November 6th

Stakes Are High At Annapolis
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
by Leslie Susser - November 6, 2007 - 12:46pm

In the final run-up to the Annapolis peace parley, leaders on all sides are emphasizing the burning need for success and the potentially huge price of failure. Although the focus is on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, all the main players see it as only a small part of a much bigger regional drama: the ongoing battle for regional sway between the moderate Middle Eastern camp, led by America, and the radicals, led by Iran.

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Abbas Sees Palestinian State Soon Achievable
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Karen Deyoung - November 6, 2007 - 12:45pm

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said Monday that he believes the path to peace with Israel is now clear and that a Palestinian state can be achieved before the end of the Bush administration in January 2009.

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Pm Slams Israel Rightists' Provocation Over Peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Joseph Nasr - November 6, 2007 - 12:44pm

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert vowed on Monday to fight violent "incitement" by Israeli groups opposed to his efforts to negotiate with the Palestinians and said he was ready to make "painful concessions" to secure peace. His speech, heavy with memories of violence within Israeli society, was a reaction to displays of hostility that marked Sunday's 12th anniversary of the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, who was shot by a Jew angry at his peace efforts.

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Israel Puts Jerusalem On The Negotiating Table
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Ilene Prusher - November 6, 2007 - 12:41pm

As she visits the Middle East this week, USSecretary of State Condoleezza Rice is pressing Israeli and Palestinian leaders to commit to confidence-building measures and a timetable ahead of an upcoming US-sponsored peace conference in Annapolis, Md. Israel has resisted a timetable, but Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said in a major speech Sunday night that he is ready to begin accelerated peace talks – even on final-status issues such as Jerusalem.

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November 5th

The Christian Science Monitor examines Israeli and Palestinian reaction to recent reports concerning Israel's willingness to negotiate the issue of Jerusalem (1.) The Jewish Telegraphic Agency analyzes how the Annapolis meeting is shaping up to have ramifications far beyond Israeli-Palestinian peace (4.) In the National Interest, president and director of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars Lee Hamilton lays out in detail his vision for an engaged, realistic and productive U.S. foreign policy (6.) The Independent (UK) looks at how politics and shady real estate sales to extremist Jewish groups factor into the struggle within the Greek Orthodox church over its Jerusalem patriarchate (8.) Le Monde Diplomatique (France) identifies five challenges facing the Annapolis meeting (9.) In BitterLemons (Israel/Palestine) former Palestinian minister of planning Ghassan Khatib explores the range of Arab countries' attitudes towards the Annapolis meeting (10.) Asharq Alawsat (pan Arab) takes a close look at the latest developments on the internal Palestinian political scene (12.) In his Haaretz (Israel) blog, Washington correspondent Shmuel Rosner examines the debate over the role American Jews should play in Israeli politics (13.)

Olmert: Core Issues Are On The Annapolis Agenda
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - November 5, 2007 - 2:40pm

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert took the stage at the Saban Forum on Sunday evening in Jerusalem, and delivered an impassioned speech promising to seriously pursue current Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts, saying that "all the fundamental questions and substantial problems will be on the table at Annapolis."

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No Exceptions
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Akiva Eldar - (Opinion) November 5, 2007 - 2:38pm

How can a country, which according to endless foreign reports has kept secret for years several atomic weapons, manage to rally the international community in a struggle against a neighboring country that insists on acquiring nuclear energy? What do Israeli politicians answer to those asking why Iran should not be allowed to acquire the same armaments that are already in the arsenals of neighboring countries, like Pakistan and India?

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Rice's Visit Won't Bring Change
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
(Editorial) November 5, 2007 - 2:37pm

As US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice begins yet another visit to the region, the purposefulness of such visits comes into serious question. Tackling the differences between the Palestinians and the Israelis is something that could be done only by addressing the real issue.

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New Palestinian Police Force Makes Tense Debut In West Bank
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent
by Donald Macintyre - November 5, 2007 - 2:36pm

camp excitedly mobbed the armed, olive-uniformed officers from the second special brigade of the National Security force, deployed with their soft-top Jeeps across the road for the first time. They crowded round the blue and white patrol car driven by Major Eyad Shteyer, the city's deputy police chief, thrusting their hands through an open window in friendly greeting.

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Jerusalem Diary: Monday 5 November
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bbc News
by Tim Franks - November 5, 2007 - 2:32pm

DIRECTING THE POLICE DIRECTING THE TRAFFIC There may not be many well-paid jobs in the occupied territories. But there are plenty of policemen and security officers. They were on the streets of Nablus in the West Bank the other day, waving furiously at the traffic. They were trying to ensure that the path was clear for Gen Keith Dayton, the US point man in the region, whose job is to help knock the Palestinian security forces into better shape.

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