Palestinian Statehood | The American Task Force on Palestine

The Implications of the Fayyad-Plan
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from ISN Security Watch
by Andrin Hauri - August 4, 2010 - 12:00am

With the security situation in the West Bank improving, Benjamin Netanyahu promoted the idea of an “economic peace” with the Palestinians during the last Israeli parliamentary election in 2008 and again in his foreign policy speech to the nation in June 2009, arguing that economics, not politics, is the key to peace. Underlying this talk is the logic that “economic peace will support and bolster the achievement of political settlements down the line.”

The West Bank illusion
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Menachem Klein - August 4, 2010 - 12:00am

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad are darlings of Israel and the international community. For a long time now, they have been seen as brand names, not as officeholders dependent on circumstances of time and place. Abbas represents building the state in stages from the top down by negotiations. Fayyad represents building the state in stages from the bottom up. To Israel and the international community, they seem eternal.

Price for a potential Israeli strike on Iran? A Palestinian state.
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Robert Dujarric, Andy Zelleke - August 3, 2010 - 12:00am

Against the backdrop of new sanctions on Iran and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's upbeat Oval Office visit in July, neither Washington nor Jerusalem can be eager to add another war to the long list of hot and warm conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Korea, and Gaza. But with the American intelligence community judging Iran to be on track to have nuclear weapons within two years, a clash with Tehran may soon be deemed unavoidable – in Jerusalem, if not in Washington.

Palestinian Prime Minister: Unilateral Declaration of Statehood a Pipedream
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line
by Felice Friedson, Benjamin Joffe-Walt - August 2, 2010 - 12:00am

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Faya’d has ruled out any unilateral declaration of Palestinian statehood. “There is not going to be a unilateral declaration of statehood,” Faya’d told The Media Line during a private meeting in his office. “What’s the point? We did that in 1988, and what did it get us?” The statement was a public rejection of increasing calls from minority Palestinian factions to recalibrate the Palestinian struggle away from a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and towards a shared, bi-national, secular and democratic state.

West Bank leader eyes ‘home stretch to freedom’
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Financial Times
by Tobias Buck - July 30, 2010 - 12:00am

Over the road from the offices of the Palestinian prime minister, a new commercial tower is taking shape – one of countless projects that have sprung up across Ramallah. The building site provides a noisy reminder of the economic boom under way in parts of the occupied West Bank, which registered growth of 8.5 per cent last year. Moreover, the upswing is taking place against a backdrop of relative stability and security. Yet the man most commonly associated with the West Bank’s transformation is far from content.

If Kosovo, why not Palestine?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
by John V. Whitbeck - (Opinion) July 27, 2010 - 12:00am

By a 10-4 majority, the court ruled that, because “general international law contains no applicable prohibition of declarations of independence”, Kosovo’s declaration of independence in February 2008, coordinated with and supported by the American and most EU governments and subsequently recognized by 69 countries, “did not violate general international law.” The clear implication is that no declarations of independence violate international law and that all are, therefore, “legal”.

Israel needs a Palestinian state
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Alon Ben-meir - (Opinion) July 27, 2010 - 12:00am

Israel’s national security and self-preservation as a democracy, if not its very existence, depend on its ability and willingness to come to terms with the reality of coexistence with the Palestinians on the basis of a two-state solution. Unfortunately, instead of seeking to promote the creation of a Palestinian state, the current government has sought to impede it.

The Fayyad difference
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Alon Ben-meir - July 19, 2010 - 12:00am

When the Palestinian Authority’s Prime Minister Salam Fayyad first introduced his plans to build the infrastructure for a future Palestinian state, many Israelis and Palestinians thought of it as nothing more than another Middle Eastern mirage that will leave no lasting impression. A little more than a year later, the plan is showing not only tremendous promise, but has become indispensable to the emergence of a democratic Palestinian state – one living alongside Israel in peace and security.

Erekat: No unilateral declaration of Palestinian state
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
July 13, 2010 - 12:00am

A unilateral declaration of a Palestinian state is "not on the agenda," chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat told Turkish state television channel TRT on Tuesday. "We declared our independence in 1988," Erekat said. "Now it's up to the international community to declare recognition of our independence." "Our option is a two-state solution. We have recognized the state of Israel and its right to exist on the 1967 borders. Now it's up to the international community to stand firm and recognize Palestine on the 1967 lines with Jerusalem as its capital."

Video: Inside ATFP Gala 2013

Photo Gallery: ATFP Gala 2013

Recent News