ATFP Hosts Ir Amim Director Daniel Seidemann
Press Release - Contact Information: Ghaith al-Omari - June 19, 2009 - 12:00am

On June 18, 2009, the American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) hosted Ir Amim director, attorney, and esteemed Jerusalem expert Daniel Seidemann for a lunch discussion with ATFP board members and supporters. Mr. Seidemann’s visit was sponsored by Americans for Peace Now.


Top 5 Bogus Excuses for Opposing a Settlement Freeze
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Americans For Peace Now
June 19, 2009 - 12:00am

A settlement freeze is good for Israel and good for peace. Settlements are bad for Israel. They constitute a burden to Israel's security services. They create points of friction between Israelis and Palestinians. They drain Israel's financial resources. They create a false impression that Israelis are not interested in a two-state solution.

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Facts on Israeli Settlements
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Daniel Kurtzer - June 18, 2009 - 12:00am

Faulty analysis of the Israeli settlement issue is being passed off as fact. Charles Krauthammer’s column “The Settlements Myth,” which ran June 5 in The Washington Post, is one example. Here are the facts: In 2003, the Israeli government accepted, with some reservations, the “road map” for peace, which imposed two requirements on Israel regarding settlements: “GOI (Government of Israel) immediately dismantles settlement outposts erected since March 2001. Consistent with the Mitchell Report, GOI freezes all settlement activity (including natural growth of settlements).”

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US, Israel still butting heads on settlements
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Matthew Lee - June 18, 2009 - 12:00am

The Obama administration and Israel gave no ground Wednesday in their opposing views over Jewish settlements in Palestinian territory despite speculation the two sides might be nearing compromise. After talks in Washington, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman held to long-standing positions ahead of a meeting next week between U.S. special Mideast peace envoy George Mitchell and Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The settlement question is expected to dominate those talks.

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Right-wing group plans 30 new outposts
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Tovah Lazaroff - June 17, 2009 - 12:00am

The Land of Israel Faithful group says it has a plan to construct 30 new outposts in the West Bank over the summer, in response to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's speech a day earlier in which he said that no new settlements would be built and no additional land would be expropriated for settlement development. Former Kedumim mayor Daniella Weiss, one of the leaders of the Land of Israel Faithful, told The Jerusalem Post late Monday that her group was recruiting activists for this summer's outpost building.

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Remarks With Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from United States State Department
June 17, 2009 - 12:00am

SECRETARY CLINTON: Good afternoon. It is my pleasure to welcome Foreign Minister Lieberman to the State Department today for his first official visit to Washington in his new role. Minister Lieberman’s visit gave me the opportunity to reaffirm the United States deep, unshakable friendship and bond with Israel. Our commitment to Israel’s security is and will remain a cornerstone of our foreign policy, and I was pleased to have this chance to express that personally to the foreign minister. The United States has no greater ally in the Middle East and no greater friend than Israel.

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Barack the Zionist
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from
by Gershom Gorenberg - (Opinion) June 17, 2009 - 12:00am

It took Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu 10 days, but he has finally responded to President Barack Obama's speech in Cairo. On June 4, Obama challenged both Israelis and Palestinians to work toward a two-state solution. On Sunday, Netanyahu responded with an assent wrapped in so many preconditions as to render it virtually meaningless. Obama also demanded that Israel freeze the growth of its settlements in the West Bank. To this Netanyahu responded with defiant rejection.

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Old Legal Opinion Raises New Questions
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Glenn Kessler - June 17, 2009 - 12:00am

Thirty years ago, the State Department legal adviser issued an opinion in response to an inquiry from Congress: The establishment of Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territories "is inconsistent with international law." The opinion cited Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which states that an occupying power "shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies." Israel has insisted that the Geneva Convention does not apply to settlers and broadly contests assertions of the settlements' illegality.

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Despite Netanyahu's speech, building in W. Bank settlements continues apace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amos Harel - June 17, 2009 - 12:00am

On the very day Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu conditionally recognized a demilitarized Palestinian state, construction continued apace in the West Bank, about 30 kilometers east of Bar-Ilan University, the venue of Netanyahu's speech. At the Nofei Nehemia outpost, construction workers completed four prefabricated homes on Sunday. Nofei Nehemia, about two kilometers east of Ariel, is one of 26 outposts the government of former prime minister Ariel Sharon promised the U.S. to evacuate.

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Israeli envoy hopeful for solution on settlements
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Aron Heller - June 16, 2009 - 12:00am

Israel's incoming ambassador to the United States said Tuesday he was confident that his government will soon reach an agreement with Washington to allow some construction in West Bank settlements. President Barack Obama, seeking to restart Mideast peace talks, has called on Israel to halt all construction on captured lands claimed by the Palestinians. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says existing settlements must be permitted to expand to accommodate natural growth in the populations.

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