December 3rd

Fuses In Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Jackson Diehl - (Opinion) December 3, 2007 - 4:09pm

Watching the handshakes and arm-clutches of Ehud Olmert and Mahmoud Abbas at the Annapolis meeting last week, and listening to their sometimes soaring rhetoric about a Middle East peace, it was easy to forget that Israel is at war with the winners of the last Palestinian general election, that rockets fired by Palestinians are detonating in southern Israel nearly every day and that 1.5 million people of the future Palestinian state are living under what amounts to an Israeli military siege.

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An Old Face Resurfaces
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Newsweek
by Michael Isikoff - December 3, 2007 - 4:08pm

Don't ever say the Bush administration doesn't take care of its own. Nearly three years after Paul Wolfowitz resigned as deputy Defense secretary and six months after his stormy departure as president of the World Bank—amid allegations that he improperly awarded a raise to his girlfriend—he's in line to return to public service.

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Peace? Sure, I’ll See What I Can Do
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Sheryl Gay Stolberg - December 3, 2007 - 4:06pm

“I’M only a phone call away,” President Bush told the Israeli and Palestinian leaders last week, after they set the ambitious goal of negotiating a peace treaty by the end of next year. But as they joined him in the White House Rose Garden before going their separate ways, Mr. Bush had a slightly different message for the pair. “I wish you all the best,” he said — a send-off that did not exactly give the impression he was eager to pick up the phone.

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Hamas Casts Shadow Over Peace Talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Karin Laub - December 3, 2007 - 4:04pm

Hamas is casting a long shadow over Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. Although weakened by harsh economic sanctions and feeling more isolated after last week's Mideast peace conference in the U.S., the Islamic militants retain a tight hold on Gaza and have the power to disrupt future negotiations with increasingly deadly rocket attacks on Israel. The Israeli, Palestinian and U.S. leaders haven't let on whether they'll confront, co-opt or try to ignore Hamas, while deepening divisions between ideologues and pragmatists make the group more unpredictable.

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December 2nd

The New York Times interviews a variety of Mideast experts to get a sense of the level of personal involvement by President Bush in upcoming Israeli-Palestinian peace treaty negotiations (2.) A Washington Post opinion by Jackson Diehl cautions against allowing the Gaza situation to simmer and calls for a Hamas-Israel ceasefire (4.) Christianity Today features the text of a letter sent to President Bush by U.S. evangelical leaders reiterating their previous public support for a two-state solution (5.) A Forward opinion by Leonard Fein stresses that the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict remains the only option despite the many challenges he lists that it faces (7.) Reuters reports on the impact in Gaza of Israeli fuel supply cuts to the strip (9.) The Economist (UK) analyzes the participation in and results of the Annapolis meeting (10.) A Daily Star (Lebanon) opinion by former Israeli education minister Shulamit Aloni, published in collaboration with Common Ground News Service, argues against the definition of Israel as a 'Jewish state' (13.) A Ynet/Yedioth opinion by Michal Radoshitzky urges that the post-Annapolis period leverage declarations and intentions into progress on the ground and in negotiations (16.)

November 30th

No More Time To Waste
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Ami Ayalon - (Opinion) November 30, 2007 - 6:04pm

A motley coalition of cynics and extremists were quick to write off the Annapolis peace conference as a waste of time. The best way for Israel to prove them wrong is to show that it knows there is no more time to waste.

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When All Is Said And Done
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Aluf Benn And Shmuel Rosner - (Analysis) November 30, 2007 - 6:02pm

The genocide in Darfur is more horrifying, global warming is a greater cause for concern, and the danger that nuclear Pakistan will fall into the hands of Al Qaida causes more sleepless nights. And still, only the Israeli-Palestinian conflict can bring 50 leaders and foreign ministers from all over the world to a small American coastal town on a clear late-autumn day, in yet another effort to achieve "a final status agreement within a year."

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A Halt, Not A Suspension
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
(Editorial) November 30, 2007 - 5:57pm

When Ehud Olmert warns that the world could impose a "South African solution" on Israel if two states are not created, side by side, he is tacitly admitting that expansion of the settlements is making Israel look increasingly like an apartheid regime.

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President Bush Is The Only One Capable
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
(Editorial) November 30, 2007 - 5:55pm

Rest assured that Bush, more than any other American President, means what he says. This has been his problem with most countries of the world, including us Arabs. Despite the problems his frankness has caused him, it has been a good trait on occasion.

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Win Some, Lose Some
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Khaleej Times
by Claude Salhani - (Opinion) November 30, 2007 - 5:52pm

HISTORY will remember some days more so than others. Tuesday, November 27, 2007 will be one of those days. However, it may not be remembered in a way some hoped or expected. To be sure, there will be a lot of disappointment by the end of the day, for a variety of reasons, one being that too much expectation has been placed on this one day.

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