October 22nd

To Tony Blair, Institution Builder ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Daoud Kuttab - (Opinion) October 22, 2007 - 10:09am As former British prime minister Tony Blair takes on his latest challenge as the envoy of the Quartet, there are a number of important challenges that he faces. Because of the restrictions on his ability to work on the larger political process, I am suggesting three challenges that are within his new job description. Two of these have to do solely with the Palestinians and one with the Israelis. » Read more

Too Little, Too Late ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News by George S. Hishmeh - (Opinion) October 22, 2007 - 10:07am Unlike the Magi of Biblical times who came from the Orient, two American "kings" are visiting the Middle East this month bearing expensive gifts and rewards to the various rulers in the region provided they will back the Bush administration's controversial, if not discredited, policies in the region. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of Defence Robert Gates are this week offering more than $60 billion in American weaponry to the governments of Israel, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain. » Read more

Olmert And Abbas 'to Discuss Palestinian State' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Times by David Byers - October 22, 2007 - 10:05am Israeli and Palestinian leaders will enter into negotiations on the "fundamental issues" leading to the creation of a future Palestinian state at a Middle East peace conference to be held this autumn, Condoleezza Rice disclosed today. The US Secretary of State told a West Bank press conference that Ehud Olmert, the Israeli Prime Minister, whom she met yesterday, had said he was ready to work with the Palestinians to discuss the contours of a future state. » Read more

A New History Lesson In Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from International Herald Tribune by Rami G. Khouri - (Opinion) October 22, 2007 - 9:59am BEIRUT: Here's a little event that may have big implications. The Israeli education ministry has approved a textbook for Arab third graders in Israel that for the first time describes the 1948 war that gave birth to the state of Israel as a "catastrophe" for the indigenous Palestinians and their society. The Palestinians have always referred to 1948 as their nakba, or catastrophic national shattering, dispersal, exile, occupation and disenfranchisement. » Read more

Saudis Courted For Proposed Mideast Summit ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Nathan Guttman - October 22, 2007 - 9:47am As the Bush administration begins pushing aggressively for a new Middle East peace conference this fall, there is already a significant gap among Arab, Israeli and American diplomats about what the conference should attempt to achieve. » Read more

Israel Pushing Gaza Toward Starvation - Abbas Aide ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Muklis Ali - October 22, 2007 - 9:46am Israel's siege of the Gaza Strip is pushing Palestinians toward starvation, a close aide of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Thursday. Nabil Shaath, who is visiting Indonesia as a special envoy for Abbas, said Gaza needed humanitarian assistance and appealed to the international community to help end Israel's siege. » Read more

Murdoch, Son Differ Sharply Over Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Sun by Josh Gerstein - October 22, 2007 - 9:40am The pro-Israel outlook of the Wall Street Journal and many News Corp. outlets could waver if one of Rupert Murdoch's sons, James Murdoch, takes the helm of the publishing and broadcasting company, a new book suggests. » Read more

Secretary Rice's Mideast Mission: Contain Iran ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Rasheed Abou-alsamh, Dan Murphy - October 22, 2007 - 9:36am US secretaries of Defense and State are using their high-profile meetings this week with Arab and Israeli leaders, in part to herald a new Bush administration strategy toward Iran: cold war-style containment. The trip comes on the heels of a US proposal to offer $20 billion in military aid to Arab Gulf states (mostly Saudi Arabia) and a $30 billion package for Israel. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice did not mask the purpose of the deal when she called Iran “the single most important single-country challenge to ... US interests in the Middle East.” » Read more

Rice: Israel Ready For Palestinian Talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press by Anne Gearan - October 22, 2007 - 9:33am Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Thursday that Israel is ready to discuss "fundamental issues" with Palestinians who are now governed by leaders accepted by the Jewish state and the West. Still, she left the agenda for any peace talks vague. The top U.S. diplomat, making her first visit to Israel and the occupied West Bank since Palestinian leadership was cleaved into rival governments, also promised that a proposed U.S.-sponsored Mideast conference this fall would be a serious push toward a peace agreement. » Read more

Saudi Arabia Says It May Meet Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by David S. Cloud, Helene Cooper - October 22, 2007 - 9:31am Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister said Wednesday that his country would consider attending President Bush’s planned Israeli-Palestinian peace conference in the fall, which would put Saudi officials publicly at the same table as their Israeli counterparts for the first time since 1991. » Read more