December 12th

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.

»

December 11th

The Christian Science Monitor examines how back-channels may play a key role in upcoming Israeli-Palestinian negotiations (2.) The Jewish Telegraphic Agency looks at how some Israeli setters are attempting to build further settlement outposts in the occupied Palestinian territories in order to subvert peace negotiations (3.) A Philadelphia Inquirer opinion by Eric Trager urges the inclusion of a second Arab party to the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations to help each side overcome their respective weaknesses (5.) The Toronto Star (Canada) reports on the unpredictability and arduousness of commuting for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank because of Israeli restrictions (7.) The Telegraph (UK) examines how planned Israeli construction in the Har Homa settlement threatens upcoming Mideast peace talks (9.) A Jordan Times (Jordan) opinion by Gwynne Dyer fleshes out Israeli PM Olmert's statements on the choices available to Israel being either a Palestinian state or an apartheid-like situation (11.) In Haaretz (Israel) Bradley Burston urges a new Israeli policy to encourage the elements within the Hamas movement moving towards accommodation with Israel (12.) Also in Haaretz, an editorial is critical of the Har Homa settlement expansion and warns of its many damaging ramifications (14.)

Annapolis
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al Hayat
by Cyril Townsend - (Opinion) December 11, 2007 - 1:56pm

To my alarm, and possibly for the first and only time, I found myself agreeing with a comment by John Bolton, President George Bush's former and totally miscast Ambassador to the United Nations.  Speaking of the Annapolis summit, which collected together the representatives of 44 countries in Maryland, he said:- "Normally, you have substantive actions and then you bring in the television cameras - they reversed that order."

»

Time-wasting Manoeuvres
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
December 11, 2007 - 1:55pm

It has been reported that during the Annapolis conference, Israel offered the Palestinian side recognition of a Palestinian state with provisional borders and that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas quickly rejected the offer. It is not hard to guess why Abbas refused such an offer; its acceptance would be tantamount to consolidating Israel’s grip on Palestinian territories for an indefinite period of time and would put the border issue in deep freeze.

»

Iran Is No Threat And That’s Official
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
by Linda Heard - December 11, 2007 - 1:52pm

“They stole our threat” goes a headline in the Israeli daily Haaretz. The author is, of course, referring to the recently published US National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) composed by 16 American intelligence agencies. It counters US and Israeli assertions that Iran is developing nuclear weapons. There’s been no such program since 2003, it states.

»

The 'four-phase' Approach
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Uri Savir - December 11, 2007 - 1:51pm

In May 1996, permanent status negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian leadership officially began. I represented Israel and my Palestinian counterpart was Mahmoud Abbas. The discussion of permanent status issues lasted only two hours. Instead, we opted to commence our negotiations by talking about the desired outcome of Israel's and the future Palestinian state's relations. We intended to give this focus several months' time and to postpone resolution of the final status issues to the last stage.

»

Just Another Forgotten Peace Summit
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Tamar Hermann, Ephraim Yaar - December 11, 2007 - 1:49pm

Many assume that if the Israeli decision-makers were to openly change their position on the conflict and its resolution, the public would throng after them en masse and support an agreement. The present survey, like earlier surveys we conducted, shows that this assumption is very flimsy and that people are not hurrying to get on the Olmert government's peace train.

»

Hamas Builds Separate Courts In Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amira Hass - December 11, 2007 - 1:48pm

While all eyes were turned to the meeting at Annapolis late last month, Hamas' government in the Gaza Strip tightened its grip on three important civilian institutions: the court system, the municipality and the Central Palestinian Bureau of Statistics. In taking over these branches of governance, Hamas deepened the institutional rift between its dominion and the Fatah-led West Bank. The fact that these institutions are now under Hamas' auspices add to the Strip's character as a separate entity.

»

Hamas Asks Us To Free Gaza 'ghetto'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Australian
by Martin Chulov - December 11, 2007 - 1:45pm

THE Hamas rulers of Gaza have implored the US to bring an end to the crippling boycott of the Gaza Strip, which they have likened to the World War II siege of Warsaw's Jewish Ghetto.

»

The Grim Reality In Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from New Statesman
by Mohammed Omer - December 11, 2007 - 1:43pm

Traffic in the Gaza Strip slowed to a trickle last week, and this week medical centres have scaled back treatment in the medicines and sustenance-destitute Strip. "Israel’s decision is a death penalty: our reserve of fuel is almost zero and it may very likely run out by the end of today," said Khaled Radi, Ministry of Health spokesman for the dismissed Hamas government.

»


American Task Force on Palestine - 1634 Eye St. NW, Suite 725, Washington DC 20006 - Telephone: 202-262-0017