The Pro-israel Consensus Shifts ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Israel Policy Forum by M.J. Rosenberg - (Opinion) December 11, 2007 - 1:36pm Good news. Some of the more conservative American Jewish institutions are coming around to acceptance of the two-state solution, ending the occupation, and sharing Jerusalem. It’s about time. The overwhelming majority of Israelis and Jewish Americans favor those positions and eventually the more status quo-oriented organizations had to catch up—especially now that the Israeli government asserts that it finally has a genuine Palestinian partner. » Read more

Palestinians To Urge Settlement Freeze At Talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Wafa Amr - December 11, 2007 - 1:34pm Palestinians will attend peace talks this week despite a plan by Israel to build new homes on occupied land, but will focus on demanding a settlement freeze, senior Palestinian officials said on Tuesday. Israeli and Palestinian negotiators are due to meet on Wednesday two weeks after their leaders relaunched long-stalled peace talks at a U.S.-hosted conference in Annapolis, Maryland. » Read more

Starting The Peace Process ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times (Editorial) December 11, 2007 - 1:33pm Israelis and Palestinians are supposed to begin serious negotiations tomorrow after last month’s long-on-optics, short-on-specifics Annapolis peace meeting. Despite all the smiles and handshakes, both sides went home and fell back into some familiar, counterproductive patterns.   If this effort has any chance of success, everyone who attended Annapolis — including the Americans and Arab leaders — are going to have to work a lot harder at breaking those patterns. » Read more

Gazans’ Passage To Mecca Seen As An Insult To Abbas ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Isabel Kershner - December 11, 2007 - 1:33pm What appeared to have been a decision by Egypt and Saudi Arabia to cooperate with Hamas rather than with the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, in allowing 2,000 people to leave Gaza last week for a pilgrimage to Mecca is causing friction in Palestinian, Israeli and Western circles. Some officials said the move was an insult to Mr. Abbas, a moderate. Only two weeks ago, Egyptian, Saudi and other international representatives gathered in Annapolis, Md., to support him and the embryonic Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts. » Read more