Made In Palestine ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Yotam Feldman - December 7, 2007 - 5:59pm RAMALLAH - The streets here were tumultuous on the last Tuesday of November, the day the Annapolis conference opened. The Palestinians who didn't watch the proceedings on television streamed onto the streets, and a small demonstration in Manara Square by opponents of the summit escalated into a violent clash with the Palestinian police, who used truncheons and teargas to disperse the crowd. » Read more

Signs Of Political Fission ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Aluf Benn And Shmuel Rosner - (Opinion) December 7, 2007 - 5:56pm A few months ago the host of one of America's late-night talk-shows - the ones that are off the air now because of a writers strike - cracked a joke at the expense of the European powers, in their supposed determination to halt the Iranian race toward a nuclear bomb: "France and Germany warned Iran this week not to pursue their nuclear research program. In fact, France and Germany warned Iran that if they didn't stop their program, they would, you know, warn them again," he scoffed. » Read more

Policy On Hamas / An Egyptian-saudi Slap To Abbas ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Avi Issacharoff - (Commentary) December 7, 2007 - 5:50pm The news from the Rafah border crossing earlier this week astounded the leaders of the Palestinian Authority (PA) in Ramallah. They had arranged with Israel to allow some 2,000 Palestinians from Gaza to go to Saudi Arabia via the Kerem Shalom and Allenby Bridge border crossings for the hajj celebrations. But Cairo apparently had different plans. The Egyptians allowed 700 Palestinians on Monday and 1,300 on Tuesday to cross the border into Sinai, where buses were waiting to take them to Saudi Arabia. » Read more

A Jewish Israel Needs A Wholesome, Healed Palestine ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times by Rami G. Khouri - (Opinion) December 7, 2007 - 5:48pm One of the most complex and confounding elements that emerged during the run-up to the Annapolis meeting was the demand by several senior Israelis, and its parallel rejection by Palestinian officials, that the Palestinians recognise Israel as “a Jewish state” as a precondition for the start of talks. » Read more

Iran's Response To Annapolis ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News by Marwan Kabalan - (Opinion) December 7, 2007 - 5:44pm When the Bush administration called for the Middle East peace meeting in Annapolis, Iran was, perhaps, the only country in the region that was not invited. In fact, isolating Iran was one of the key objectives of the US-sponsored gathering and was hence treated very much like a pariah. In response, Iran developed a strategy to undermine US policy. It included several steps. At the very beginning Tehran tried to convince the Arab world not to attend the meeting. » Read more

The Catch-22 Of Palestinian Reform ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star by Keir Prince - (Commentary) December 7, 2007 - 5:42pm You are building your home. But you are having a problem with the architect, who keeps demolishing parts of the house. Sometimes he feels you did not follow the blueprints, sometimes he feels you used sub-standard materials, and sometimes, even though you are sure you followed all the instructions, he just does not like the way it turned out. You are exhausted, the costs are almost incalculable and there seems to be no end in sight. » Read more

Syria “not Pessimistic” On Mideast Peace Talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP) December 7, 2007 - 5:39pm WASHINGTON - Syria is not pessimistic about US-brokered talks that had set a goal of a Israeli-Palestinian peace deal by the end of 2008, said its envoy to Washington, Imad Moustapha. But he warned that Israel’s occupation of territories and killing of Palestinians could wreck negotiations launched at the US-sponsored peace conference in Annapolis, Maryland last month. » Read more

Us Criticises Israeli Homes Plan ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bbc News December 7, 2007 - 5:38pm The United States has voiced rare criticism of Israel, for its decision to build more homes on occupied land. "This doesn't help build confidence," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said after meeting Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni in Brussels. Israel said on Tuesday it had invited bids to build 300 new homes in Har Homa, a settlement in East Jerusalem. The Palestinians asked the US for help. Israel says it annexed the area in 1967 and so does not regard it as occupied. » Read more

Olmert Attempts To Bring Presidential Candidates Into Peace Process ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Nathan Guttman - December 7, 2007 - 5:31pm Looking to the post-Bush era in American politics, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is attempting to enlist leading presidential candidates to support his renewed push for a settlement with the Palestinians. When Olmert was in the United States for the Annapolis, Md., peace summit, he took the opportunity to call each of the leading presidential candidates to brief them on the plans for engaging in final-status talks with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas. » Read more

Rice Criticizes Israel On Settlement Building ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Ari Rabinovitch - December 7, 2007 - 5:29pm Condoleezza Rice criticized Israel on Friday for planning to build new homes on occupied land in the Jerusalem area -- a move Palestinians say could wreck a peace process Rice helped launch last week in Washington. "We are in a time when the goal is to build maximum confidence with the parties and this doesn't help to build confidence," the U.S. Secretary of State said in rare public censure of Washington's closest ally in the Middle East. » Read more