regarding the maintaining of Egypt's peace deal with Israel, a top U.S. official said on Thursday, despite recent comments by party leaders claiming that the 1979 treaty did not bind Cairo's new regime. Earlier this week, the Muslim Brotherhood, the overwhelming victor in the first round of elections for the Egyptian Parliament, announced that would not recognize Israel and intends to bring the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty to a referendum.

Arabs Should Take Cue From Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
(Opinion) December 12, 2011 - 12:00am

As the countries and peoples of the Middle East seek to forge their political futures, they, or at least some of them, are searching for models of democracy that they can follow.

Israel mortified over Lieberman's latest gaffe
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
December 9, 2011 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM (AFP) -- Israeli officials were squirming in embarrassment on Friday over remarks by Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman after he described Russia's contested parliamentary elections as "free and democratic." Lieberman's comments, which were reported by Russian news agency Itar-Tass, come as Moscow struggles with a wave of protests over allegations of vote rigging in Sunday's elections. Top world diplomats have also expressed grave concerns over the outcome of the vote, which observers say was marred by widespread irregularities.