Annapolis: A View From Amman
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Open Democracy
by El Hassan Bin Talal - (Commentary) November 28, 2007 - 3:52pm

The middle-east conference to be convened in Annapolis, Maryland on 27 November 2007 must, if it is to be effective, be conceived as a return to a peace-building process whose objective is to realise a permanent solution to the Israeli-Palestinian impasse.

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After Annapolis
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Boston Globe
(Editorial) November 28, 2007 - 3:46pm

No document with principles for a peace accord was signed yesterday in Annapolis, Md., where envoys from 46 countries joined Israeli and Palestinian leaders and President Bush at a gathering meant to launch negotiations on a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. So the Annapolis event can only be judged by what follows it. If yesterday's meeting is to become something more than another missed opportunity for Mideast peace, Israelis, Palestinians, and Americans will have to persevere until they forge a just and durable peace agreement.

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History, Mistrust Hobble Mideast Leaders
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Richard Bourdreaux - November 28, 2007 - 3:39pm

The peace talks launched by the Israeli and Palestinian leaders Tuesday face a daunting array of obstacles. They will be overseen by two men who are weakened by extremists at home and speak for peoples whose attitudes toward each other have hardened since the last effort collapsed nearly seven years ago. Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian Authority president, controls only part of his would-be state. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's coalition government faces a threatened walkout by right-wing parties that could bring it down.

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Mideast Peace Gets New Push
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Howard Lafranchi - November 28, 2007 - 3:35pm

Saying "now is precisely the right time to launch" negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians, President Bush told the Annapolis peace conference Tuesday that the choice now is stark: between peace based on two democratic states, and extremism and violence.

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Gathering Israelis And Arabs May Have Been The Real Feat
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Michael Abramowitz - November 28, 2007 - 3:33pm

Grinning broadly, President Bush extended his arms around Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and pulled them together for a group photo yesterday on the grounds of the Naval Academy in Annapolis.

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Starting From Annapolis
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
(Editorial) November 28, 2007 - 3:31pm

The American-led Annapolis peace conference achieved the minimum — a pledge by Israel and the Palestinians to begin immediate negotiations with a goal of reaching a peace treaty by the end of 2008. We are encouraged that President Bush, best known for waging war in Iraq, has finally accepted the challenge of peacemaker. An agreement would give Palestinians their long-promised homeland and help make Israel more secure. It could also diminish the appeal of Islamic extremists and begin to repair America’s battered reputation in the Muslim world.

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Threat To Israel From Within Not Without
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
by Linda S. Heard - (Opinion) November 27, 2007 - 2:03pm

Israelis are concerned about Iran's nuclear programme, which they believe is an existential threat. Supporting this argument they misquote the Iranian president as saying he wants to wipe Israel off the map. They are right to be worried but their concerns are misplaced. Israel's continued existence as a Jewish state may be in the balance but this has nothing to do with Iran.

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Short On Peace, Long On Process
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al Jazeera English
by Marwan Bishara - (Analysis) November 27, 2007 - 2:02pm

Hosted by the US president and supported by Arab, European and other foreign ministers, Palestinian and Israeli leaders are expected to re-launch their long stalled negotiations in Annapolis on Tuesday. Judging from its high attendance and low expectations, Annapolis is more likely to help three sitting ducks, Olmert, Abbas and Bush, than advance the cause of peace in the Middle East.

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What The Annapolis Summit Lacks Is Willpower
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Telegraph
by Tim Butcher - (Opinion) November 27, 2007 - 2:01pm

America puts on a good Middle East peace summit. It must be all the practice, but whether up in the hilly presidential retreat of Camp David, in the Rose Garden outside the White House or, as will take place today, in the grounds of the United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, you can be sure of a good show.

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Annapolis And A History Of Abject Failure
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Financial Times
by Gideon Rachman - (Commentary) November 27, 2007 - 1:39pm

Last time I visited Jerusalem, I sat down with a colleague and tried to see how many Middle East peace plans and conferences we could list. Within a couple of minutes we had scribbled down Venice, Madrid, Oslo, Camp David I, Camp David II, Taba, the Rogers plan, the Annan plan, the Reagan plan, the Tenet plan, the Saudi plan, the Mitchell report, the Geneva accord and the road map. I have lost the beer mat on which I was keeping the minutes of our discussions – so I apologise if I have missed some out. But you get the general point. The record is not encouraging.

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