November 29th, 2007

Palestinian State Crucial For Israel, Olmert Says
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Rebecca Harrison, Ori Lewis - November 29, 2007 - 4:53pm

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said after peace talks in Washington that failure to negotiate a two-state solution with the Palestinians could threaten Israel's long-term survival. A day after Israel and the Palestinians formally relaunched negotiations, Olmert's comments appeared in Thursday's Haaretz newspaper on the 60th anniversary of the passing of a U.N. resolution to partition British-run Palestine between Jews and Arabs -- a two-state solution that still eludes them.

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An Opportunity For Peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Boston Globe
by Rafi Dajani - (Opinion) November 29, 2007 - 4:38pm

THE IMPORTANCE of the Annapolis meeting on Middle East peace was not in the joint statement it produced, or in the speeches of the American, Israeli, and Palestinian leaders. Rather, it is in the real opportunity that the meeting has created for peace.

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Rice’s Way: Restraint In Quest For Peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Helene Cooper - (Analysis) November 29, 2007 - 4:37pm

Three weeks ago, in a windowless conference room in the David Citadel Hotel in Jerusalem, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice confidently dismissed the Middle East peacemaking attempts of her predecessors. “It hasn’t worked,” she told reporters traveling with her. “So, with all due respect, I’ll try it my way.”

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Bush Promotes Middle East Peace Dialogue
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Steven Erlanger, Steven Lee Myers - November 29, 2007 - 4:37pm

A day after Israeli and Palestinian leaders committed themselves to negotiating a peace treaty, the Bush administration sought Wednesday to give practical and symbolic impetus to their reinvigorated peace process. President Bush on Wednesday with the Palestinian Authority leader, Mahmoud Abbas, left, and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel.

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November 28th

The New York Times provides a wrap-up of the re-launched peace process resulting from the Annapolis meeting (1.) A Boston Globe opinion by ATFP executive director Rafi Dajani identifies the achievements at Annapolis that lay the groundwork towards progress in achieving Israeli-Palestinian peace (3.) The Washington Post examines skeptical Mideast reaction to the Annapolis talks (5.) The Christian Science Monitor looks at how different observers on Israel-Palestine stresses the importance of an active U.S. arbitration role in a future negotiation process (7.) A Forward opinion by New America and Century Foundation senior fellow Daniel Levy urges Israel to reciprocate to the Arab consensus over peace based on an end to the Israeli occupation begun in 1967 (9.) McClatchy newspapers reports on how experience is tempering Israeli and Palestinian public reaction to Annapolis (10.) A Guardian (UK) editorial finds that Annapolis has changed the environment of Arab-Israeli peacemaking in significant ways (12.) A Gulf News (UAE) opinion by George Hishmeh analyzes the Syrian attendance at Annapolis and its impact on the Lebanese presidential election crisis (14.) In a Haaretz (Israel) interview, Israeli PM Olmert equates the demise of the two-state solution with Israel's future existence (16.) Also in Haaretz, an opinion by Aluf Benn looks at why the American role in Arab-Israeli peacemaking as essential (17.)

The Palestinians / Two Out Of Three Ain't Bad
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Avi Issacharoff - (Opinion) November 28, 2007 - 4:15pm

Minutes after Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert finished their speeches, Palestinian spokesmen rushed to the press room at Annapolis to lower expectations. Being well-versed in peace conferences that end with glorious fanfares but lead nowhere in practice, they warned that it is necessary to see whether the promises made at the conference are implemented on the ground.

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Annapolis Diary / Who's In Favor Of Ending (israeli) Terrorism?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Aluf Benn, Shmuel Rosner - (Opinion) November 28, 2007 - 4:14pm

1. If there is a need for proof that nothing changes in Israeli-Palestinian relations, the joint declaration should suffice - the one that was signed a few minutes before President George W. Bush went to the podium and only after Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice put a little pressure on Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. If proof is needed to show that much has changed, then the whispering between Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Abbas - a moment after Abbas finished his speech and Olmert took the floor - is proof of this.

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To Talk Peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
(Editorial) November 28, 2007 - 4:11pm

Iran and Hamas most vociferously attacked the Annapolis peace conference, describing it as a futile effort to settle the Palestinian question, one that follows in the footsteps of previous similar moves, including the Madrid peace conference, which failed to deliver. Before a clear idea about the outcome of the peace conference that was kicked off on a positive note yesterday crystallises, thus apportioning blame or praise, a few remarks about the two above-mentioned entities would be in order.

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The Annapolis Summit Has Already Affected The Arab World
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed - (Opinion) November 28, 2007 - 4:09pm

 We expected the US-sponsored international peace summit in Annapolis, to trigger intra-Arab conflicts as usual. Interestingly enough, this meeting has healed wounds, some of which have been bleeding for years on various fronts. It is an odd phenomenon that contradicts all possibilities on the table. I have observed the following developments so far:

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If The Conference Fails, What's Plan B For Peace?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
by Daoud Kuttab - (Commentary) November 28, 2007 - 4:07pm

American officials usually spend enormous energy highlighting the "process" in the Middle East "peace process." Only in the last 18 months of a second-term president or following a military engagement in the Middle East does the United States actually start to concern itself with "peace."

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