October 19th, 2007

Gaza Absent In Conference Build-up ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bbc News by Martin Patience - October 19, 2007 - 4:38pm US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has been in the Middle East working to try and bring the Israeli and Palestinian negotiating teams closer together ahead of a planned Middle East conference in the US next month. Her current trip includes meetings with the Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, as well as trips to Egypt and a meeting in with Jordan's King Abdullah in London. » Read more

Jerusalem: “sharing” Not “dividing” ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Israel Policy Forum by M.J. Rosenberg - (Opinion) October 19, 2007 - 4:34pm Here is the only thing you need to know about Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s plan to divide Jerusalem: there is no such plan. There never was one and it is safe to say that there will never be one. Nor is there a plan by any other Israeli leader to divide Jerusalem. Additionally, neither Mahmoud Abbas nor the Palestinian Authority he heads favors the division of Jerusalem. From Olmert to Ramon to Beilin to Abbas and Fayyad, there is not a single proposal to divide the city. So what is all the yelling about? » Read more

Arab Neighbors May Hold Key ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) by Leslie Susser - October 19, 2007 - 4:33pm As the Annapolis peace parley rapidly approaches, some of the Arab and Muslim players expected to play a key role in creating conditions for a favorable outcome are proving to be more of an obstacle than an asset. Egypt, Syria and Turkey have been complicating efforts to hold what function changefontSize(id,size,line) { document.getElementById(id).style.fontSize = size; document.getElementById(id).style.lineHeight = line; } the United States envisions to be a tipping point in the long-dormant peace process. » Read more

How Israel Thinks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward (Editorial) October 19, 2007 - 4:32pm Israel’s foreign intelligence service, the Mossad, recently concluded that Syria is sincere in its offers to make peace with Israel in exchange for Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights. The assessment was reported last week in the mass-circulation Israeli daily Yediot Aharonot, based on sources within the Mossad. » Read more

Burns Echoes Rice: Time Is Right For Palestinian State ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Middle East Times by Claude Salhani - October 19, 2007 - 4:31pm "Establishing a Palestinian State is the "right thing to do," said U.S. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns. "The time for a Palestinian state," said U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, "is now." "Israel should halt the settlements' expansion, and reduce its footprint in the West Bank," said Burns, the keynote speaker at the second annual gala of the American Task Force on Palestine in Washington Wednesday night. » Read more

The Roadblocks To Another Mideast Summit ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Joshua Mitnick, Dan Murphy - October 19, 2007 - 4:29pm Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice spent four days in the Middle East this week to drum up support for an international summit that the US hopes will push the moribund Israeli-Palestinian peace process forward. » Read more

Analysis-gruelling Road Ahead For Rice On Middle East Peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Adam Entous, Arshad Mohammed - October 19, 2007 - 4:26pm The battle over the agenda of a conference on Palestinian statehood offers U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice a glimpse of the gruelling process that awaits if and when the two sides enter formal negotiations. The odds of ultimate success are slim at best unless the Bush administration, which once derided what it called former U.S. President Bill Clinton's "shoot the moon" diplomacy, can bring weakened Israeli and Palestinian leaders to take risks their predecessors would not accept, former negotiators said. » Read more

National Security Adviser To Travel To Middle East ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Michael Abramowitz - October 19, 2007 - 4:21pm National Security Adviser Stephen J. Hadley will head to the Middle East next week, the latest in a procession of senior U.S. officials trying to keep nascent Israeli-Palestinian talks on track in advance of a possible peace conference later this fall. The trip was disclosed by officials traveling with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who was in the British capital for talks with Jordan's King Abdullah II after spending four days shuttling between Israel, Egypt and the West Bank. » Read more

Peace And Archaeology In The Middle East ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The American Prospect (Special Report) October 19, 2007 - 4:20pm The sign caught my eye: It held far more than the intended meaning. It hung on a corrugated metal fence in the antiquities park that faces the southwest corner of the Temple Mount, and it said: » Read more

Rice 'encouraged' By Mideast Trip ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press by Matthew Lee - October 19, 2007 - 4:17pm Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Thursday she was encouraged by a round of furious Mideast diplomacy to prepare a U.S.-hosted peace conference in the fall despite divisions between Israel and the Palestinians that could derail it. With tensions running high and time running out to plan the meeting, a senior U.S. official said Rice would return to the region at the end of October or early November after National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley goes there next week to press the two sides to launch formal peace talks. » Read more