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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The Demographic Argument Is Inherently Racist
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Hanan Ashrawi - (Interview) December 18, 2007 - 12:34pm

bitterlemons: Israel's demand to be recognized as a "Jewish state" at Annapolis caused an uproar among Palestinians. This doesn't seem like a new demand, so why the uproar?

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The Military Option Failed
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
(Editorial) December 17, 2007 - 1:26pm

The rain of Qassam rockets on Sderot and other communities in the western Negev has developed into a dangerous routine. This is not just because of the harm to people and property, but because of the growing feeling that Israel sees this strip of land's fate as sealed. To repel this feeling, and especially the accusation that the state is doing nothing to defend its citizens, the Israel Defense Forces and government are disseminating a counterthreat. For weeks, they have been saying that a major assault on Gaza is nearing - a huge blow that will end the Qassam plague once and for all.

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The Viable Two-state Solution?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Miftah
by Caelum Moffatt - (Analysis) December 17, 2007 - 1:26pm

Following the summit in Annapolis, Benjamin Netanyahu, leader of the Likud opposition party in Israel declared in reference to the Israeli / Palestinian peace process, “if it’s not broken, don’t fix it”.

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How They Stole The Bomb
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
by Uri Avnery - December 13, 2007 - 1:04pm

It was like an atom bomb falling on Israel. The earth shook. Our political and military leaders were all in shock. The headlines screamed with rage. What happened? A real catastrophe: the American intelligence community, comprising 16 different agencies, reached a unanimous verdict: already in 2003, the Iranians terminated their efforts to produce a nuclear bomb, and they have not resumed them since. Even if they change their mind in the future, they will need at least five years to achieve their aim.

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Politics: U.s. Jews Tilt Rightwards On Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Inter Press Service (IPS)
by Jim Lobe - December 13, 2007 - 12:59pm

U.S. Jews appear to have become more opposed both to Israel's making key concessions in renewed peace talks with Palestinians and to the U.S. carrying out a military attack against Iran's nuclear facilities, according to the latest in an annual series of surveys of Jewish opinion released here this week by the American Jewish Committee (AJC).

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Prerequisites For Peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Baltimore Sun
by Mustafa Barghouthi - December 13, 2007 - 12:58pm

As one who for decades has supported a two-state solution and the nonviolent struggle for Palestinian rights, I view the recent conference in Annapolis with a great deal of skepticism - and a glimmer of hope. Seven years with no negotiations - and increasing numbers of Israeli settlers, an economic blockade in Gaza and an intricate network of roadblocks and checkpoints stifling movement in the West Bank - have led us to despair and distrust. Any commitment must be made not only to conclude an agreement before the end of 2008 but also to end Israel's occupation.

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Hamas - If We Can Kill Them, We Can Talk To Them
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Bradley Burston - (Opinion) December 12, 2007 - 5:39pm

Call their bluff. Hamas this week inched one notch further toward some form of accommodation with a reality it cannot bring itself to stomach. Israel should do no less. In an open letter to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Ahmed Youssef, senior political advisor to Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, wrote at the weekend that the Bush administration cannot at once "preach about exporting democracy in Iraq and Afghanistan and ignore the democratic process in Palestine."

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Meet The Neo-cons' Neo-con
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Australian
by Greg Sheridan - December 12, 2007 - 5:23pm

Occasionally  you recognise that you are in the presence of human greatness. I had that experience this week in Jerusalem when I went to interview Natan Sharansky. Sharansky was one of the most famous dissidents and refuseniks of the Soviet Union. Refuseniks were Russian Jews who wanted to live as Jews and migrate to Israel. They were prevented from doing either of these things by the harsh, totalitarian Soviet system.

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Israel's Palestinians Speak Out
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Nation
by Nadim Rouhana - December 12, 2007 - 5:19pm

The Annapolis peace talks regard me as an interloper in my own land. Israel's deputy prime minister, Avigdor Lieberman, argues that I should "take [my] bundles and get lost." Henry Kissinger thinks I ought to be summarily swapped from inside Israel to the would-be Palestinian state.

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