Date
Type

October 19th

How Israel Thinks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
(Editorial) October 19, 2007 - 4:32pm

Israel’s foreign intelligence service, the Mossad, recently concluded that Syria is sincere in its offers to make peace with Israel in exchange for Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights. The assessment was reported last week in the mass-circulation Israeli daily Yediot Aharonot, based on sources within the Mossad.

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Burns Echoes Rice: Time Is Right For Palestinian State
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Middle East Times
by Claude Salhani - October 19, 2007 - 4:31pm

"Establishing a Palestinian State is the "right thing to do," said U.S. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns. "The time for a Palestinian state," said U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, "is now." "Israel should halt the settlements' expansion, and reduce its footprint in the West Bank," said Burns, the keynote speaker at the second annual gala of the American Task Force on Palestine in Washington Wednesday night.

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The Roadblocks To Another Mideast Summit
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Joshua Mitnick, Dan Murphy - October 19, 2007 - 4:29pm

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice spent four days in the Middle East this week to drum up support for an international summit that the US hopes will push the moribund Israeli-Palestinian peace process forward.

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Analysis-gruelling Road Ahead For Rice On Middle East Peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Adam Entous, Arshad Mohammed - October 19, 2007 - 4:26pm

The battle over the agenda of a conference on Palestinian statehood offers U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice a glimpse of the gruelling process that awaits if and when the two sides enter formal negotiations. The odds of ultimate success are slim at best unless the Bush administration, which once derided what it called former U.S. President Bill Clinton's "shoot the moon" diplomacy, can bring weakened Israeli and Palestinian leaders to take risks their predecessors would not accept, former negotiators said.

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National Security Adviser To Travel To Middle East
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Michael Abramowitz - October 19, 2007 - 4:21pm

National Security Adviser Stephen J. Hadley will head to the Middle East next week, the latest in a procession of senior U.S. officials trying to keep nascent Israeli-Palestinian talks on track in advance of a possible peace conference later this fall. The trip was disclosed by officials traveling with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who was in the British capital for talks with Jordan's King Abdullah II after spending four days shuttling between Israel, Egypt and the West Bank.

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Peace And Archaeology In The Middle East
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The American Prospect
(Special Report) October 19, 2007 - 4:20pm

The sign caught my eye: It held far more than the intended meaning. It hung on a corrugated metal fence in the antiquities park that faces the southwest corner of the Temple Mount, and it said:

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Rice 'encouraged' By Mideast Trip
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Matthew Lee - October 19, 2007 - 4:17pm

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Thursday she was encouraged by a round of furious Mideast diplomacy to prepare a U.S.-hosted peace conference in the fall despite divisions between Israel and the Palestinians that could derail it. With tensions running high and time running out to plan the meeting, a senior U.S. official said Rice would return to the region at the end of October or early November after National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley goes there next week to press the two sides to launch formal peace talks.

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October 18th

In the American Prospect, Gershom Gorenberg analyzes how archaeology is used at the Haram Sharif/Temple Mount to underline claims of sovereignty and draws an important lesson from the 2001 Camp David talks (2.) Reuters examines the many challenges facing Secretary Rice in bringing Israelis and Palestinians to agree on a joint document for the fall meeting as well as on entering formal statehood talks after that (4.) In the Middle East Times, Claude Salhani reports on the ATFP's DC gala at which Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns reiterated Secretary Rice's assertion that the time for establishing a Palestinian state was now (6.) A Forward editorial urges Israel seize the opportunity for peace between Israel and Syria and the Palestinians, warning of the consequences for Israel in not doing so (7.) In Israel Policy Forum, MJ Rosenberg lays out why the right-wing Israeli and Jewish American claims that Jerusalem is in danger of being 'divided' are in reality a scare tactic meant to oppose peace efforts (9.) The Financial Times (UK) looks at Palestinian indifference on the street regarding the fall meeting for reasons relating to both internal division and Israel actions on the ground (11.) A Jordan Times (Jordan) opinion by George Hishmeh argues for an Israeli commitment to the Non-Proliferation treaty (14.) A Jerusalem Post (Israel) opinion by former Israeli Foreign Ministry director-general David Kimche urges Israel to capitalize on the current opportunity to achieve a two-state solution before its time passes and the one-state solution becomes the default option (15.)

Bitter Olive Harvest / Justice Falls Short In The West Bank
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Avi Issacharoff - (Opinion) October 18, 2007 - 5:48pm

Abed Al-Fatah Al-Hindi, a resident of the Nablus-area village of Tal, reaches the main highway between the Hawara and Git junctions, near the Gilad Farm. An International Red Cross crew stands waiting for him. He is bleeding from a large scalp wound, and his left eye is swollen. A paramedic bandages his head, and a volunteer from Rabbis for Human Rights cleans his face. "Every year there's a mess," the villager tells Haaretz. "It's just the first day of the olive harvest, and six settlers attacked me. There wasn't much we could do."

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Joint Israeli, Palestinian Statement Will Address 'core Issues,' Sources Say
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Avi Issacharoff, Barak Ravid - (Opinion) October 18, 2007 - 5:47pm

Israel is prepared to make a joint declaration with the Palestinians at the international peace conference scheduled to take place next month in Annapolis that will address the core issues of Jerusalem, refugees and permanent borders, a senior government official told Haaretz yesterday. Palestinian officials demanded Israel commit to a timetable for negotiations.

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