ATFP has made clear and principled choices in delineating its policies and the methods through which we intend to pursue them. The broad outline of our approach is to work within the American political system to promote the creation of a state of Palestine with its capital in East Jerusalem, on the basis of UN resolutions 242 and 1397, which affirm the vision of two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side. This is our core objective, the one unchanging and consistent goal of ATFP.

ATFP seeks to establish itself as a credible American institution that promotes this policy to our government in all its branches; the media and, through it, to the American people, and the relevant civil institutions. An indispensable element of our role as we have defined it, is to work within and become a part of the American political system, which of course means accepting its foundations and its power structure. This is a fundamental choice of ATFP. This choice mandates the development of a cadre of advocates for a Palestinian state who will be effective participants in the national debate in both official government and unofficial civil society circles, in public, in the media and in private. It also mandates exploring all possible options for furthering this goal, including making multiple alliances to achieve it, with many groups and on many different levels. It means creating an umbrella of allies that agree, as a minimum common denominator, on this single issue while differing on many others.

Communicating with all branches of the government is a crucial aspect of our work. Government decisions can be impacted in many ways, and our approach is to advance all persuasive arguments that demonstrate that it is strongly in the American national interest to create a state of Palestine and maintain it as a viable and peaceful country. Our access to decision makers and opinion leaders depends on developing and sustaining credibility with regard to our commitment to the national interest, even as we present our own vision of what is best for our country. We, by choice and as a matter of policy, take our seats alongside serious counterparts who are in a position to contribute to decisions impacting the future of Palestine.

ATFP will join forces with Palestinian-American, Arab-American groups and others to promote our common goal.

This policy reflects the consensus of those affiliated with ATFP as board members or members of its staff. We do not present ourselves as representing all Palestinian Americans nor do we speak on behalf of the Palestinian Authority. We do believe, however, that the dignified and long-suffering people of Palestine have a right to their viable state and we owe them the obligation to speak the truth to them and about them to help them realize their goal.