November 1st

'fence Driving Christians Out Of Holy Land' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Matthew Wagner - (Blog) November 1, 2007 - 2:47pm Socioeconomic hardships caused by the West Bank security barrier are contributing to the decline in the Christian population in the Holy Land, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams, said in an interview with The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday. "I recently met with Christians in Bethlehem, people by no means extreme, and they told of the daily burdens driving in and out of the city that were created by the wall," Williams said by telephone during a break in his 24-hour visit to these parts. » Read more

From Payer To Player In The Middle East ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star by El - Hassan Bin Talal - (Commentary) November 1, 2007 - 2:45pm The European Union's policy in the Middle East is the litmus test of its common foreign and security policy. Many Europeans share this belief, but, as the EU considers entering the fray of Middle East peace talks, it must respond to former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's jibe that in the region "you are payers, not players." » Read more

America And Gaza In Darkness ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News by George S. Hishmeh - November 1, 2007 - 2:43pm Although the Bush administration may be on the verge of taking a big leap forward in paving the way for a Palestinian-Israeli settlement, brewing for nearly 60 years, none of the US presidential candidates have yet bothered to make any noteworthy comment about the upcoming Mideast peace meeting in Annapolis at the end of November. » Read more

Old Rivals Team Up To Win Saudi Backing For Peace Talks On The Middle East ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Times by Richard Beeston - (Editorial) November 1, 2007 - 2:42pm Gordon Brown and Tony Blair teamed up yesterday to try to salvage a planned Middle East peace conference in America by clinching Saudi Arabia’s attendance. According to British officials, first the Prime Minister and then his predecessor met King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia yesterday. It was made clear at the meetings that the country’s participation was crucial for what is being billed as the best chance for peace in the region for seven years. » Read more

Middle Eastern Links: In Place Of A Boycott... ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent November 1, 2007 - 2:41pm When the university and college lecturers' union, the UCU, voted at its conference in May this year to have a debate on an academic boycott of Israel, all hell broke loose. British academia was criticised by many commentators in the UK, and by professors around the world, for anti-Semitism and for inhibiting the free flow of ideas. » Read more

The Siege Of Gaza Is Going To Lead To A Violent Escalation ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Seumas Milne - (Commentary) November 1, 2007 - 2:40pm There is, it seems, an unbridgeable gap between the western world's apparent recognition of the dangers of Palestinian suffering and its commitment to do anything whatever to stop it. This week the collective punishment of the people of Gaza reached a new level, as Israel began to choke off essential fuel supplies to its one and a half million people in retaliation for rockets fired by Palestinian resistance groups. A plan to cut power supplies has only been put on hold till the end of the week by the intervention of Israel's attorney general. » Read more

A Mis-step On The Path To Middle East Peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Financial Times by Jon B. Alterman - (Commentary) November 1, 2007 - 2:38pm Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, is bringing the wrong people together in Annapolis, near Washington, in November. Belatedly deciding that the time has come for the Bush administration to put energy and focus into Arab-Israeli peacemaking, her effort to gather Israeli and Palestinian leaders and whatever other dignitaries will join her is not only too little, too late. It is also the wrong thing to do. » Read more

Bipartisan Foreign Policy Leaders On Annapolis Conference ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Prospectsforpeace.com by Daniel Levy - (Blog) November 1, 2007 - 2:29pm Below is the full text of a letter just released to President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as part of an effort supported by the U.S./Middle East Project, Inc., the International Crisis Group, and the New America Foundation/American Strategy Program. The letter is signed by Zbigniew Brzezinski, Lee H. Hamilton, Carla Hills , Nancy Kassebaum-Baker, Thomas R. Pickering, Brent Scowcroft, Theodore C. Sorensen and Paul Volcker. It is an initiative that I am very involved with and keen to encourage. » Read more

From Generation To Generation ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Inter Press Service (IPS) by Jim Lobe - (Blog) November 1, 2007 - 2:26pm Worth noting this past week is an op-ed published on National Review Online by David Feith and Andrew M. Steinberg on why the recent appeal by “some giants of the American political establishment” — namely, “Zbigniew Brzezinski, Brent Scowcroft, Lee Hamilton, and other former high-ranking officials” — for the U.S. » Read more

Carter’s Efforts To Mend Ties With Community Get Cold Shoulder ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Nathan Guttman - November 1, 2007 - 2:21pm Jimmy Carter’s newest efforts to repair relations with the Jewish community were rebuffed not once but twice last week — and at the very highest levels. Carter’s first outreach effort came in an invitation to Jewish groups to discuss ways that the former president could help make the upcoming Middle East peace conference a success. While Carter invited most of the major Jewish organizations, the event was only attended by representatives of the Reform movement and by several smaller dovish Jewish groups. » Read more