One on One: 'I was the resident skeptic'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Ruthie Blum Leibowitz - (Interview) February 12, 2009 - 1:00am

The one thing Elliott Abrams and I do not discuss during our hour-long interview in Jerusalem this week is his imminent career move. More specifically, how someone who has spent the better part of the last three decades vilified by those who consider "neoconservatism" a four-letter word will fare as a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, a key part of the liberal establishment.

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ATFP to Testify in Congressional Hearing on Gaza, Warned in June Against Looming War
Press Release - Contact Information: Hussein Ibish - February 11, 2009 - 1:00am

Washington, DC, Feb. 11 – American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) President Dr. Ziad J. Asali will testify before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs' Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia at a hearing entitled "Gaza After the War: What Can Be Built on the Wreckage?" The hearing will be held Thursday, February 12, 2009 at 9:30 AM in Room 2172 of the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington DC. It hearing will be streamed live online and can be seen at: http://www.internationalrelations.house.gov/


Israel, Hamas eye Gaza truce despite uncertainty
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Adam Entous - February 11, 2009 - 1:00am

Egyptian-brokered talks over a longer-term truce between Israel and Hamas in post-war Gaza will continue despite uncertainty over who will form the next Israeli government, Israeli and Hamas officials said on Wednesday. Hamas leaders have suggested that the growing clout of right-wing Israeli parties could prevent outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert from closing a deal.

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After Israel elections, not much is clarified
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Richard Boudreaux - February 11, 2009 - 1:00am

Israel's voters threw the country into political uncertainty Tuesday, apparently giving Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni's centrist party the largest share of seats in parliament but shifting the majority to a collection of right-wing parties hostile to her goal of a peace accord with the Palestinians.

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UN ‘will hold Israel to account on Gaza’
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Financial Times
by Harvey Morris - February 11, 2009 - 1:00am

Ban Ki-moon, United Nations secretary-general, has signalled that the UN intends to hold Israel to account for attacks on its facilities in Gaza regardless of the outcome of Tuesday’s election. As Israelis voted on Tuesday, Mr Ban announced he had appointed a senior human rights troubleshooter to probe the destruction of UN facilities in Gaza during the 22 days of Israel’s so-called “Operation Cast Lead”.

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Israeli Uncertainty Buys Obama Time
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by Nathan Guttman - February 11, 2009 - 1:00am

Publicly, the administration of President Obama has pledged to “hit the ground running” in reviving Middle East diplomacy. But the indecisive results of Israel’s elections have provided the White House with breathing room it actually welcomes.

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The Somalization of Hamas
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Dr. Hamad Al-Majid - February 11, 2009 - 1:00am

Khalid Mishal as leader of the Palestinian Authority, Ahmed Qurei as Prime Minister, Saeb Erekat as Foreign Minister and Ismail Haniyeh as Minister of the Interior. This is what the Palestinian political scene would be like if we transferred the results of the previous Somali elections which obtained political confirmation, and US blessing, and instead apply them to the Palestinian scene with regards to the forthcoming presidential and parliamentary elections.

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Violence breaks quiet of cease-fire on eve of Israel's national election
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Boston Globe
by Ibrahim Barzak - February 10, 2009 - 1:00am

GAZA CITY - Israeli aircraft struck two targets in the Gaza Strip and a Gaza militant died in a clash with troops on the border yesterday, as an official of the moderate Palestinian government accused Hamas of trying to boost hawkish candidates in Israel's election. The violence on the eve of the vote occurred as Egyptian mediators continued their efforts to cement a long-term cease-fire between Hamas and Israel, after the three weeks of intense fighting that racked the coastal territory last month.

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Amnesty accuses Hamas of eliminating opponents
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP)
February 10, 2009 - 1:00am

'Islamist group forces in Gaza engaged in campaign of abductions, deliberate and unlawful killings, torture and death threats against those they accuse of collaborating with Israel,' human rights group says AFP Amnesty International on Tuesday accused Hamas of waging a campaign to kill or maim scores of Palestinian opponents in the Gaza Strip since the end of December. The human rights group said in a report that at least two dozen men have been shot dead by gunmen from the Palestinian militia that governs the Gaza Strip since December 27.

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A Promise of War
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Jackson Diehl - (Opinion) February 9, 2009 - 1:00am

The past four Israeli elections have been won by a candidate who promised to end Israel's conflict with the Palestinians. Tomorrow, for the first time in decades, Israelis may choose a prime minister who is promising to wage war.

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