The Viable Two-state Solution?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Miftah
by Caelum Moffatt - (Analysis) December 17, 2007 - 1:26pm

Following the summit in Annapolis, Benjamin Netanyahu, leader of the Likud opposition party in Israel declared in reference to the Israeli / Palestinian peace process, “if it’s not broken, don’t fix it”.

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How They Stole The Bomb
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
by Uri Avnery - December 13, 2007 - 1:04pm

It was like an atom bomb falling on Israel. The earth shook. Our political and military leaders were all in shock. The headlines screamed with rage. What happened? A real catastrophe: the American intelligence community, comprising 16 different agencies, reached a unanimous verdict: already in 2003, the Iranians terminated their efforts to produce a nuclear bomb, and they have not resumed them since. Even if they change their mind in the future, they will need at least five years to achieve their aim.

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Angry Start To Palestinian Talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent
by Donald Macintyre - December 13, 2007 - 1:02pm

The first formal Israeli Palestinian negotiating process for seven years made an acrimonious start yesterday in the shadow of plans for new Jewish housing in Arab East Jerusalem and the threat of military escalation in Gaza. Palestinian negotiators used the first session since the international Middle East conference in Annapolis to express their outrage over plans for an expansion of the settlement of Har Homa - already criticised by the US, EU and UK government.

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From Annapolis To Har Homa
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
(Editorial) December 12, 2007 - 5:44pm

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice demanded explanations from her Israeli counterpart, Tzipi Livni, last week about the plan to build another 300 apartments in the Har Homa neighborhood of East Jerusalem. Rice did not make do with posing a question to Livni; she hastened to go public with the Bush Administration's objections to the plan.

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Construction Threatens Mid East Peace Process
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Telegraph
by Tim Butcher - December 12, 2007 - 5:33pm

The light in the night sky near Bethlehem this Christmas will be no heavenly portent but a safety beacon on a crane in a nearby Jewish community so controversial it threatens to derail the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Har Homa, largely overlooked on the world stage since construction began roughly ten years ago, has surged up the international agenda since Israeli authorities decided this week to build 307 new homes there.

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Palestinians Demand Halt To Settlements As Peace Talks Begin
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by David Batty - December 12, 2007 - 5:29pm

The first formal Middle East peace negotiations in seven years got off to a tense start today with the Palestinian Authority demanding a halt to Israeli plans to build settlements on disputed territory. Palestinian negotiators said the planned construction in the Har Homa neighbourhood in disputed east Jerusalem, along with Israeli military activity in Gaza, threatened to undermine the new peace talks.

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Israel, Palestinians Launch Peace Talks In Discord
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Wafa Amr, Adam Entous - December 12, 2007 - 5:15pm

The first peace talks in seven years between Israel and the Palestinians opened in discord on Wednesday with the Palestinians demanding a halt to settlement building and Israel calling for a crackdown on militants. The tensions, coming just two weeks after a U.S.-sponsored peace conference in Annapolis, Maryland, highlighted the difficulties ahead for negotiators trying to reach agreement on a Palestinian state before U.S. President George W. Bush leaves office in January 2009.

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Palestinians To Urge Settlement Freeze At Talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Wafa Amr - December 11, 2007 - 1:34pm

Palestinians will attend peace talks this week despite a plan by Israel to build new homes on occupied land, but will focus on demanding a settlement freeze, senior Palestinian officials said on Tuesday. Israeli and Palestinian negotiators are due to meet on Wednesday two weeks after their leaders relaunched long-stalled peace talks at a U.S.-hosted conference in Annapolis, Maryland.

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The Har Homa Test
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Akiva Eldar - (Opinion) December 10, 2007 - 7:12pm

t is difficult to think of a place more suitable than Har Homa for holding the first test in the spirit of Annapolis. The comparison between Har Homa Crisis No. 2 and the development of Har Homa Crisis No. 1 can teach us whether the Israeli-Palestinian peace process has indeed started a new track or whether all the players are stuck on the old line.

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Simply Lies
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
(Editorial) December 10, 2007 - 7:11pm

It is impossible to announce the beginning of a new settlement at the end of Annapolis and say you truly desire peace. The good intentions of Israel, as it has pronounced them with regards to peace, are simply lies. Just because Israel’s decision to build more homes on occupied land comes on the heels of the Annapolis summit does not make the move any more appalling. Building more settlements on Palestinian land is against the law, pure and simple, regardless of Annapolis.

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