Security | The American Task Force on Palestine

Israel’s double standards
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by Faisal Al Rfouh - (Opinion) November 18, 2009 - 1:00am

Israel orchestrated a drama, interdicting a cargo ship on November 3 for allegedly carrying Iranian arms for Hizbollah and then releasing it after nothing incriminating was found. Israel’s reported justification for its action under UN Resolution 1747 looks paradoxical in view of its utter and open defiance of all UN resolutions pertaining to the Palestinian issue, particularly resolutions 242, 338 and 194.

Would Palestinian Security Forces Survive if Abbas Quits?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Time
by Tim McGirk - November 17, 2009 - 1:00am

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' decision not to stand for re-election in January casts a pall over U.S. hopes to broker a two-state peace agreement with Israel. But it could also have dire consequences for the security situation in the West Bank. That's because Abbas' possible resignation threatens the future of the U.S.-funded Palestinian security forces that have begun to play a key role in preventing militants from launching attacks on Israel.

Donald Macintyre: Palestinians throw down challenge to Obama and UN
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent
by Donald MacIntyre - (Analysis) November 17, 2009 - 1:00am

As so often in the Middle East, we have been here before. The latest suggestion – that a frustrated Palestinian leadership would unilaterally declare a state and invite international recognition for it – is not new. It was made a decade ago by Yasser Arafat when Benjamin Netanyahu, then as now, was Prime Minister. It was made again after the collapse of the Camp David talks a year later, when then Prime Minister Ehud Barak, like some of Mr Netanyahu's more hawkish ministers now, threatened to annex the most populous settlements in the West Bank in retaliation.

U.S. Jews on mission to buy in settlements
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
November 17, 2009 - 1:00am

A group of American Jews arrived in Israel on a mission to promote home purchases in the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem. The 46 members of the three-day mission, which began Monday, were scheduled to meet with realtors.

A Mideast Truce
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Roger Cohen - (Opinion) November 16, 2009 - 1:00am

I’ve grown so pessimistic about Israel-Palestine that I find myself agreeing with Israel’s hard-line foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman: “Anyone who says that within the next few years an agreement can be reached ending the conflict simply doesn’t understand the situation and spreads delusions.” That’s the lesson of early Obama. The president tried to rekindle peace talks by confronting Israel on settlements, coaxing Palestinians to resume negotiations, and reaching out to the Muslim world. The effort has failed.

Palestinians say dozens of trees cut down by settlers
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Ali Waked - November 12, 2009 - 1:00am

Palestinian farmers from the West Bank village of Burin, located near the settlement of Yitzhar, discovered Thursday morning that dozens of their olive trees were cut down. Akram Amram of Burin told Ynet that at around 5:30 am he had discovered 97 uprooted olive trees on his land. "I am not embarrassed to admit that when I discovered the massacre which took place on my land, I cried," he said. "These trees are more than 60 years old and I raised them just like I raised my kids."

Fragmenting Palestinian land
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Ben White - (Opinion) November 12, 2009 - 1:00am

A young student deported from the West Bank to Gaza is just the latest victim of Israeli efforts to sever ties between the territories Ben White guardian.co.uk, Thursday 12 November 2009 11.00 GMT Twenty-one-year-old Palestinian student Berlanty Azzam was seized by Israeli soldiers at a checkpoint in the West Bank last month. Bound and blindfolded, she was forcibly deported to the Gaza Strip. Berlanty was in her final semester at Bethlehem University in the West Bank, and was returning from a job interview in Ramallah.

In Paris, Benjamin Netanyahu finds growing European doubt on Middle East peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Robert Marquand - November 11, 2009 - 1:00am

Paris - Europeans, and the French in particular, strong backers of Washington's efforts to broker a Mideast deal, are starting to register frustration with the White House's handling of Israel-Palestinian relations.

U.S. Eases Pressure on Israel, Leans On Palestinians
Media Mention of Ghaith al-Omari In The Jewish Daily Forward - November 5, 2009 - 1:00am

Washington — Relations between Washington and Jerusalem are warming, as months-long tensions over West Bank settlements and other issues have gradually eased.

Controversy over draft UN resolution on Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
November 4, 2009 - 1:00am

The UN General Assembly is likely to vote in support of a UN report alleging war crimes in Gaza on Wednesday, but experts say that, if not properly worded, the resolution could close off options for further action on the matter.

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