December 4th

The Lobby Strikes Back ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The American Conservative by Scott Mcconnell - December 4, 2007 - 2:02pm One prism through which to gauge the impact of John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt’s The Israel Lobby and American Foreign Policy is a September incident involving Barack Obama. His campaign had placed small ads in various spots around the Internet, designed to drive readers to its website. One turned up on Amazon’s page for the Walt and Mearsheimer book. A vigilant watchdog at the New York Sun spotted it and contacted the campaign: Did Obama support Walt and Mearsheimer? » Read more

December 3rd

Talk Less, Do More ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Michal Radoshitzky - (Opinion) December 3, 2007 - 4:25pm “The international circumstances that were created, specifically at this time, allow you and us to take a courageous step, which involves the need to make painful compromises and forgo those dreams which were part of our national ethos for so many years, and to open a new chapter offering hope for a better life for all of us.” (Prime Minster Ehud Olmert, speaking at the official memorial ceremony for David Ben-Gurion, November 27, 2006.) » Read more

Lieberman's Cigar Test ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Akiva Eldar - December 3, 2007 - 4:24pm While MKs from all the parties crowded into the Knesset cafeteria to watch the television broadcasts from Annapolis, Strategic Affairs Minister Avigdor Lieberman pushed aside the sign that bans smoking in the sitting room at the end of the main auditorium. It was clear he did not care a bit about the controversy over the joint declaration's content. Nor did the decision to begin accelerated talks about a final-status agreement arouse much excitement in right-wing circles, inside and outside the coalition. » Read more

The Thing About Annapolis ... ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News by Osama Al Sharif - (Special Report) December 3, 2007 - 4:23pm Sixteen years is a long time in politics. But that is the gap that now separates the Madrid Middle East peace conference, called for by President George Bush Sr and the Annapolis meeting, which convened last week under the patronage of his son. To underline the size of the gap between the two events one is reminded that all the key players have changed; passed on or retired. The world has evolved dramatically and the core issue of the conflict in the Middle East has become even more complicated. » Read more

Israel Errs In Trying To Impose Its Jewish Identity ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star by Shulamit Aloni - (Opinion) December 3, 2007 - 4:21pm Jews are a people but not a nation; they are a religious ethnic group or as respected a tribe as may be. The Jewish citizens of Britain, including the orthodox, are British, and that is what is written in their passports and in the British population registry. » Read more

Peace Summit: 'if These Talks Fail, We Will All Be In Deep Trouble' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent by Donald Macintyre - December 3, 2007 - 4:20pm Wael Mansour watched the Annapolis conference on al-Arabiya television last week in the barely furnished three-room Gaza home he shares with his wife, mother and five children. Did he think the proceedings – intended to clinch the start of a year of peace negotiations – will do any good? "Inshallah [God willing]," said Mr Mansour, 32. "I hope to get out of what we are in. We are in deep trouble." » Read more

Big Turnout, Small Result ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Economist December 3, 2007 - 4:18pm THEY almost didn't make it, but in the last hour Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, and Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, agreed on a joint statement. Four months of preliminary talks had failed to produce what Mr Abbas and Condoleezza Rice, the American secretary of state, had hoped to brandish at this week's peace summit in Annapolis: an agreement to predetermine some aspects of the final-status deal that would ultimately create a Palestinian state next to Israel. In the end, Ms Rice had to settle for less, but the Palestinians and Israelis did agree two things. » Read more

Vol. 9, Issue 13 ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Americans For Peace Now by Middle East Peace Report - (Special Report) December 3, 2007 - 4:17pm   » Read more

Gaza Traffic Grinds To Halt As Fuel Cuts Bite ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Nidal Al-mughrabi - December 3, 2007 - 4:15pm Traffic in the Gaza Strip slowed to a trickle on Monday and some medical centres scaled back treatment as Israeli import cuts hit fuel supplies in the Hamas-run territory. Many petrol stations in Gaza closed and most private cars and taxis and buses stayed off the streets. Gazans said they were avoiding unnecessary journeys and some were struggling with their daily commutes. » Read more

Bush Draws Skepticism With Hands-off Approach To Mideast ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Paul Richter - December 3, 2007 - 4:13pm President Bush last week laid out an American role in the upcoming Mideast peace talks that challenges the accumulated wisdom of former secretaries of State Henry Kissinger and James A. Baker III and Presidents Carter and Clinton. But sticking to his plan, which calls for a carefully limited U.S. role, may be harder than the president thinks, say current and former diplomats who have wrestled with the issue. » Read more