Who Wants A Jewish State ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz (Editorial) November 15, 2007 - 6:34pm Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni has been speaking enthusiastically about "two states, two nations" ever since her conversion from the Greater Israel ideology. She can easily convince people why Israel must have a right of return only for Jews, while an independent Palestine would grant the same right only to Palestinians. » Read more

Still A Democracy? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Shulamit Aloni - (Opinion) November 15, 2007 - 6:33pm The government of Israel, with all due respect, does not represent the Jewish people but rather the citizens of the State of Israel who elected it. Israel is a sovereign state, which is still considered to be a democracy. In other words, it is a state for all of its citizens. Therefore it must not demand of the Palestinians to recognize it as a Jewish state, because in that way it would be declaring that any citizen whose mother is not Jewish or who did not convert with our strict Orthodox rabbis is a second-rate citizen, and his rights as a human being and a citizen are not ensured. » Read more

The Middle Road ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times (Editorial) November 15, 2007 - 6:31pm So much for Hamas’ hope. Those willing to give the movement the benefit of the doubt, even after its June takeover of the Gaza Strip, have posited the Islamist movement as a necessary cleaning up of the chaotic state of internal Palestinian politics. » Read more

Annapolis At The Crossroads ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News by George S. Hishmeh - (Opinion) November 15, 2007 - 6:29pm This is not the best of months, it seems, for Palestinians to undertake major steps because the record to date has not been very promising. If nothing else, there has been the deadly events in the Gaza Strip when about 250,000 Gazans were commemorating the third death anniversary of Yasser Arafat, last Monday. Seven supporters of Arafat's party, Fatah, were killed when surprisingly the police of its rival party, Hamas which is now in control of Gaza, opened fire on the rally. More than 100 were injured and about 400 Fatah supporters were arrested in this ugly encounter. » Read more

Palestinians Aim For Agreement With Israel Within Year ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Rory Mccarthy - November 15, 2007 - 6:28pm Palestinian negotiators want to set a timetable to secure a peace agreement with Israel within a year, according to Yasser Abed Rabbo, a senior Palestinian official, who yesterday stressed that the bold agenda was "realistic". Abed Rabbo, a senior figure within the Palestine Liberation Organisation and a leading negotiator, said the peace conference expected to be held in Annapolis, Maryland, within a fortnight, was aiming at a renewed peace process based on a fresh approach to the US "road map" of 2003. » Read more

Israelis On Us Mission Ahead Of Peace Meeting ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP) by Charly Wegman - November 15, 2007 - 6:26pm Two top aides to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert flew to Washington overnight ahead of expected peace talks, amid reports of a freeze on construction of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank. The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that Olmert plans to freeze the growth of settlements as a concession to Palestinians ahead of the planned US-sponsored meeting. » Read more

White House Implores Organized Jewry To Support Peace Summit ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Nathan Guttman - November 15, 2007 - 6:25pm The Bush administration is making a last-ditch effort to push the mainstream Jewish community into action in advance of the upcoming peace summit. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made the pitch Tuesday in a high-profile speech in front of United Jewish Communities, the roof body of North America’s local federations of Jewish charities. The organization was having its annual General Assembly here. Speaking to 3,500 Jewish communal leaders, Rice said that “failure is not an option” for the upcoming summit, which is set to take place in Annapolis, Md. » Read more

Mideast-us: New Scholars Group Seen As Close To White House ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Inter Press Service (IPS) by Khody Akhavi - November 15, 2007 - 6:23pm And it boasts several big name albeit controversial scholars, among them Bernard Lewis and Fouad Ajami, two academics who advised the George W. Bush administration's policy towards the Middle East. Citing the "the increased politicisation of these fields, and the certainty that a corrupt understanding of them is a danger to the academy as well as the future of the young people it purports to educate," the newly formed Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa (ASMEA) aims to offer "dispassionate" study of the region. » Read more

What About Hamas? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Baltimore Sun (Editorial) November 15, 2007 - 6:21pm The Islamic militant group Hamas brutally put down a rally by thousands of Gazans who turned out this week to mark the third anniversary of the death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. The demonstration was a tribute to Mr. Arafat, but more important, it was also a show of support for his Fatah faction and a strong sign of Gazans' growing antipathy toward Hamas. In Gaza, though, Hamas gunmen rule, and they may well become the uninvited spoilers of the peace summit planned for Annapolis. » Read more

Palestinian Security Paradox ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by David Ignatius - (Opinion) November 15, 2007 - 6:20pm Here's a safe prediction in advance of the Annapolis peace conference scheduled to take place in a few weeks: The Palestinians won't be ready to fulfill their obligation to provide security in the West Bank under the "road map to peace." The Palestinian Authority simply doesn't have the people, the training or the equipment to maintain order in the territories. » Read more