Date
Type

Rice Defends Mideast Peace Talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Helene Cooper - November 22, 2007 - 10:23pm

The Bush administration’s Annapolis, Md., conference on Middle East peace will tackle the entrenched core issues that have bedeviled negotiators since 1979, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Wednesday, pushing back against critics who say the conference may be just a photo opportunity. She said that she would try to broker a deal by the end of the Bush administration that would lead to a lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians. She cautioned that there was no guarantee that she would be successful, but maintained that she knew what she was doing.

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Term Limits
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The American Conservative
by Daniel Larison - November 22, 2007 - 10:22pm

During the week of Oct. 22-26, David Horowitz and an alliance of conservative organizations sponsored a series of lectures and protests at universities around the United States to draw attention to “Islamofascism.” Just in time for this “Islamofascism Awareness Week,” Christopher Hitchens penned a defense of the term.

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Gaza Government Illegitimate, Say Palestinians
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Angus Reid Global Monitor
November 22, 2007 - 10:18pm

Many people in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank decry the government headed by Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Gaza, according to a poll by An-Najah National University. Only 19.3 per cent of respondents in the Palestinian Territories see Haniyeh’s administration as legitimate. Conversely, 45.4 per cent of respondents think the Palestinian government led by prime minister Salam Fayyad—which failed to win the confidence of the Palestinian Legislative Council—is the legitimate administration. Roughly three-in-ten respondents believe both governments are unlawful.

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Bush Steps Up Diplomatic Effort As Annapolis Talks Draw Nearer
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Robin Wright - November 22, 2007 - 10:15pm

In a bit of last-minute diplomacy, President Bush called the leaders of Israel, Egypt and the Palestinian Authority yesterday to discuss details of the U.S. peace conference set to begin in Annapolis next week, as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the goal is to wrap up a peace deal to produce a Palestinian state by the time Bush leaves office.

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Doubts Cloud U.s. Talks Set On Mideast
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Paul Richter - November 22, 2007 - 10:13pm

The Bush administration announced Tuesday that it would hold a stripped-down international conference next week to begin negotiating the core issues that divide the Israelis and Palestinians, the first formal attempt to revive peace talks in seven years.

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Shhhh: Mideast Invitations Are Secret
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Matthew Lee - November 22, 2007 - 10:11pm

It's the biggest public event on this season's diplomatic calendar, but the topic is so sensitive that even the invitations are classified. Not that they need to be. The invites to next week's Mideast peace conference in Annapolis, Md., offer few details about the substance of the proceedings aimed at launching the first Israeli-Palestinian peace talks in seven years.

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The LA Times looks at continuing uncertainty regarding the Annapolis meeting after the issuing of invitations by the U.S. (2.) Angus Reid Global Monitor reviews the results of the latest survey of Palestinian public opinion by the West Bank An-Najah university, revealing a high degree of support for the Abbas/Fayyad government (4.) The Forward reports on increasing pressure on Israel by the U.S. to effect a serious settlement freeze (7.) An IHT opinion by former U.S. ambassador Kurtzer and USIP fellow Lasensky offer tips to maximize chances of success for the Annapolis meeting (9.) Inter Press Service looks at the opposition to the Annapolis meeting coming from neocon hawks in the U.S. associated with Israel's Likud (10.) The Independent (UK) reports on a Palestinian document prepared for the December Paris donors conference that serves as a blueprint for statehood and outlines projected security, fiscal and political reforms (11.) BBC (UK) analyzes the risks and possibilities for Israeli-Palestinian peace associated with the Annapolis meeting (12.) A Daily Star (Lebanon) opinion by Rami Khouri urges Arab participants at Annapolis to seize the initiative and use the Annapolis meeting to present their issues with clarity and conviction (16.) A Haaretz (Israel) opinion by Akiva Eldar analyzes the obstructionist elements to the Annapolis meeting and to negotiations with the Palestinians (17.)

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