October 22nd

Rice: Israel Ready To Discuss Fundamental Issues With Fatah ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent by Eric Silver - October 22, 2007 - 10:33am Israeli and Palestinian leaders are expected to start to sketch the contours of a Palestinian state next week. Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of State, ended a 24-hour shuttle between Jerusalem and Ramallah yesterday, convinced that the two sides were ready to discuss fundamental issues in advance of President Bush's Middle East peace conference, now tentatively planned to take place in Washington in November. » Read more

One Last Try? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Israel Policy Forum by M.J. Rosenberg - (Opinion) October 22, 2007 - 10:32am The Bush administration has unveiled a four-part plan to rescue its overall Middle East policy, from Saudi Arabia to Iran/Iraq and Israel/Palestine. » Read more

Mideast: Bush Revs Up Lemon Of A Peace Policy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Inter Press Service (IPS) by Khody Akhavi - October 22, 2007 - 10:29am Political factions Fatah and Hamas must reconcile in order to pursue a sustainable peace in the Palestinian territories, and if and when a power-sharing agreement is brokered, the international community must be willing to accept it, according to a recent report by the International Crisis Group (ICG)."As long as the Palestinian schism endures, progress is on shaky ground. Security and a credible peace process depend on minimal intra-Palestinian consensus," it said. » Read more

Obama, Clinton Battle For Endorsements ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Jennifer Siegel - October 22, 2007 - 10:28am In the wake of an unexpected scuffle during last Monday’s CNN/YouTube debate, presidential contenders Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama waged a pitched battle over endorsements from Jewish members of Congress. During the televised forum, the Democratic contenders disagreed sharply over whether the next president should commit, without precondition, to holding talks with leaders of such rogue states as Iran within the first year of taking office, with Obama saying yes and Clinton no. » Read more

The Wrong Way To Contain Iran ATFP World Press Roundup Article from International Herald Tribune by Karim Sadjadpour - (Opinion) October 22, 2007 - 10:27am The announcement this week that the United States plans to sell over $20 billion worth of weaponry to Arab allies in order to counter Iran's ascendance in the Middle East appears to take a page out of Ronald Reagan's Cold War playbook: Simultaneously attempt to contain Iran and force it to spend money on an arms race instead of developing its moribund economy, intimidating it into bankruptcy. » Read more

Us Evangelicals At Odds On Embracing Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Antiwar by Bill Berkowitz - (Opinion) October 22, 2007 - 10:25am It was business as usual during Christians United for Israel's recent "Israel Summit," its highly-publicized second summer sojourn to Washington. There were thousands of supporters in attendance, including an impressive array of Republican Party elected officials and political leaders. There were a series of seminars and workshops aimed at solidifying pro-Israel talking points, and growing the organization's political effectiveness. » Read more

Another Tour Ends Without Solid Plans On Mideast Peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Robin Wright - October 22, 2007 - 10:20am After years of setbacks, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice set out this week to make one more push toward Middle East peace on behalf of an administration that has less than 18 months left in office. She got some polite nibbles, but not yet the big bite needed to ensure that President Bush's call last month for an international meeting of the region's major players will yield substance. » Read more

Executive Summary And Recommendations ATFP World Press Roundup Article from International Crisis Group (Special Report) October 22, 2007 - 10:19am Hamas’s takeover of Gaza and President Abbas’s dismissal of the national unity government and appointment of one led by Salam Fayyad amount to a watershed in the Palestinian national movement’s history. Some paint a positive picture, seeing the new government as one with which Israel can make peace. They hope that, with progress in the West Bank, stagnation in Gaza and growing pressure from ordinary Palestinians, a discredited Hamas will be forced out or forced to surrender. They are mistaken. » Read more

Rice Backs Appointed Palestinian Premier And Mideast Democracy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Helene Cooper, Steven Erlanger - October 22, 2007 - 10:15am Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, embracing an appointed Palestinian prime minister here in the West Bank, said Thursday that the United States still supported democracy in the Middle East. But she defended the American refusal to recognize the earlier, elected, Hamas-led government. » Read more

Shifting Politics Bring Arabs And Israelis Closer ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Ilene Prusher - October 22, 2007 - 10:13am It's a given that any US secretary of State will come to the Middle East, shake the hands of Israeli and Arab leaders, and try to prod them toward peace. But other givens that have long defined the conflict are beginning to shift, helping Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice – who finished a week-long trip to the region on Thursday – move forward in a new push by the Bush administration to bring its Middle East allies to the negotiating table. » Read more