Date
Type

November 27th

Annapolis And A History Of Abject Failure
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Financial Times
by Gideon Rachman - (Commentary) November 27, 2007 - 1:39pm

Last time I visited Jerusalem, I sat down with a colleague and tried to see how many Middle East peace plans and conferences we could list. Within a couple of minutes we had scribbled down Venice, Madrid, Oslo, Camp David I, Camp David II, Taba, the Rogers plan, the Annan plan, the Reagan plan, the Tenet plan, the Saudi plan, the Mitchell report, the Geneva accord and the road map. I have lost the beer mat on which I was keeping the minutes of our discussions – so I apologise if I have missed some out. But you get the general point. The record is not encouraging.

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Backers, Opponents Of Annapolis
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
by Ron Kampeas - November 27, 2007 - 1:38pm

It's the one major Muslim nation not on the invitation list for the upcoming U.S.-convened peace parley, yet it will haunt every discussion. Iran's importance to the Israeli-Palestinian peace conference in Annapolis, Md., was underscored by how the subject of Iran seeped into two recent Washington think-tank sessions on the talks -- one casting the renewed peace push as a means toward limiting Iran's influence, the other framing it as a gift to the Islamic Republic's plan for regional domination.

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Bush's Big Moment In Annapolis
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Zev Chafets - (Opinion) November 27, 2007 - 1:37pm

THE MIDDLE EAST peace conference convened by the United States in Annapolis, Md., may or may not move the Israeli-Arab conflict closer to resolution (my money is on "may not"). But, whatever happens, there is already one winner: George W. Bush. This is Bush's bash. His name is on the invitation. The party is at his place. The guests are strictly A-list. Every

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Annapolis: The Cost Of Failure
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Review Of Books
by Henry Siegman - (Opinion) November 27, 2007 - 1:36pm

One of the first on-line responses to the publication of the letter to President George W.

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4 Main Issues That Divide Israel, Palestinians
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from McClatchy News
by Dion Nissenbaum - November 27, 2007 - 1:35pm

The clock is winding down on yet another U.S. president who's trying to broker an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which has outlasted 10 of his predecessors and will be 60 years old on May 14, Israel's 60th birthday. The Bush administration has left the issue on the back burner for six years to concentrate on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has now invited Arab, Israeli and world leaders for a day of Middle East peace talks in Annapolis, Md., on Tuesday.

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In Annapolis, Conflict By Other Means
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Middle East Report
by Robert Blecher , Mouin Rabbani - November 27, 2007 - 1:33pm

At an intersection in front of Nablus city hall, a pair of women threaded a knot of waiting pedestrians, glanced left, then dashed across the street. “What’s this?” an onlooker chastised them. “Can’t you see the red light?” Not long after, his patience exhausted, the self-appointed traffic cop himself stepped off the curb and made his way to the other side of the boulevard.

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Beyond Cynicism, Reason For Real Hope
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Orlando Sentinel
by Rafi Dajani - (Special Report) November 27, 2007 - 1:29pm

Few events in Mideast peacemaking history have been subjected to as much cynicism as today's Annapolis meeting. This is due to the perceived lack of planning in the lead-up to the meeting, mismanagement of expectations, and the reported gaps between Israelis and Palestinians over the text of a joint declaration at the meeting's conclusion.

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Bush: 'battle Is Underway For The Future' Of Mideast
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Michael Abramowitz, Glenn Kessler - November 27, 2007 - 1:25pm

Opening a Middle East peace conference in Annapolis this morning, President Bush said that peace must be pursued because "a battle is underway for the future" of the region "and we must not cede victory to the extremists."

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Israelis And Palestinians Try To Set Pace For Peace Talks As Bush Plans Speech
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Helene Cooper, Steven Erlanger - November 27, 2007 - 1:24pm

Israeli and Palestinian negotiators made progress on Monday toward completing a joint statement for the planned Middle East peace conference in Annapolis, Md., and President Bush appeared ready to paper over remaining differences between the two sides with his planned speech on Tuesday.

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November 26th

The Washington Post examines the challenges facing President Bush as he frames the Annapolis meeting in the context of a battle for the future of the Middle East against extremist forces (2.) An Orlando Sentinel opinion by ATFP executive director Rafi Dajani identifies realistic and achievable objectives for the Annapolis meeting in the context of establishing a Palestinian state (3.) McClatchy Newspapers analyzes the four main issues of Jerusalem, borders, refugees and security dividing Israelis and Palestinians (5.) In the New York Review of Books, senior Council on Foreign Relations fellow Henry Siegman identifies Israeli reluctance to define the contours of a future Palestinian state as the main obstacle to peace and warns of the consequences of a failure at Annapolis (6.) A Financial Times (UK) opinion by Gideon Rachman weights the opportunities and challenges for the Annapolis meeting and beyond while stressing the critical role of the U.S. in a future settlement (9.) A Telegraph (UK) opinion by Tim Butcher stresses the importance of political will by Israelis, Palestinians and the U.S. in reaching an Israeli-Palestinian peace the parameters of which are well known (11.) A Gulf News (UAE) opinion by Linda Heard addresses the implications of a future shift in Israel's demography on the country's future (13.) In Haaretz (Israel). Washington correspondent Shmuel Rosner touches on the three main points of the just-issued Annapolis 'joint declaration' (14.)

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