November 26th

For Bush, It's Not About Being There
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Michael Abramowitz - November 26, 2007 - 12:40pm

The opening of Tuesday's Middle East conference in Annapolis, seven years into the Bush administration, is a reminder of how little the traditional concept of brokering an Arab-Israeli settlement through an ongoing "peace process" has figured into President Bush's foreign policy. Another is Bush's near-absence from the Middle East during his presidency. He has traveled to the region four times, but two of those visits were one-day trips to Iraq, and one was for a meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

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Bush’s Best Hope
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Roger Cohen - (Opinion) November 26, 2007 - 12:38pm

The Palestinians are the cause of exiting and ex-presidents. There’s no electoral payback in supporting them. Jews and Israel-loving evangelicals dwarf any Arab lobby to the extent it’s not even funny. President Bush is on the exit track. It’s time to rectify the fundamental error he made in allowing war-on-terror rhetoric to discredit the Palestinian national movement.

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Rice’s Turnabout On Mideast Talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Elisabeth Bumiller - November 26, 2007 - 12:37pm

At President Bush’s first National Security Council meeting in January 2001, he announced that he did not want to be drawn into the shattered Middle East peace process, people at the meeting recalled, because he believed that former President Bill Clinton had pushed so hard for an Israeli-Palestinian accord that he made the situation worse.

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November 25th

The New York Times analyzes how resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict became a top priority for Secretary of State Rice (1.) Also in the Times, an opinion by Roger Cohen urges the Bush administration and Israel to heed the vision of Palestinian PM Fayyad for coexistence and peace with Israel (2.) A Washington Post editorial examines the political realities that make success at Annapolis a remote proposition (4.) The Associated Press outlines the role of President Bush in this week's Annapolis meeting (6), while the Independent (UK) stresses the importance of the president throwing his full weight behind the meeting (13.) A Christian Science Monitor editorial looks at how the Annapolis meeting represents a chance for moderate forces in the Middle East to address rising forces of extremism and radicalism in the region (7.) A Los Angeles Times opinion by former Mideast negotiator Aaron Miller identifies what is needed to turn Annapolis into an event that sets into motion a serious Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking process culminating in Palestinian statehood (9.) A Financial Times (UK) editorial lays out 3 elements to making the Annapolis meeting a success (11.) The Times (UK) looks at how Hamas rule in Gaza is causing increasing Palestinian anger as the movement becomes more isolated (14.) A Daily Star (Lebanon) editorial commends the Bush administration for having reached the conclusion that it is worth taking the risks of Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking (16.) A Haaretz (Israel) opinion by Akiva Eldar identifies the importance of the American role at and post Annapolis as that of bridging the two sides, establishing a timeline for completing negotiations and establishing an implementation mechanism (17.)

November 23rd

Annapolis: Why Failure Is Not An Option
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
by Walid Awad - (Opinion) November 23, 2007 - 6:44pm

The Israeli right-wing and its allies in the media are working relentlessly to undermine the Annapolis peace conference. To make the conference convened by President Bush, his Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has made no less than eight visits to the Middle East in less than a year. But the Israeli government’s position on the conference has always been that of a reluctant participant, sending contradictory messages, lowering expectations and discouraging optimism about the outcome.

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More Palestinian-israeli 'normalization' Is Needed
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
by Walid Salem - (Commentary) November 23, 2007 - 6:43pm

In the Arab and Islamic world, normalization is looked upon as the process of building open and reciprocal relations with Israel in all fields, including the political, economic, social, cultural, educational, legal and security fields. Those who reject such "normalization" are divided into two groups: one thinks that Israel was established on Islamic and Palestinian land and at the expense of the Palestinian people, the legitimate owners of the land, who consequently suffered a fate as refugees outside their country.

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Don't Knock Annapolis
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
(Editorial) November 23, 2007 - 6:42pm

Lucky for Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill that the disparaging phrase "photo-op" had not been coined during their time. Otherwise, the wise guys of their generation would have torn into the Tehran Conference (1943) even before it could convene, causing the war to last even longer.

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The Jerusalem Fig Leaf
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Noam Shelef - (Opinion) November 23, 2007 - 6:41pm

The latest assault on Israeli sovereignty comes from an unexpected direction. The Orthodox Union, together with a coalition of less-reputable Jewish American organizations, has launched a campaign arguing that the Israeli government lacks the authority to negotiate over Jerusalem.

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Saudis To Attend Middle East Peace Conference
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Peter Walker - November 23, 2007 - 6:40pm

Saudi Arabia's foreign minister is to attend next week's Middle East peace conference, he announced today, in a significant boost to the US-sponsored talks. "I'm not hiding any secret about the Saudi position. We were reluctant until today," Saud al-Faisal told a press conference at the ongoing Arab League meeting in Cairo.

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Rice Sets Mid-east Peace Target
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bbc News
November 23, 2007 - 6:39pm

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has said the United States will try to broker a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians over the next year. Ms Rice said both sides had agreed to work towards the establishment of an independent Palestinian state before US President George W Bush leaves office. She also said Washington hoped such negotiations would be launched at next week's peace conference in Annapolis. Invitations have been issued to Israel, the Palestinians and key Arab states.

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