October 5th, 2007

Haidar Abdel Shafi
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Economist
October 5, 2007 - 4:05pm

IN THE spring of 1948, around March as he remembered it, Haidar Abdel Shafi found himself at nightfall, waiting, in a small mud hut by the side of the main road in Deir al-Balah. Around him stretched groves of olive and orange trees. Palestine, in those days, was a community of peasants and landowners; a man was judged by how many trees he had. Haidar's father had had none, preferring—as he told the astonished neighbours—to save money for schooling his six children rather than buy plantations.

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Ok, Here We Go, The Israel Lobby
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Prospectsforpeace.com
by Daniel Levy - (Blog) October 5, 2007 - 4:02pm

I have not commented thus far on the publication of the Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer book on the Israel lobby. The reason is simple – I agreed to review the book for Haaretz and so have waited for that to be published. Well the review came out yesterday in the monthly Haartetz book supplement and should be on the website any day (it is being delayed by the Succot holiday). I have though decided to post that review here below. (I will provide the Haaretz link once it’s available.)

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J'accuse, Sort Of
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Slate
by Michael Kinsley - (Opinion) October 5, 2007 - 3:56pm

Rep. James P. Moran of Virginia, already a locally famous foot-in-mouther, went national last week by declaring at an anti-war rally that "if it was not for the strong support of the Jewish community," the war against Iraq would not be happening. He said that Jewish "leaders" are "influential enough" to reverse the policy "and I think they should."

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Lobbying Degree Zero
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Nation
by Daniel Lazare - (Opinion) October 5, 2007 - 3:51pm

On March 23, 2006, John Mearsheimer, a political scientist at the University of Chicago, and Stephen Walt, a professor of international affairs at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government, published a lengthy article called "The Israel Lobby" in the London Review of Books. Their thesis: a group of pro-Israel activists and propagandists is actively manipulating policy in Washington to benefit the Jewish state at the expense of the United States' national interests.

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Bush Says 'very Optimistic' On Mideast Peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
October 5, 2007 - 3:39pm

President George W. Bush said in comments aired on Friday he was "very optimistic" a Palestinian state could be set up alongside Israel and that next month's Middle East conference could lead towards peace in the region. The U.S.-sponsored conference is due to take place in the Washington area in mid to late November, although there are doubts over how far it will go towards ending decades of conflict and uncertainty over which Arab states will attend.

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On Stage In Jerusalem, Jewish And Arab Audiences Hear The Other Side Of The Story
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Ilene Prusher - October 5, 2007 - 3:21pm

The characters: six Jerusalemites. The setting: the embattled city claimed by both Israelis and Palestinians. The point: to get people listening to narratives they didn't think they wanted to hear. Jerusalem Stories is a series of dramatic monologues that are being performed in Jewish and Arab parts of the city, in Hebrew and in Arabic, with the aim of challenging audiences to empathize with the other side – or the "enemy," as many here would say.

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Idea Raised Of Two Capitals In Jerusalems
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Barry Schweid - October 5, 2007 - 3:14pm

Five former State Department and Pentagon officials are proposing Israeli and Palestinian capitals in Jerusalem and excluding Arab refugees from returning to Israel as part of an Middle East accord. In a six-page policy statement submitted to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, they also suggested a series of peace conferences following the one she hopes to convene next month, probably in Annapolis, Md.

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October 4th

The Christian Science Monitor looks at how a theatrical production involving a series of monologues called 'Jerusalem Stories' is being performed in both Wast and West Jerusalem in an attempt to get Israelis and Palestinians to empathize with each other (2.) The Forward poses questions concerning the opportunities and challenges associated with the current peace momentum to a group of Israeli, American and Palestinian experts in the field (4.) In Slate, founder Michael Kinsley explores the paradox of how right-wing pro-Israel organizations in the U.S. perpetuate the very anti-Semitic stereotypes they object to by touting their own political influence publicly (6.) In his 'Prospects For Peace' blog, New America and Century Foundation's Daniel Levy reviews the Walt/Mearsheimer book on the Israel lobby and finds that it contributes positively to a rethink about the U.S.-Israeli relationship and that the authors are not driven by prejudice (7.) BBC (UK) examines how the Palestinian economy has 'de-developed' over the past few years due to international sanction and Israel's closure policy (9.) Haaretz (Israel) looks at reports that the fall Mideast meeting joint statement will refer to core issues but in a non-committal and only on those already agree upon (12.) A Haaretz editorial offers six reasons why reaching an agreement at the fall meeting will be more difficult than at Camp David in 2000 (13.)

Ex-us Officals: Divide Jerusalem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
October 4, 2007 - 3:02pm

Five former State Department and Pentagon officials are proposing Israeli and Palestinian capitals in Jerusalem and excluding Arab refugees from returning to Israel as part of an Middle East accord. In a six-page policy statement submitted to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, they also suggested a series of peace conferences following the one she hopes to convene next month, probably in Annapolis, Maryland, near Washington. Hamas, which controls Gaza and about one-third of Palestinian-held land, has not met US terms

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Jnf's Blatant Hypocrisy
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Dror Etkes - (Opinion) October 4, 2007 - 2:59pm

It appears that the High Court discussion over the insistence of the Jewish National Fund, which controls about 13 percent of land in Israel, on its right to continue its policy of refraining from leasing out land to Arabs will soon reach the final stretch. JNF's claims in response to the petition of Arab citizens, who it refuses to lease out land to, is that the land it owns is not national land, but rather, assets that were bought for their full price for Jews only, and therefore the JNF has the right to refuse to lease them out to non-Jews.

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