Us 'wants Palestinian State Now'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bbc News
October 16, 2007 - 12:48pm

The US secretary of state has said it is time for a Palestinian state to be founded, and that the US will put its full weight behind such efforts. Condoleezza Rice said reaching a two-state solution was a priority for her and US President George Bush. Ms Rice was speaking from the West Bank, where she has been trying to get agreement for a peace summit in the US. Meanwhile the Israeli PM has hinted he may consider giving up Palestinian districts in Jerusalem in a peace deal.

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Us Presses Palestinians And Israel To Find Common Ground
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Ian Black - (Special Report) October 16, 2007 - 12:46pm

 The US yesterday urged Israel and the Palestinians to work to overcome their differences before an international conference next month even as a top UN expert lambasted the "Quartet" of Middle East peacemakers for failing to promote Palestinian rights.

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Rice Seeks To Marginalize Hamas
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Ashraf Khalil - October 16, 2007 - 12:39pm

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Monday expressed hope that a successfully negotiated vision of a Palestinian state would marginalize the militant group Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip.

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The Israeli Right Has A Peace Plan
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Letter From Israel/antiwar.com
by Ran Hacohen - (Blog) October 16, 2007 - 12:36pm

While the world holds its breath in anticipation of the Mideast Summit in Annapolis – which, no doubt, will constitute a historic landmark, giving a most significant boost to the economy of that small town in Maryland – the Israeli right wing comes up with a new peace initiative, launched by MK Benny Elon, chairman of the National Union and the Moledet Party, as "The Israeli Initiative," "a new way of thinking about the conflict, in learning from our mistakes, and in rereading the regional map toward a revitalized and genuine quest to achiev

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Rice Pushes Mideast Parties On Plan To Revive Peace Talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Michael Abramowitz - October 16, 2007 - 12:26pm

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice pressed Israelis and Palestinians on Monday to compromise on a plan to jump-start peace negotiations, describing the ending of their long conflict as one of the top goals of President Bush in the 15 months he has left in office.

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Declarations Of A United Jerusalem Are Just Empty Slogans In A De Facto Divided Jerusalem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Yossi Beilin - (Opinion) October 15, 2007 - 3:39pm

Two weeks ago a young journalist, Daniel Ofir, reported a story on "Hot News" that ought to have created quite a storm: The Palestinian Authority is paving a highway inside Israel's sovereign territory in "united" Jerusalem, our eternal capital. The highway begins in the Atarot area and passes through the Kafr Akab neighborhood in Jerusalem along 2.6 kilometers inside the sovereign territory of united Jerusalem, and ends in Ramallah.

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Colonization And A Mediator's Bias Remain The Death Knells Of Peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
(Editorial) October 15, 2007 - 3:20pm

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in the Middle East over the weekend to try and prod the parties into attending the planned Arab-Israeli gathering in Annapolis next month. Her arrival coincided with the 13th anniversary of the Nobel Peace Prize that was awarded to the late Yasser Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin, and to Shimon Peres. The Oslo Accords that Arafat, Rabin and Peres signed in 1993 were a breakthrough in their day; but they never achieved their promise.

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Blair Admits He Is Shocked By Discrimination On The West Bank
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent
by Donald Macintyre - October 15, 2007 - 3:19pm

While his aides munched tuna bagels thoughtfully provided by the Israeli military, a shirt-sleeved Tony Blair peered intently at a map showing the two main cargo crossing-points that will function between the West Bank and Israel once the 450-mile separation barrier between them is complete. Why, Mr Blair wanted to know from his host, an Israeli general in civvies, couldn't goods also be moved directly across the border from the nearby Palestinian industrial park that he is pressing Israel to approve?

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Condoleezza Rice Warns Israelis Over Land Grab
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Times
by Carolynne Wheeler - October 15, 2007 - 3:15pm

Condoleezza Rice gave a warning yesterday that progress would be slow as the US Secretary of State embarked on a round of shuttle diplomacy in the Middle East in advance of a peace conference next month. Progress on a joint statement on Palestinian statehood, the framework of the US-hosted conference in Annapolis, Maryland, is still so limited that invitations have yet to be issued, and Dr Rice conceded yesterday that the coming days were unlikely to produce any significant breakthroughs.

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Israel Signals Readiness To Cede Parts Of Jerusalem To Palestinians
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Mark Tran - (Special Report) October 15, 2007 - 3:13pm

The Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, today signalled his readiness to give up parts of Jerusalem to the Palestinians in an apparent concession ahead of a US-sponsored peace conference. Mr Olmert noted that Israel had built a series of thriving Jewish neighbourhoods in east Jerusalem, but signalled that Israel's control of Arab areas was not necessary.

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