October 22nd, 2007

Secretary Rice's Mideast Mission: Contain Iran ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Rasheed Abou-alsamh, Dan Murphy - October 22, 2007 - 9:36am US secretaries of Defense and State are using their high-profile meetings this week with Arab and Israeli leaders, in part to herald a new Bush administration strategy toward Iran: cold war-style containment. The trip comes on the heels of a US proposal to offer $20 billion in military aid to Arab Gulf states (mostly Saudi Arabia) and a $30 billion package for Israel. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice did not mask the purpose of the deal when she called Iran “the single most important single-country challenge to ... US interests in the Middle East.” » Read more

Rice: Israel Ready For Palestinian Talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press by Anne Gearan - October 22, 2007 - 9:33am Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Thursday that Israel is ready to discuss "fundamental issues" with Palestinians who are now governed by leaders accepted by the Jewish state and the West. Still, she left the agenda for any peace talks vague. The top U.S. diplomat, making her first visit to Israel and the occupied West Bank since Palestinian leadership was cleaved into rival governments, also promised that a proposed U.S.-sponsored Mideast conference this fall would be a serious push toward a peace agreement. » Read more

Saudi Arabia Says It May Meet Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by David S. Cloud, Helene Cooper - October 22, 2007 - 9:31am Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister said Wednesday that his country would consider attending President Bush’s planned Israeli-Palestinian peace conference in the fall, which would put Saudi officials publicly at the same table as their Israeli counterparts for the first time since 1991. » Read more

October 19th

Back To A Corrupt Occupation ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Amira Hass - October 19, 2007 - 8:42pm In one of the alarming news items of the past week, it was reported that Israel has green-lighted the transfer of 1,000 rifles from Jordan to the security forces loyal to Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. » Read more

Time Does Not Take Orders From Jerusalem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Akiva Eldar - (Opinion) October 19, 2007 - 8:40pm The Palestinian partner was born in Oslo in the summer of 1993, and died seven years later at Camp David. Following seven more years of violence, diplomatic stalemate and renewed settlement - and following the disillusionment from the misconception of unilateral moves - the word "partner" is slowly making a comeback. » Read more

Sadat Is An Enigma In The Us ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News by Gordon Robinson - (Special Report) October 19, 2007 - 8:39pm America's political class spent last week consumed with a juvenile sniping match involving Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and a question about who the next US president should talk to. It is a debate that succinctly highlights the hollowness of campaign rhetoric on all sides, and has made the media look even more foolish than usual. » Read more

The Five Percent Solution ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News by John V. Whitbeck - (Opinion) October 19, 2007 - 8:37pm In an eloquent speech before the US Congress in early March, Jordan’s King Abdallah emphasized the urgent necessity of achieving an Arab-Israeli peace this year. Sadly, there was little sense of urgency evident on July 25, almost five months later, when the Egyptian and Jordanian foreign ministers visited Jerusalem. The impression conveyed during this rather awkward visit was, rather, one of resignation to further years of drift. » Read more

Palestinian Public Opinion Poll No. 25 ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Palestinian Center For Policy And Survey Research October 19, 2007 - 8:37pm PRESS RELEASE Palestinian Public Opinion Poll No. (25) While Three Quarters of the Palestinians Reject Hamas’s Military Action in the Gaza Strip and While Fateh and President Mahmud Abbas Gain Popular Support as a Result of Hamas’s Step, and While a Majority Supports the Presidential Decree Regarding Election Law and Supports Early Elections, 40% Want the Government of Ismail Haniyeh to Stay in Power and Half of Gazans Feel They and Their Families are Secure and Safe in Their Homes » Read more

See The Middle Eastern Forest To Save The Iraqi Tree ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star (Editorial) October 19, 2007 - 8:35pm The US House of Representatives' hearings Monday on the situation in Iraq were a sharp reminder that forests are made of trees, and staring closely at a single tree or a patch of land can only be useful when the full context of the forest is kept in sight. The specifics of the situation in Iraq have been analyzed and diagnosed in the American and global media in more detail than perhaps any other international issue since the end of the Cold War. » Read more

Riyadh Gives Talks With Israel Cautious Welcome ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Mark Tran - October 19, 2007 - 8:35pm Saudi Arabia would sit down with Israel at a US-proposed Middle East peace conference, provided it dealt with matters of substance, Saudi officials said today. The Saudi foreign minister, Saud al-Faisal, said Riyadh welcomed the American initiative after he emerged from talks with the US secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, who was in the region with the secretary of defence, Robert Gates, to bolster support for Mr Bush's effort to kick-start Middle East peace talks. » Read more