November 30th

Without A Process, Aid To Palestinians Will Do Little ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star by Mohammed Samhouri - (Opinion) November 30, 2007 - 5:51pm The Palestinian economy has been in an ever-deepening crisis since the outbreak of the second intifada in 2000, a crisis rooted in and perpetuated by an extremely inauspicious political setting. » Read more

Bush's Half-hearted Summit ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Der Spiegel by Ulrike Putz And Gregor Peter Schmitz - November 30, 2007 - 5:45pm It was an elegant setting for the luncheon hosted by the Israel Project one week ago. Guests at the National Press Club in Washington picked at salmon on a bed of salad, forks clinked gently against plates. The hostess spoke quietly of peace and understanding. But then David Wurmser showed up. » Read more

Much To Be Modest About ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Economist (Editorial) November 30, 2007 - 5:41pm BETTER than nothing. For now, that is the most that can be said of the new Arab-Israeli “peace process” George Bush inaugurated in Annapolis on November 27th. After weeks of negotiation, the Israeli and Palestinian delegations did at the last minute approve 437 words for the American president to read out, but this was the sort of declaration that makes the phrase “lowest common denominator” sound generous. » Read more

Israel Risks Apartheid-like Struggle If Two-state Solution Fails, Says Olmert ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Rory Mccarthy - November 30, 2007 - 5:38pm Israel's prime minister issued a rare warning yesterday that his nation risked being compared to apartheid-era South Africa if it failed to agree an independent state for the Palestinians. In an interview with the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz, Ehud Olmert said Israel was "finished" if it forced the Palestinians into a struggle for equal rights. » Read more

Disdain On Both Sides Of Security Barrier ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Financial Times by Tobias Buck - November 30, 2007 - 5:23pm Gilo, a Jewish suburb south of Jerusalem, forms one of the countless frontlines in the Arab-Israeli conflict. Perched on a hilltop the quiet residential area was built on occupied land after the 1967 war and now lies just a few hundred metres from the Palestinian village of Beit Jala. » Read more

All Options Open Against Israel After Peace Meet: Hamas ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP) November 30, 2007 - 5:14pm Hamas warned on Thursday that all options were open for the Islamists against Israel after a US conference that revived peace talks and five days in which troops had killed 12 militants in Gaza. "All options are open to answer any crime, expecially after the Annapolis conference, which gave the Zionists a green light to commit more and more crimes against our people," said a statement from the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas's armed wing. » Read more

After Annapolis, Abbas Faces Hamas Challenge ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Mohammed Assadi And Adam Entous - (Analysis) November 30, 2007 - 5:09pm A U.S.-backed push for a future Palestinian state hinges on President Mahmoud Abbas doing what may seem impossible -- getting Hamas Islamists to give up the Gaza Strip and disarm. Abbas has done little to explain how he expects to achieve such a feat, either through new elections or militarily. He and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert launched their peoples' first formal peace talks in seven years this week with the goal of forging a deal next year to create a state in Gaza and the West Bank, together home to 4 million Palestinians. » Read more

When The Party’s Over: From Annapolis To Jerusalem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Israel Policy Forum by Sadie Goldman With Jason Proetorius And Ipf Staff - (Opinion) November 30, 2007 - 4:57pm The only certainty at the outset of the Annapolis conference on Tuesday was that few predicted positive results.   » Read more

Why Annapolis Worked ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward (Editorial) November 30, 2007 - 4:54pm In the end, the Annapolis peace conference proved to be far less than the cataclysmic, watershed event that its sharpest critics had predicted. It unfolded, to everyone’s surprise, with very little upheaval. And for that reason, it might yet turn out to be far more than the pointless flop anticipated by the world-weary wise men. » Read more

Summit Surpasses Low Expectations ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times (Editorial) November 30, 2007 - 4:52pm It started out like an office party that no one wanted to attend. Everyone felt obliged to put in an appearance in Annapolis, even though the first Middle East confab in six years wasn't billed as a peace conference, a forum for negotiation or, really, much more than a photo-op. Yet once the leaders were all there, with the TV cameras pouring an intoxicating adrenaline cocktail, the pressure to be seen to do something about the seminal conflict of our time couldn't be ignored. » Read more