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Determined to Reach a Common Objective

“We knew at the outset that the task would be difficult. We acknowledged that publicly and privately. We knew this would be a road with many bumps— and there have been many bumps—and that continues to this day. But we are not deterred. We are, to the contrary, determined more than ever to proceed to realize the common objective, which we all share, of a Middle East that is at peace with security and prosperity for the people of Israel, for Palestinians, and for all the people in the region. We will continue our efforts in that regard, undeterred and undaunted by the difficulties, the complexities or the bumps in the road.”—George Mitchell, special envoy for Middle East peace, remarks with Prime Minister Netanyahu, September 29, 2010

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May 17, 2011, 12:00pm – 1:15pm

From Afghanistan and Iraq to Pakistan, Somalia, and South Sudan, the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, is engaged daily in trying to help some of the most troubled nations on the planet make a lasting transition to stability, open markets, and democracy. Few areas of the agency’s work are more challenging or more controversial.

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News

    • U.S. Nudges Palestinians to Answer Israeli Proposal
    • News | Oct 13, 2010

    • The United States nudged the Palestinian Authority to make a counter-offer to Israel’s proposal for a new freeze on building in Jewish settlements if the Palestinians recognized Israel as a Jewish state.

      Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday said if the Palestinian leadership recognized Israel “as the homeland of the Jewish people,” he was ready to ask his government to extend a freeze on West Bank settlement building.

    • Israeli Presence in Jordan Valley Could Be Flexible
    • News | Oct 13, 2010

    • Israel’s insistence on maintaining a presence on the eastern border of a future Palestinian state could be reviewed over time, a government spokesman said Wednesday.

      Israel’s demand for such a presence is one of the potential obstacles to a Mideast peace deal.The Palestinians say they will not accept any Israeli deployment in their future state, arguing that the deployment of international forces during a transition period—an idea they support—should be sufficient to address Israeli security concerns.

    • Hamas Security Raids Gaza Journalist Union
    • News | Oct 13, 2010

    • Hamas security forces raided and shut down the headquarters of the Palestinian Journalists Union in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, the head of the organisation said.

      “Hamas internal security forces raided the headquarters today, and one of the officers informed the members of the board who were there that it would be closed until further notice,” Abdelnasser al-Najar told AFP.

    • West Bank Protest Movement Leader Sentenced to a Year in Prison
    • News | Oct 13, 2010

    • An Israeli military court has sentenced the leader of a West Bank protest movement to a year in prison for incitement and organizing illegal demonstrations amid criticism from the European Union and human rights organizations that the conviction was politically motivated.

      Palestinian activist Abdallah Abu Rahmah, 39, was convicted in August for his involvement in organizing weekly protests against the route of what Israel calls its security barrier and what Palestinians call an apartheid separation wall. In a statement released at

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    • Report: PA Submits Request for New Airport
    • News | Oct 13, 2010

    • The Palestinian Authority has submitted a request to the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office for the construction of a new Palestinian airport in the central West Bank district of Jericho, Hebrew-language media reported Tuesday.

      The four square kilometer airport, 10km southeast of Jerusalem, includes plans for a single terminal, six gates for boarding, a large parking lot and international airport facilities and was submitted by the PA transport minister, Israeli daily Maariv reported.

    • Iran Says ‘Small Leak’ Delayed Nuclear Plant Launch
    • News | Oct 5, 2010

    • Iran’s atomic chief has said a small leak in a pool beside the Bushehr reactor has delayed the start-up of the nuclear plant, the official IRNA news agency reported on Monday.

      However, Ali Akbar Salehi ruled out any links between the delayed launch and a computer worm which analysts say may have been designed to target the Islamic Republic’s nuclear facilities.

    • In Sign of Discord, Iran Blocks Web Sites of Some Clerics
    • News | Oct 5, 2010

    • The web sites of two senior clerics have been blocked by government censors, a possible sign of a hardening political divide at the highest level of Iran’s religious establishment.

      The web sites of the clerics, Grand Ayatollah Yusuf Sanei and Grand Ayatollah Asadollah Bayat-Zanjani, who are both “sources of emulation,” the highest clerical rank in Shiite Islam, were first reported blocked by news sites linked with Iran’s political opposition movement on Sunday. The official site of a third top cleric, Grand

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    • Egypt-Iran Flights to Resume after 30 Year Break
    • News | Oct 5, 2010

    • Egypt and Iran have agreed to resume direct flights between their capitals for the first time since 1979, Egypt’s ministry of civil aviation said on Monday, but an official played down any chance of a political thaw.

      The two countries severed ties in 1980 following Iran’s Islamic revolution and Egypt’s recognition of Israel.

    • U.S. Issues First Penalties under Iran Sanctions
    • News | Oct 5, 2010

    • The Obama administration rolled out its first penalties Thursday under the new U.S. sanctions on Iran but carefully avoided any challenge to Russian and Chinese companies that would have risked diplomatic fallout.

      The 4-month-old sanctions are aimed at drying up foreign investment in Iran’s oil and gas sector in hopes of persuading Iran to agree to limits on its disputed nuclear program. Some members of Congress have pressed the Obama administration not to shy away from penalizing huge Chinese, Russian and

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    • Japanese Sanctions May Cut Iran Oil Exports by 25%, Nomura Says
    • News | Oct 5, 2010

    • Japanese sanctions against Iran, the second-largest oil producer in the Middle East after Saudi Arabia, may reduce crude exports from the Persian Gulf nation by 25 percent, according to Nomura International.

      “Recent Japanese sanctions against Iran could force oil exports to below 1.5 million barrels a day in the near term from 2 million barrels a day currently, negatively affecting global supply while helping push oil prices higher,” the unit of Japan’s largest brokerage said in

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