December 3rd

The Thing About Annapolis ... ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News by Osama Al Sharif - (Special Report) December 3, 2007 - 4:23pm Sixteen years is a long time in politics. But that is the gap that now separates the Madrid Middle East peace conference, called for by President George Bush Sr and the Annapolis meeting, which convened last week under the patronage of his son. To underline the size of the gap between the two events one is reminded that all the key players have changed; passed on or retired. The world has evolved dramatically and the core issue of the conflict in the Middle East has become even more complicated. » Read more

Israel Errs In Trying To Impose Its Jewish Identity ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star by Shulamit Aloni - (Opinion) December 3, 2007 - 4:21pm Jews are a people but not a nation; they are a religious ethnic group or as respected a tribe as may be. The Jewish citizens of Britain, including the orthodox, are British, and that is what is written in their passports and in the British population registry. » Read more

Peace Summit: 'if These Talks Fail, We Will All Be In Deep Trouble' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent by Donald Macintyre - December 3, 2007 - 4:20pm Wael Mansour watched the Annapolis conference on al-Arabiya television last week in the barely furnished three-room Gaza home he shares with his wife, mother and five children. Did he think the proceedings – intended to clinch the start of a year of peace negotiations – will do any good? "Inshallah [God willing]," said Mr Mansour, 32. "I hope to get out of what we are in. We are in deep trouble." » Read more

Big Turnout, Small Result ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Economist December 3, 2007 - 4:18pm THEY almost didn't make it, but in the last hour Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, and Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, agreed on a joint statement. Four months of preliminary talks had failed to produce what Mr Abbas and Condoleezza Rice, the American secretary of state, had hoped to brandish at this week's peace summit in Annapolis: an agreement to predetermine some aspects of the final-status deal that would ultimately create a Palestinian state next to Israel. In the end, Ms Rice had to settle for less, but the Palestinians and Israelis did agree two things. » Read more

Vol. 9, Issue 13 ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Americans For Peace Now by Middle East Peace Report - (Special Report) December 3, 2007 - 4:17pm   » Read more

Gaza Traffic Grinds To Halt As Fuel Cuts Bite ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Nidal Al-mughrabi - December 3, 2007 - 4:15pm Traffic in the Gaza Strip slowed to a trickle on Monday and some medical centres scaled back treatment as Israeli import cuts hit fuel supplies in the Hamas-run territory. Many petrol stations in Gaza closed and most private cars and taxis and buses stayed off the streets. Gazans said they were avoiding unnecessary journeys and some were struggling with their daily commutes. » Read more

Bush Draws Skepticism With Hands-off Approach To Mideast ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Paul Richter - December 3, 2007 - 4:13pm President Bush last week laid out an American role in the upcoming Mideast peace talks that challenges the accumulated wisdom of former secretaries of State Henry Kissinger and James A. Baker III and Presidents Carter and Clinton. But sticking to his plan, which calls for a carefully limited U.S. role, may be harder than the president thinks, say current and former diplomats who have wrestled with the issue. » Read more

No Alternative Destiny Less Complicated ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Leonard Fein - December 3, 2007 - 4:12pm In the aftermath of last week’s surprisingly upbeat Annapolis meeting, all the talk’s about a two-state solution. The unwary may suppose that as soon as the domestic problems within Israel and among the Palestinians are resolved, the movement toward such a solution will be quite rapid. » Read more

For Mideast Peace, Think Bigger ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Helena Cobban - December 3, 2007 - 4:11pm Four-and-a-half years after the invasion of Iraq, President Bush has launched another, equally high-stakes, gamble in the Middle East. This time, it is a gamble for peace, the one he started at the Nov. 27 conference in Annapolis, Md. If it succeeds, it could do much to restore calm and hope to a region long cloaked in turmoil and dread. (It could also help salvage Mr. Bush's longer-term legacy.) But what if it fails? » Read more

Evangelical Leaders Reiterate Call For Two-state Solution For Israel And Palestine ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Christianity Today by David Neff - December 3, 2007 - 4:10pm This week the Bush State Department is devoting its full diplomatic efforts toward bringing a two-state resolution to the Israel-Palestine conflict. Over the past few months, they have put on a full-court press to gather a broad representation of Arab world leaders to join Israeli and Palestinian negotiators for a historic meeting in Annapolis, Maryland. Now, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas have agreed to a program of sustained and focused negotiations throughout 2008. » Read more