Proceed Steadily But Firmly
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Miftah
by Caelum Moffatt - November 22, 2007 - 10:41pm

After seven years of stalled negotiations between Israel and Palestine, one could possibly not presume that all problems would be solved by one summit, let alone a summit that had been penciled in just as the two old enemies had reconvened dialogue.

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Reinventing The Mideast Wheel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
by George S. Hishmeh - (Opinion) November 22, 2007 - 10:40pm

It is infuriating when one spends hours reviewing all the give-and-take about the perfunctory meeting in Annapolis next week to kick-start Palestinian-Israeli negotiations for a final settlement only to realise that one does not need to reinvent the wheel. All that needs to be done is there and has been available for more than 40 years!

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Analysis: The Possibilities Of Annapolis
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bbc News
by Jeremy Bowen - (Opinion) November 22, 2007 - 10:36pm

The other day in Washington a colleague of mine asked the White House press secretary what journalists should call the Middle Eastern event that is about to happen in Annapolis. The press secretary did not offer any advice. An aide suggested "get together". Maybe the aide was being mischievous. But words like summit or peace conference are being discouraged. Expectations for the meeting in Annapolis are being minimised. If you want to be right about the Middle East, it usually pays to be pessimistic.

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How Rice Can Improve Her Odds
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from International Herald Tribune
by Daniel Kurtzer - November 22, 2007 - 10:31pm

Condoleezza Rice is playing a high-stakes game of diplomacy. After cautious bets during her first three years as secretary of state, she is going all-in on a summit meeting at Annapolis to launch final status negotiations. Her odds of winning are low, and she knows it. But those odds can start moving in her favor if she draws the right lessons from U.S. diplomatic experience in the Israeli-Arab peace process. Having led a study group on this for the past year, the results of which the United States Institute of Peace will soon publish, we can offer the following tips:

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If Annapolis Fails, What Then?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
by Leslie Susser - (Opinion) November 22, 2007 - 10:27pm

Days away from the Annapolis peace parley, the glaring weaknesses of both the Israeli and Palestinian leaders are raising significant questions about the long-term viability of the renewed peace process and the consequences of failure. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who may have wanted to use the conference as a dramatic breakthrough in peacemaking with the Palestinians, finds his hands tied by hawks in his coalition government.

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Israel Prodded Into Settlement Freeze In Bid To Kick-start Peace Conference
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by Nathan Guttman - November 22, 2007 - 10:26pm

With only days remaining before a peace summit scheduled for next week in Annapolis, Md., the Bush administration is pressuring Israel to take significant steps to curb settlement expansion in the West Bank.

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Rice Defends Mideast Peace Talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Helene Cooper - November 22, 2007 - 10:23pm

The Bush administration’s Annapolis, Md., conference on Middle East peace will tackle the entrenched core issues that have bedeviled negotiators since 1979, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Wednesday, pushing back against critics who say the conference may be just a photo opportunity. She said that she would try to broker a deal by the end of the Bush administration that would lead to a lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians. She cautioned that there was no guarantee that she would be successful, but maintained that she knew what she was doing.

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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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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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