Middle East News: World Press Roundup

The Associated Press looks at how the memory of the failed Camp David talks in 2001 is weighing heavily on the parties to the Mideast fall meeting (2.) The Washington Post examines the efforts by Secretary Rice to bridge the gap between Israelis and Palestinians during her current trip to the region (4.) In his periodic 'Letter From Israel' Ran Ha Cohen looks at the newly released 'peace initiative' by the Israeli far Right (5.) An International Herald Tribune opinion by Century Foundation and New America Foundation senior fellow Daniel Levy urges the construction of an alliance of peace camp groups to counter the hawkish right-wing constituency in the U.S. (7.) In BitterLemons (Israel/Palestine) Israeli professor of government Galia Golan looks at the confluence of factors making the fall Mideast meeting a genuine opportunity for furthering Israeli-Palestinian peace (11.) Haaretz (Israel) presents the latest Peace Index Project polling of the Israeli people on the fall meeting (13.) Also in Haaretz, Akiva Eldar analyzes the three alternatives available to President Bush regarding the substance of the fall meeting and each alternative's supporters (15.)

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Rice Hints At Timing Of Mideast Talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Steven Lee Myers - October 16, 2007 - 12:24pm It has officially been a secret of American diplomacy, if not a particularly well-kept one: the time and place of the international conference called by President Bush to begin negotiating peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians.   Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice with the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, in Ramallah. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Monday lifted the secrecy and, perhaps, nudged the process forward. » Read more

Rice Pushes Mideast Parties On Plan To Revive Peace Talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Michael Abramowitz - October 16, 2007 - 12:26pm Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice pressed Israelis and Palestinians on Monday to compromise on a plan to jump-start peace negotiations, describing the ending of their long conflict as one of the top goals of President Bush in the 15 months he has left in office. » Read more

The Israeli Right Has A Peace Plan ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Letter From Israel/antiwar.com by Ran Hacohen - (Blog) October 16, 2007 - 12:36pm While the world holds its breath in anticipation of the Mideast Summit in Annapolis – which, no doubt, will constitute a historic landmark, giving a most significant boost to the economy of that small town in Maryland – the Israeli right wing comes up with a new peace initiative, launched by MK Benny Elon, chairman of the National Union and the Moledet Party, as "The Israeli Initiative," "a new way of thinking about the conflict, in learning from our mistakes, and in rereading the regional map toward a revitalized and genuine quest to achiev » Read more

Rice Seeks To Marginalize Hamas ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Ashraf Khalil - October 16, 2007 - 12:39pm Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Monday expressed hope that a successfully negotiated vision of a Palestinian state would marginalize the militant group Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip. » Read more

How About A Peace Lobby? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from International Herald Tribune by Daniel Levy - (Opinion) October 16, 2007 - 12:42pm After seven lean years, Israeli-Palestinian peace talks are back on the agenda for a planned summit meeting next month in Annapolis, Maryland. Intriguingly, the return of the peace process coincides with an unusual public debate taking place in America regarding the U.S.-Israel relationship following the attention received by a book about the Israel lobby. » Read more

Politics: Another Mideast Envoy Fed Up With Quartet ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Inter Press Service (IPS) by Haider Rizvi - October 16, 2007 - 12:45pm The United Nations has come under strong criticism from one of its own top human rights officials for failing to take effective action to check the ongoing Israeli abuses in the occupied Palestinian territories. Expressing his anger and frustration at the fast-deteriorating human rights situation in Gaza and the West Bank, John Dugard, the U.N. special rapporteur on human rights for the Palestinian territories since 2001, has suggested that the world body quit the Middle East Quartet. » Read more

Us Presses Palestinians And Israel To Find Common Ground ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Ian Black - (Special Report) October 16, 2007 - 12:46pm  The US yesterday urged Israel and the Palestinians to work to overcome their differences before an international conference next month even as a top UN expert lambasted the "Quartet" of Middle East peacemakers for failing to promote Palestinian rights. » Read more

Us 'wants Palestinian State Now' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bbc News October 16, 2007 - 12:48pm The US secretary of state has said it is time for a Palestinian state to be founded, and that the US will put its full weight behind such efforts. Condoleezza Rice said reaching a two-state solution was a priority for her and US President George Bush. Ms Rice was speaking from the West Bank, where she has been trying to get agreement for a peace summit in the US. Meanwhile the Israeli PM has hinted he may consider giving up Palestinian districts in Jerusalem in a peace deal. » Read more

No High Hopes For Annapolis ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Tamar Hermann, Ephraim Yaar - (Special Report) October 16, 2007 - 1:00pm Some two-thirds of the Jewish public think that from Israel's standpoint it is impossible to go on indefinitely with the current state of relations between Israel and the Palestinians. A similar amount of Jewish citizens think that among the most urgent issues on Israel's agenda is the government's attempt to reach a peace agreement with the Palestinians. » Read more

Rice's Visit / In The Shadow Of Mlk ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Aluf Benn - (Opinion) October 16, 2007 - 1:02pm When Condoleezza Rice talks about the establishment of a Palestinian state next to Israel, she sees in her mind's eye the struggle of African Americans for equal rights, which culminated in the period of her Alabama childhood. Rice is very aware of political sensitivity, and avoids making such comparisons in public speeches and interviews, where she keeps to the official list of talking points. But in private, she talks about the » Read more

A Prelude Of Niceties ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Akiva Eldar - (Opinion) October 16, 2007 - 1:04pm Ahead of Annapolis, Olmert and Abbas have agreed to disagree, while Bush is promising 'real results' Israelis and Palestinians who have met with United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in recent days and have spoken with her staff have gained the impression that she does not really know what on earth her boss wants from her. It isn't that Dr. Rice has a hearing problem. Her problem is that United States President George W. Bush has apparently not yet decided what exactly he wants to achieve at the Annapolis peace conference. » Read more

Gop Candidates: Protect Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press by Libby Quaid - October 17, 2007 - 10:33am Israel's security must be safeguarded in the coming talks between the Israelis and Palestinians, GOP presidential contenders told the Republican Jewish Coalition on Tuesday. Palestinians must acknowledge Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state and make a good-faith effort to stop terrorism, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani said. » Read more

Rice Rules Out Timetable For Middle East Talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from United Press International (UPI) October 17, 2007 - 10:45am U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in the West Bank a timetable is not necessary for a permanent accord between Israel and the Palestinians. Rice said after a series of meetings in Ramallah that a timetable is not necessary as a precondition for November peace talks in Annapolis, Md., Ynetnews reported Tuesday. » Read more

A Us Peace Rabbit That Is Likely To Fail ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star by Rami Khouri - (Opinion) October 17, 2007 - 10:52am What does it mean when US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says it is time to establish a Palestinian state within a year, for the sake of Palestinian, Israeli and US national interests, and that, "We are not going to tire until I have given my last ounce of energy and my last moment in office" to working for a two-state solution? » Read more

Breaking The Taboo: Why We Took On The Israel Lobby ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Alternet by Eric Chinski - (Opinion) October 18, 2007 - 5:30pm Why did your article "The Israel Lobby," which was published in the London Review of Books in 2006, provoke such heated discussion around the world? James Traub wrote in The New York Times Magazine: " 'The Israel Lobby' slammed into the opinion-making world with a Category 5 force." How would you describe the reaction? » Read more

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