Olmert And Abbas 'to Discuss Palestinian State'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Times
by David Byers - October 22, 2007 - 10:05am

Israeli and Palestinian leaders will enter into negotiations on the "fundamental issues" leading to the creation of a future Palestinian state at a Middle East peace conference to be held this autumn, Condoleezza Rice disclosed today. The US Secretary of State told a West Bank press conference that Ehud Olmert, the Israeli Prime Minister, whom she met yesterday, had said he was ready to work with the Palestinians to discuss the contours of a future state.

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Saudis Courted For Proposed Mideast Summit
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by Nathan Guttman - October 22, 2007 - 9:47am

As the Bush administration begins pushing aggressively for a new Middle East peace conference this fall, there is already a significant gap among Arab, Israeli and American diplomats about what the conference should attempt to achieve.

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Rice: Israel Ready For Palestinian Talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Anne Gearan - October 22, 2007 - 9:33am

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Thursday that Israel is ready to discuss "fundamental issues" with Palestinians who are now governed by leaders accepted by the Jewish state and the West. Still, she left the agenda for any peace talks vague. The top U.S. diplomat, making her first visit to Israel and the occupied West Bank since Palestinian leadership was cleaved into rival governments, also promised that a proposed U.S.-sponsored Mideast conference this fall would be a serious push toward a peace agreement.

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Saudi Arabia Says It May Meet Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by David S. Cloud, Helene Cooper - October 22, 2007 - 9:31am

Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister said Wednesday that his country would consider attending President Bush’s planned Israeli-Palestinian peace conference in the fall, which would put Saudi officials publicly at the same table as their Israeli counterparts for the first time since 1991.

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Back To A Corrupt Occupation
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amira Hass - October 19, 2007 - 8:42pm

In one of the alarming news items of the past week, it was reported that Israel has green-lighted the transfer of 1,000 rifles from Jordan to the security forces loyal to Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.

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Time Does Not Take Orders From Jerusalem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Akiva Eldar - (Opinion) October 19, 2007 - 8:40pm

The Palestinian partner was born in Oslo in the summer of 1993, and died seven years later at Camp David. Following seven more years of violence, diplomatic stalemate and renewed settlement - and following the disillusionment from the misconception of unilateral moves - the word "partner" is slowly making a comeback.

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Palestinian Public Opinion Poll No. 25
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Palestinian Center For Policy And Survey Research
October 19, 2007 - 8:37pm

PRESS RELEASE Palestinian Public Opinion Poll No. (25) While Three Quarters of the Palestinians Reject Hamas’s Military Action in the Gaza Strip and While Fateh and President Mahmud Abbas Gain Popular Support as a Result of Hamas’s Step, and While a Majority Supports the Presidential Decree Regarding Election Law and Supports Early Elections, 40% Want the Government of Ismail Haniyeh to Stay in Power and Half of Gazans Feel They and Their Families are Secure and Safe in Their Homes

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Riyadh Gives Talks With Israel Cautious Welcome
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Mark Tran - October 19, 2007 - 8:35pm

Saudi Arabia would sit down with Israel at a US-proposed Middle East peace conference, provided it dealt with matters of substance, Saudi officials said today. The Saudi foreign minister, Saud al-Faisal, said Riyadh welcomed the American initiative after he emerged from talks with the US secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, who was in the region with the secretary of defence, Robert Gates, to bolster support for Mr Bush's effort to kick-start Middle East peace talks.

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Us, Israeli Diplomats Push Mideast Talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Anne Gearan - October 19, 2007 - 8:27pm

Top U.S. and Israeli diplomats said Wednesday they would push quickly for a political settlement with the moderate-led West Bank in spite of the bitter internal split among Palestinians there and in Gaza. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said they would not squander what each called a rare chance for progress in the 60-year-old conflict between the Jewish state and the Palestinians.

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Teams To Take Up Issues Of Palestinian Statehood
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Scott Wilson - October 19, 2007 - 8:24pm

Israeli and Palestinian leaders agreed Monday to form negotiating teams that would begin resolving issues central to the creation of a Palestinian state in advance of a U.S.-sponsored peace conference proposed for later this year.

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