The Deal On The Table
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Jackson Diehl - (Opinion) October 22, 2007 - 1:08pm

An enduring paradox of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is that the outline of a two-state peace settlement -- that is, the points Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is pressing the two sides to write down in time for a November conference -- is readily apparent to anyone with a commitment to pragmatism and a good map. In fact, various groups of Israelis and Palestinians have already spelled them out and agreed to them on multiple occasions in the past 15 years. An Israeli cabinet voted to endorse the basic deal nearly seven years ago.

»

On The Road To Nowhere, Merchants Pay The Toll
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Scott Wilson - October 22, 2007 - 1:06pm

From the Zeituna Restaurant to the Basel Furniture store, business once thrived along the road that runs through this Palestinian village, conducted in a language no longer spoken here.

»

Olmert And Peres: Palestinian State On 100% Of West Bank Area, With Swaps
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Akiva Eldar, Avi Issacharoff, Barak Ravid - October 22, 2007 - 11:45am

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is examining a new framework for peace in which Israel will propose transferring to the Palestinian state areas equivalent to 100 percent of the territories conquered in 1967. Israel will suggest to the Palestinians to conduct negotiations for adequate territorial compensation from Israel's sovereign territory, in exchange for settlement blocs amounting to about 5 percent of the West Bank's area.

»

A Borderless State Is No Solution
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
(Special Report) October 22, 2007 - 11:41am

For weeks now, America and Israel have talked up the idea that, contrary to all appearances, a peace initiative may be afoot in the Middle East. Last week Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, announced a $63bn package in military aid to the Middle East, aiming to counter Iran's growing influence in the region, but also shoring up Arab support for a peace initiative. Yesterday the Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert met the Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank town of Jericho.

»

Gaza Jobs Meltdown: An Ice-cream Firm's Tale
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Dan Murphy - October 22, 2007 - 11:34am

When the mercury soars and the cloying humidity of the Mediterranean coast makes heading outside a shirt-drenching ordeal, Mazen Masri is usually one of the few Gazans wearing a smile. But today, Mr. Masri casts a dejected look around his mostly idle ice-cream factory. "This should be the best time of our year," he says. "But I go into the factory and my heart almost breaks."

»

Touring Israel's Barrier With Its Main Designer
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Scott Wilson - October 22, 2007 - 11:31am

From his stone balcony, Dan Tirza looks out over a rippling expanse of Judean desert, the biblical landscape of the Jewish people. A student of that history, the retired army colonel is a leading actor in Israel's modern story of statehood, conquest and the volatile task of erecting a boundary that divides Arab from Jew. Soon Israel's $2.5 billion separation barrier will rise around Tirza's settlement, where 350 Jewish families live among palms, playgrounds and a synagogue 10 miles inside the West Bank.

»

If Hamas Isn't In The Game
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Danny Rubenstein - (Opinion) October 22, 2007 - 11:28am

The Olmert government in Israel and the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, headed by Mahmoud Abbas, are in the midst of renewed political activity, encouraged by intensive American efforts. There have been frequent meetings, discussions of an agreement of principles and plans for a regional conference. Although there still are many problems in the field, like the amnesty agreement for wanted men that the two sides haven't managed to finalize, there certainly has been progress.

»

A Visit To The Jungle
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Akiva Eldar - (Opinion) October 22, 2007 - 11:26am

Last week the prime minister congratulated Ariel College for being elevated by the Judea and Samaria Council of Higher Education to university status. Today, Ehud Olmert is traveling to Jericho, in order to hold talks with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, on an agreement of principles (and perhaps even "agreed-upon principles") for the establishment of a Palestinian state.

»

Analysis-us Peace Effort Faces Middle East Credibility Gap
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Alistair Lyon - October 22, 2007 - 10:52am

A U.S. plan to host a Middle East peace conference is intended to signal a new commitment to resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But many in the region doubt President George W. Bush can muster the perseverance and evenhandedness in his last 17 months in office to deliver the two-state solution he evoked in 2002. Others fear an exercise in futility if the idea is to forge peace between Israel and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction without the consent of the elected government led by Hamas Islamists who have seized control of the Gaza Strip.

»

The Rush For A Legacy
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Jackson Diehl - October 22, 2007 - 10:48am

In a speech to a meeting of democratic freedom fighters in Prague on June 5, President Bush announced a concrete mission for his State Department. "I have asked Secretary Rice," he said, "to send a directive to every U.S. ambassador in an unfree nation: Seek out and meet with activists for democracy. Seek out those who demand human rights."

»


American Task Force on Palestine - 1634 Eye St. NW, Suite 725, Washington DC 20006 - Telephone: 202-262-0017