Farewell Tour
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Economist
December 21, 2007 - 3:33pm

George Bush is heading to the Middle East The US president, George W Bush, is planning an eight-day visit to the Middle East in early January in a bid to salvage some positive achievements from his administration's largely dismal legacy to the region. The main purpose of the visit will be to try to maintain the momentum of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process relaunched at last month's Annapolis conference. A subsidiary theme will be an effort to stiffen the resolve of the US's principal Arab allies in the face of Iran's perceived drive for regional hegemony.

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Will Donor Dollars Ensure Future State?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Miftah
by Caelum Moffatt - December 19, 2007 - 4:04pm

On December 17, the highly anticipated day-long donor’s conference commenced in Paris. The conference, brainchild of Middle East envoy Tony Blair and attended by 70 countries and 20 organizations, aimed at providing a monetary basis to reform and develop the dire economic situation in Palestine as well as to set the conditions for the creation of a secure, stable and sustainable Palestinian state.

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Much European Ado About Nothing In Palestine
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
by Rami Khouri - (Opinion) December 19, 2007 - 4:02pm

I was in Germany talking to Europeans involved in Middle East issues during the run-up to the Paris conference on Palestinian aid, which on Monday pledged $7.4 billion over three years to the Palestinian half-government headed by President Mahmoud Abbas. Europeans seem again to respond to the challenges of engaging in the Arab-Israeli conflict with their usual financial generosity and political wishful thinking.

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The Palestinians Need Peace As Well As Aid
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Telegraph
by Tim Butcher - (Opinion) December 19, 2007 - 4:00pm

There is a children's park not far from my Jerusalem home, which neatly illustrates international aid attempts to deal with the Israel-Palestine question. The playground, really only known to the Palestinian local population, was paid for by an Italian contribution, funded through the EU and constructed by the UN Development Programme, and, at first glance, all looks in order with its see-saw, slides and climbing frame. Then you notice the swings.

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Funding Mideast Hope
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Star
(Editorial) December 19, 2007 - 3:42pm

Canada and the world have just cast a vote of confidence in the Mideast peace process by pledging $7.4 billion in aid to the Palestinians at a donors conference in Paris. The show of generosity surprised Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who had asked for $2 billion less.

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Vol. 9, Issue 15
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Americans For Peace Now
by Middle East Peace Report - December 19, 2007 - 3:39pm

THE LEFT BANK: Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayad is expected to ask donor states at a conference in Paris today to pledge $5.6 billion over three years in financial assistance to help build the future Palestinian state. The Paris conference is the first forum for international states to make pledges to assist the Palestinian Authority since 1996.

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Down Payment On Mideast Peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
(Editorial) December 19, 2007 - 3:07pm

The political and territorial challenges facing Israeli and Palestinian peace negotiators are formidable and familiar. The economic obstacles to the creation of a viable Palestinian state are also formidable, but easier to make a dent in — if all the donors who claim to care about the Palestinians and peace live up to their promises.

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Annapolis Gains Momentum
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Gershon Baskin - December 18, 2007 - 12:36pm

There is great public skepticism regarding the outcome of the Annapolis meeting. Many of the skeptics state that at the end of the day, it was little more than a photo-op for the principals - Bush, Olmert and Abbas - and that it produced no real substance. The failure of the parties to produce a joint statement that contained any content on the principles for resolving the core issues for permanent status, for some, points to the Annapolis meeting as a failure.

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Roadblocks Counter Funding
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
(Editorial) December 18, 2007 - 12:35pm

When Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni declared in Paris on Sunday that "a developed Palestinian economy is in Israel's interest," we can assume that she meant that it is also in the interest of the Palestinians. After all, it is for the Palestinian, not the Israeli interest that more than 90 representatives of states and organizations gathered in order to express their willingness to contribute to the economic development of Palestine.

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Blair's Uphill Battle To Revive Palestinian Economy
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Ian Black - (Special Report) December 18, 2007 - 12:26pm

It was hard to avoid the obvious seasonal message when Tony Blair, briefly playing the tourist, stayed overnight in Bethlehem recently: yes, there was room at the inn in the little West Bank town, a rare public vote of confidence in prospects for the Palestinian economy. Britain's former prime minister has been travelling incessantly since becoming the representative of the "Quartet" of Middle East peacemakers in the summer, and generally keeping a low profile.

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