Bush Steps Up Diplomatic Effort As Annapolis Talks Draw Nearer
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Robin Wright - November 22, 2007 - 10:15pm

In a bit of last-minute diplomacy, President Bush called the leaders of Israel, Egypt and the Palestinian Authority yesterday to discuss details of the U.S. peace conference set to begin in Annapolis next week, as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the goal is to wrap up a peace deal to produce a Palestinian state by the time Bush leaves office.

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Doubts Cloud U.s. Talks Set On Mideast
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Paul Richter - November 22, 2007 - 10:13pm

The Bush administration announced Tuesday that it would hold a stripped-down international conference next week to begin negotiating the core issues that divide the Israelis and Palestinians, the first formal attempt to revive peace talks in seven years.

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Shhhh: Mideast Invitations Are Secret
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Matthew Lee - November 22, 2007 - 10:11pm

It's the biggest public event on this season's diplomatic calendar, but the topic is so sensitive that even the invitations are classified. Not that they need to be. The invites to next week's Mideast peace conference in Annapolis, Md., offer few details about the substance of the proceedings aimed at launching the first Israeli-Palestinian peace talks in seven years.

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Palestinian-American Experts Available for Comment on Annapolis Meeting
Press Release - Contact Information: Hussein Ibish - November 21, 2007 - 1:00am

The American Task Force on Palestine, a not-for-profit organization that advocates to the American people the national security interests of the United States in establishing a Palestinian state, has a number of experts available to the media for commentary on the recently announced Annapolis meeting and the broader context of the current Arab-Israeli peace initiative. For more details or to book any of our Washington based experts please call ATFP at 202-887-0177.


The Annapolis Talks / Blaming The Other Guy
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Aluf Benn - November 20, 2007 - 1:55pm

Israeli-Palestinian disputes over the anticipated Annapolis declaration resemble theological disputes from the Middle Ages: Negotiators argue over whether the road map's first stage should be implemented sequentially or simultaneously, and whether disagreements should be resolved by a trilateral Israeli-Palestinian-American committee or a single American arbitrator.

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Sidetracked By The Roadmap
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Ghassan Khatib - (Opinion) November 20, 2007 - 1:53pm

The sudden reference by Palestinian and Israeli negotiators to the roadmap, drafted years ago in an attempt to rescue the parties from the quicksand of violence and recriminations, was a bit confusing for analysts on both sides. The shift seemed inconsistent with the major political issues that require sorting out through negotiations, particularly the final status issues. In addition, Palestinians and Israelis have already tried the roadmap--and failed to navigate it.

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Will Annapolis Fail Like All The Others?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bbc News
by Paul Reynolds - November 20, 2007 - 1:50pm

A veteran reporter on the Middle East asked me the other day: "Is it too late?" We had been discussing the prospects for the meeting in Annapolis in the United States scheduled for next week at which the Israelis and Palestinians are supposed to commit themselves to reaching a peace agreement. My instinct was to agree with him. We had first met in Jerusalem in the mid 1980s and have followed the ups and downs of negotiations since. The experience has not made us optimists. Aims of Annapolis

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Un Aid Chief Attacks New Israeli Checkpoint Plan
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Rory Mccarthy - November 20, 2007 - 1:50pm

The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees launched a scathing attack today on a new Israeli plan for a system of checkpoint terminals across the occupied West Bank. Karen AbuZayd, head of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), said Israeli authorities had told them of plans to install six specially built terminals to check people and cargo, including aid deliveries. She said it would hamper the agency's work and dramatically raise costs.

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Negotiations On A Knife-edge Ahead Of Middle East Summit
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent
by Donald Macintyre - November 20, 2007 - 1:49pm

Israeli and moderate Palestinian leaders were last night struggling to agree a joint declaration intended to be the centrepiece of the international United States-convened Middle East summit less than a week away.

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Blair Gives Fillip To Mideast Peace Talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Financial Times
by Tobias Buck - November 20, 2007 - 1:48pm

Tony Blair, in his new role as Middle East envoy, unveiled a package of measures on Monday designed to aid the moribund Palestinian economy and inject fresh momentum into Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. The former British prime minister said the four development projects outlined on Monday had been the subject of debate for some time, and that their significance should not be exaggerated. But he insisted that “without hope of prosperity, rising living standards and an economic stake in the future for ordinary Palestinians, the politics will never succeed”.

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