November 6th

Should American Jews Have A Voice In Shaping Israel's Policies? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Shmuel Rosner - (Blog) November 6, 2007 - 1:00pm 1. The debate, or you might want to call it a war, over the role American Jews should play in Israeli politics is about to enter yet another round. » Read more

Fatah And Hamas: The Division Continues… ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat by Kifah Zaboun - November 6, 2007 - 12:58pm When Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip last June; it emerged as a strong victorious army while Fatah was weak and defeated. Palestinians were awestruck by the force and speed of Hamas’s military takeover and believed that the already fragmented Fatah had been dealt a severe blow from which it would not recover. Meanwhile, others believed that the Gaza takeover represented the deadly blow for the victorious Hamas, which had fallen into the Gaza trap. » Read more

Misguided Priorities ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times November 6, 2007 - 12:57pm Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni recently told US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that her country’s security comes ahead of the establishment of the Palestinian state. Livni cannot be more wrong. Her perception of realities and her grasp of politics, as expressed in these utterances, show poor statesmanship. » Read more

Repeating The Same Mistakes ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons by Ghassan Khatib - (Opinion) November 6, 2007 - 12:56pm The Syrian connection to the current American initiative on the Middle East to convene a political meeting at Annapolis in the autumn is a good illustration of its deteriorating value. » Read more

Annapolis: Behind The Scenes ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Le Monde Diplomatique by Dominique Vidal - November 6, 2007 - 12:55pm “It’s time for the establishment of a Palestinian state,” announced US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice after a visit to the Middle East on 15 October. She claimed President George Bush had decided to make ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict “one of the highest priorities of his administration”. » Read more

Patriarchs, Property, And Politics In Jerusalem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent by Donald Macintyre - November 6, 2007 - 12:54pm His Beatitude, Theophilus III, "Patriarch of the Holy City of Jerusalem and all Palestine, Syria, beyond the Jordan River, Cana of Galilee, and Holy Zion" – to give him his full and ancient title – is nothing if not hospitable. » Read more

Israel’s Economic Growth Defies Experts ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Financial Times by Tobias Buck - November 6, 2007 - 12:52pm While Israeli and Palestinian negotiators grope their way towards a US-sponsored peace meeting in Annapolis later this year, investors and economists are struggling with a different problem: how to justify the strength of the Israeli economy. Last year’s botched war in Lebanon, the escalating conflict with Islamist militants in the Gaza Strip, the threat of Iran’s nuclear programme and the weakness of an unpopular and fractious government at home – nothing has so far managed to throw the economy off its high-speed track. » Read more

The Art Of The Possible ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National Interest by Lee H. Hamilton - (Opinion) November 6, 2007 - 12:50pm AMERICAN FOREIGN policy confronts a basic paradox. The United States stands alone as the world’s most powerful nation, with the strongest military, the largest economy, the highest level of technological capacity and the most extensive cultural influence around the world. Even after the setbacks of recent years, no other single power or grouping of states comes close to matching the United States. And yet America’s ability to accomplish things abroad has rarely—in recent memory—seemed so limited. Why? » Read more

Rice Sounds Optimistic Tone As She Leaves Mideast ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Ashraf Khalil - November 6, 2007 - 12:47pm As U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice wrapped up her latest Middle East mission, Palestinian officials acknowledged Monday that a timetable to finish negotiations leading to establishment of a Palestinian state will not be finalized before an upcoming U.S.-sponsored peace conference. But Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, after meeting with Rice in the West Bank city of Ramallah, said negotiations carry their own nonnegotiable deadline: the end of President Bush's term in January 2009. » Read more

Stakes Are High At Annapolis ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) by Leslie Susser - November 6, 2007 - 12:46pm In the final run-up to the Annapolis peace parley, leaders on all sides are emphasizing the burning need for success and the potentially huge price of failure. Although the focus is on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, all the main players see it as only a small part of a much bigger regional drama: the ongoing battle for regional sway between the moderate Middle Eastern camp, led by America, and the radicals, led by Iran. » Read more