November 23rd

Time Does Not Favor The Jewish State ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Leonard Fein - November 23, 2007 - 6:34pm Habonim Camp Moshava, which I attended as a camper many years ago, was then located on Maryland’s Severn River. The landmark (or watermark, I suppose) was significant, since the Severn was frequently infested with antisemitic jellyfish. (“Jellyfish” are actually not fish at all, since they are not vertebrates. They have no brain, either, but oh do they have tentacles, which they use to sting and even kill.) » Read more

Airtime For Israel's Arabs ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Ken Ellingwood - November 23, 2007 - 6:32pm Maram frets that she's fat. Tony says men don't care how they look. Shahd thinks nose jobs are fine. It may sound like usual talk-show blather until you consider that the three commentators are preteen children. And something far more unusual for Israeli television: They are Arabs. Every week, Maram abu Ahmad, 12; Tony Khleif, 11; and Shahd Shahbari, also 11, get together on camera with an adult host to discuss, in Arabic, their lives and views during freewheeling chats that regularly veer into the minefields of politics and identity. » Read more

Needed: A Cease-fire With Hamas, Now ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Yossi Beilin - (Opinion) November 23, 2007 - 6:27pm Hamas's victory in the Palestinian parliamentary elections in January 2006 and its violent takeover of the Gaza Strip in June were very bad news for those who believe in Israeli-Palestinian peace. But as Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization prepare to launch formal negotiations on final status -- for the first time in seven years -- Israel should seek to reach a cease-fire with Hamas as soon as possible. » Read more

Saudi Arabia To Attend Middle East Peace Meet ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press by Mohamed Abdellah, Will Rasmussen - (Opinion) November 23, 2007 - 6:25pm Saudi Arabia's foreign minister said on Friday he would attend a conference to relaunch talks on ending the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, a move that the United States and Israel hope will bolster the chances of its success. Saudi participation in the November 27 U.S.-hosted conference in Annapolis, Maryland could improve Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's ability to reach an agreement and help Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert sell it to Israelis by holding out the prospect of wider peace with the Arab world. » Read more

Pact Unlikely Before Talks In U.s., Palestinian Insists ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Isabel Kershner - November 23, 2007 - 6:23pm A senior Palestinian official said here on Thursday that it would be a “miracle” if the Palestinian and Israeli negotiating teams agreed on a joint document, as they had hoped, to present at the American-sponsored Middle East peace gathering set to start Tuesday in Annapolis, Md. But the official held out the possibility that a last-minute agreement on a short outline of intentions or principles could be reached in Washington, with help from the Bush administration, on the eve of the meeting. » Read more

November 22nd

Mushroom Soup On The Road To Annapolis ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star by Rami Khouri - (Opinion) November 22, 2007 - 10:44pm There is something unconvincing, even insincere, about the tentative steps and gestures being made by the parties trying to arrange the meeting in Annapolis, Maryland, next week to re-launch Palestinian-Israeli peace talks. It is hard to generate any real anticipation from a process in which the principal Israeli and Palestinian parties are politically weak, the American hosts are imprecise and hesitant, the supporting Arab state actors are playing hard to get, and the agenda is as clear as mushroom soup. » Read more

Proceed Steadily But Firmly ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Miftah by Caelum Moffatt - November 22, 2007 - 10:41pm After seven years of stalled negotiations between Israel and Palestine, one could possibly not presume that all problems would be solved by one summit, let alone a summit that had been penciled in just as the two old enemies had reconvened dialogue. » Read more

Reinventing The Mideast Wheel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News by George S. Hishmeh - (Opinion) November 22, 2007 - 10:40pm It is infuriating when one spends hours reviewing all the give-and-take about the perfunctory meeting in Annapolis next week to kick-start Palestinian-Israeli negotiations for a final settlement only to realise that one does not need to reinvent the wheel. All that needs to be done is there and has been available for more than 40 years! » Read more

The Measure Of Annapolis ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Lorna Fitzsimons - (Commentary) November 22, 2007 - 10:38pm Jerusalem is buzzing with activity. There is anxious speculation about the status of the joint Israeli-Palestinian declaration intended to be the centrepiece of next week's meeting in Annapolis, Maryland. Israel has announced a settlement freeze, the Palestinians are deploying troops in Nablus. With the invitations now finally issued, eyes are on who will attend - and at what level. Visiting dignitaries are doing the rounds, keen to avoid failure by showing their support. The Israeli-Palestinian peace circus is back in town. » Read more

Analysis: The Possibilities Of Annapolis ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bbc News by Jeremy Bowen - (Opinion) November 22, 2007 - 10:36pm The other day in Washington a colleague of mine asked the White House press secretary what journalists should call the Middle Eastern event that is about to happen in Annapolis. The press secretary did not offer any advice. An aide suggested "get together". Maybe the aide was being mischievous. But words like summit or peace conference are being discouraged. Expectations for the meeting in Annapolis are being minimised. If you want to be right about the Middle East, it usually pays to be pessimistic. » Read more