November 8th

Barak Still Bears The Scars From Camp David
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Financial Times
by Tobias Buck - November 8, 2007 - 3:37pm

Even by the volatile standards of Israeli politics, the comeback of Ehud Barak has been a remarkable one. Ousted as prime minister in 2001 after the acrimonious failure of the Camp David peace talks, Mr Barak left the political stage for almost six years to pursue a career in business. Yet in June, Israel's most decorated soldier and former chief of staff was back, taking the helm of his centre-left Labour party and assuming the post of defence minister in the coalition government headed by Ehud Olmert.

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Push For Annapolis Summit Triggers
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
by Ron Kampeas - November 8, 2007 - 3:36pm

The buildup to the U.S.-backed Israeli-Palestinian summit to be convened later this month in Annapolis, Md., has set off a flurry of lobbying efforts throughout the Jewish community. A newly formed coalition of Orthodox and right-wing organizations dedicated to preserving Israeli sovereignty over all of Jerusalem held meetings last week in Washington with White House officials and members of both houses of Congress.

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Palestinian Mayors Lobby For Christian Support
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by Nathan Guttman - November 8, 2007 - 3:35pm

Facing the growing influence of Christian Zionists in the United States, the dwindling Christian minority in the Palestinian territories is making a renewed push to capture American hearts and minds. A delegation of Palestinian Christian mayors came to Washington last week on a lobbying mission, during which they argued the Palestinian cause. It was the first such mission ever.

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Last Call For A Two-state Solution
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from International Herald Tribune
by Immanuel Wallerstein - (Opinion) November 8, 2007 - 3:32pm

The prevailing worldwide view of how to resolve politically the conflict of two nationalisms in Israel/Palestine is the so-called two-state solution - the creation of two states, Israel and Palestine, within the boundaries of the onetime British Mandate of Palestine. Actually, this position is not at all new. One might argue that it was the prevailing worldwide position throughout the 20th century.

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Analysis: Rice's Shuttle Diplomacy
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from World Peace Herald
by Claude Salhani - (Blog) November 8, 2007 - 3:30pm

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has borrowed a chapter or two from Henry Kissinger's book of applied negotiations as she headed back out to the Middle East for her eighth visit to the region in the last six months. 

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'failure Risks Devastating Consequences'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Review Of Books
by Zbigniew Brzezinski, Lee Hamilton , Carla Hills , Nancy Kassebaum-baker , Thomas R. Pickering, Brent Scowcroft - (Commentary) November 8, 2007 - 3:27pm

The following letter on the Middle East peace conference scheduled for Annapolis, Maryland, in late November, was sent by its signers on October 10 to President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. The statement is a joint initiative of the US/Middle East Project, Inc. (General Brent Scowcroft, chairman, International Board, and Henry Siegman, president), the International Crisis Group (Gareth Evans, president), and the New America Foundation/American Strategy Program (Steven Clemons, director).

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Mideast Religious Leaders Say They Vital To Peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Deborah Charles - November 8, 2007 - 3:22pm

In an unusual joint appearance, senior Israeli and Palestinian religious leaders said on Wednesday they were not a roadblock to peace in the Middle East but a vital part of the process. Dressed in traditional religious garb, the chief rabbis of Israel sat alongside Muslim leaders and Christian patriarchs and said they had agreed on steps to help resolve the conflict.

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Gaza’s Reflection In A Foul Threat
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Steven Erlanger - November 8, 2007 - 3:20pm

Fahmi al-Abrak, 70, was at home on March 27 when a lagoon of human waste broke through its sand embankment and hurtled downhill, inundating this poor village of Bedouins in northern Gaza. “It rose to here in 15 seconds,” he said, pointing to a discolored line on the walls, four feet above ground. Five people were drowned when the overflow pool for a lake of water and human waste failed in March. Residents of Umm al Nasser pulled belongings from their homes after the wave of sewage struck their village in March.

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Israeli Settlements Burden Peace Push
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Amy Teibel - November 8, 2007 - 3:18pm

The pounding chatter of jackhammers echoes over a wind-swept West Bank hilltop as workers lay bricks at a new apartment building rising in this sprawling Jewish settlement. The Israeli government says it's ready to make a deal that would give Palestinians their own state. But realities on the ground — outlined in a report Wednesday showing vigorous Israeli construction in the West Bank — hold important implications for the latest U.S. peace push.

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November 7th

The New York Times examines how the shortage of parts is putting Gazans in danger of another sewage flood similar to the one earlier this year that drowned five people (2.) The New York Review of Books features the text of the letter sent to President Bush and Secretary Rice by a bipartisan group of former senior U.S. officials emphasizing the importance of the Annapolis meeting being successful and setting the parameters for such a success (4.) An International Herald Tribune opinion by Immanuel Wallerstein analyzes the prospects for a two-state solution based on current political realities (6.) The Jewish Telegraphic Agency reports on the lobbying efforts for and against the Annapolis meeting within the Jewish-American community (8.) BBC (UK) interviews Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip on the deepening political divisions between the two parts (10.) In the Daily Star (Lebanon) Rami Khouri interviews retired U.S. General Abizaid on the strategic problems confronting the U.S. in the Mideast (11.) A Haaretz (Israel) editorial urges Israeli actions that are considered achievements by the Palestinians in order to strengthen the Abbas government and its platform (13.)

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