US to push Israel on Palestinian state
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Nation
by Vita Bekker - May 20, 2009 - 12:00am

Israel’s relations with the United States, its chief ally and patron, appeared this week to have entered a new era. Israeli commentators yesterday said that Monday’s White House summit between Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, and Barack Obama, the US president, further signalled that the US’s Middle East approach is significantly shifting from its years-long alignment with Israeli interests.

»

Palestinians say were promised Jerusalem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Ali Waked - May 20, 2009 - 12:00am

US President Barack Obama's new peace plan for the Middle East continues to unravel, ahead of it official presentation in Cairo, on June 4. Official Palestinian Authority sources told Ynet Wednesday that following Jordan's King Abdullah's visit to Washington, as well as other visits to the US capital, they were given the impression that any new American peace plan would call for establishing a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.

»

Clinton: Palestinians deserve 'viable state'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Yitzhak Benhorin - May 20, 2009 - 12:00am

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made clear on Tuesday that President Barack Obama's administration expects not only Israel and the Palestinians to uphold their commitments, but also Arab nations and other countries. In her meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Clinton stressed Washington's backing of the two-state solution. She also emphasized the White House's demand that Israel halt all construction in West Bank settlements, viewed by the US as impeding peace efforts.

»

'Obama calls for demilitarized PA state'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
May 20, 2009 - 12:00am

Amid much speculation over US President Barack Obama's upcoming address to the Muslim world, reports published on Wednesday outlined the details of his Middle East peace plan, which are said to include a demilitarized Palestinian state. The US president's initiative, which was formulated in consultation with Jordan's King Abdullah II during the two leaders' recent meetings at the White House, reportedly does not significantly stray from the pan-Arab peace initiative proposed in 2002. Rather, it bolsters certain details within the Saudi-proposed plan.

»

Obama and the Israeli Rejection
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat
by Randa Takieddine - (Opinion) May 20, 2009 - 12:00am

The talks between US President Barack Obama and his guest, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, clearly show the deep difference in their stances on the Palestinians and Iran; this difference will continue to dominate the relationship between the White House and the current Israeli government.

»

Clock ticking on peace process
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
by Francis Matthew - (Opinion) May 20, 2009 - 12:00am

The leaders of the Arab world have become very clear in the past few months that there is a deadline for the Arab peace initiative, and they are not willing to let Israel continue stalling them for decades without any consequence as it refuses to withdraw from the West Bank, continues to expropriate land, and expands its colonies.

»

Mr Abbas and a dangerous gambit
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
(Editorial) May 20, 2009 - 12:00am

The reappointment of Salam Fayyad, a respected independent, as the Palestinian prime minister should have been a welcome development. The PLO desperately needs a leader aloof from the cronyism and factional strife that define Palestinian politics. Unfortunately that is not the case. If anything, Mr Fayyad risks becoming a victim of naked partisanship.

»

Palestinians Try to Prune Branches of Core Party
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Ethan Bronner - (Analysis) May 20, 2009 - 12:00am

There is the Central Committee and the Revolutionary Council, the Old Guard and the Young Guard. There are the insiders, the outsiders, the cell leaders, branch chiefs and district heads. And there is the Office of Mobilization and Discipline, also known as the Office of Indoctrination. Fatah, the core of the Palestinian national movement for five decades, has the organizational transparency of a Soviet republic and was long run like one by its founder, Yasir Arafat. Talk of reform arose after his death five years ago and again when Hamas defeated it in legislative elections in 2006.

»

Netanyahu unlikely to back Palestinian state in Obama meet
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Natasha Mozgovaya, Mazal Mualem, Barak Ravid - May 18, 2009 - 12:00am

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is unlikely to state support for the establishment of a Palestinian state when he meets with U.S. President Barack Obama at the White House on Monday, an aide to the prime minister said. However, in a bid to soften edgy relations with Washington, Netanyahu will propose that joint teams draft a new road map for the Palestinian peace process and a new strategy on Iran.

»

Likud ministers ready to resist PA state
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Gil Hoffman - May 18, 2009 - 12:00am

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu would not be able to advance the formation of a Palestinian state, due to the wide majority against it in the Likud faction, MKs who oppose a two-state solution said Sunday. They said that unlike the fight against the disengagement from the Gaza Strip, when only 15 MKs out of 40 dared challenge then-prime minister Ariel Sharon, this time around, two-thirds of the Likud faction would defy a potential effort by Netanyahu to withdraw from parts of Judea and Samaria.

»


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