Israel Fails To Demolish West Bank Buildings
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Telegraph
by Carolynne Wheeler - December 5, 2007 - 4:56pm

The Israeli army has followed up on only three per cent of its own orders to demolish illegal buildings in Jewish settlements in the West Bank over the last decade, a study says. The report by Peace Now, an Israeli settlement watchdog, follows pledges by the Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, to freeze new construction in settlements. Israel also faces increasing pressure to dismantle illegal outposts in preparation for negotiations toward the founding of a Palestinian state.

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Darkness Surrounds Spotlight On Peace Talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Inter Press Service (IPS)
by William Fisher - December 5, 2007 - 4:54pm

Most of those representing Middle East and North African nations at the Nov. 27 conference appear to endorse the idea of a "two-state solution" to the decades-old conflict: a separate and contiguous Palestinian state living in peace alongside Israel. But Arab delegates to Annapolis -- including Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia and Yemen -- have had little to say about the nature of the state that may emerge from negotiations set to begin soon between Israel and the Palestinians.

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The Failure Of Annapolis
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy In Focus
by Stephen Zunes - (Commentary) December 5, 2007 - 4:51pm

Despite the best efforts by the Bush administration of putting a positive spin on the recently-completed summit in Annapolis to restart the “Performance-Based Road Map to Peace,” there is little reason to expect that it will actually move the Israeli-Palestinian peace process forward as long as the United States insists on simultaneously playing the role of chief mediator and chief supporter of the more powerful of the two parties.

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Israel Plans New Homes In East Jerusalem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Mark Lavie - December 5, 2007 - 4:45pm

Israel announced plans Tuesday to build more than 300 new homes in a disputed east Jerusalem neighborhood, drawing quick Palestinian condemnation that the move will undermine newly revived peace talks. The new housing would expand Har Homa, a Jewish neighborhood in an area Palestinians claim as capital of a future state. Palestinian officials appealed to the U.S. to block the project, but Israel says a pledge to halt settlement activity does not apply anywhere in the holy city.

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New Har Homa Settlement Expansion Undermines New Peace Efforts and Future Negotiations
Press Release - Contact Information: Hussein Ibish - December 5, 2007 - 1:00am

Washington, DC, December 6 -- The American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) expressed grave concern today about reports that the Israeli government has invited bids to build more than 300 new housing units in the Har Homa settlement in occupied East Jerusalem.


Pray For Success, Because Israel Will Pay The Price Of Annapolis Failure
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Gershon Baskin - (Opinion) December 4, 2007 - 2:22pm

The Annapolis process is on its way. This week the permanent status negotiations will formally commence. On December 17 the international community will be convening in Paris to launch the second pillar of the process by committing hundreds of millions of dollars to rebuilding the Palestinian economy and supporting Palestinian institution development. Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian Prime Minister Salaam Fayed together with Israeli and Palestinian security officials are already deeply engaged in beginning to implement the Palestinian obligations of the Road Map.

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Analysis: After Annapolis
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bbc News
by Jeremy Bowen - (Editorial) December 4, 2007 - 2:17pm

The sun was going down over Chesapeake Bay last Tuesday as the Middle East diplomatic circus left the US Naval Academy in Annapolis. The Israeli and Palestinian delegations headed for home, by way of Washington DC, and more meetings with President Bush. Since the summer, just getting to Annapolis and not letting the meeting become a disaster has been the main focus of American policy towards the two sides.

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Peace Talks Back From The Dead
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Speigel International
by Ralf Beste, Christoph Schult , Bernhard Zand - December 4, 2007 - 2:16pm

Peace in the Middle East has been but a faint glimmer on the horizon since the 2000 Camp David talks failed. But now, both the Israelis and Palestinians say they are once again committed to reaching an agreement. But it might depend on their neighbors. A Palestinian member of the Fatah Movement watches the Annapolis summit on television last week.

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Mideast: Olmert Walks Razor's Edge In Peace Talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Inter Press Service (IPS)
by Peter Hirschberg - (Analysis) December 4, 2007 - 2:06pm

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has issued a dire warning to his people. Failure to reach a negotiated two-state settlement with the Palestinians, he has declared, will mean the end of the State of Israel.

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Policy Surge Key To Mideast Peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Boston Globe
by H.d.s. Greenway - (Opinion) December 4, 2007 - 2:06pm

IT OFTEN takes electric shock treatment to get the Middle East off its dead center of inertia. The lightning success of the first Gulf war in 1991 produced just that, unsettling all the old presumptions.

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