Arab Neighbors May Hold Key
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
by Leslie Susser - October 19, 2007 - 4:33pm

As the Annapolis peace parley rapidly approaches, some of the Arab and Muslim players expected to play a key role in creating conditions for a favorable outcome are proving to be more of an obstacle than an asset. Egypt, Syria and Turkey have been complicating efforts to hold what function changefontSize(id,size,line) { document.getElementById(id).style.fontSize = size; document.getElementById(id).style.lineHeight = line; } the United States envisions to be a tipping point in the long-dormant peace process.

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Burns Echoes Rice: Time Is Right For Palestinian State
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Middle East Times
by Claude Salhani - October 19, 2007 - 4:31pm

"Establishing a Palestinian State is the "right thing to do," said U.S. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns. "The time for a Palestinian state," said U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, "is now." "Israel should halt the settlements' expansion, and reduce its footprint in the West Bank," said Burns, the keynote speaker at the second annual gala of the American Task Force on Palestine in Washington Wednesday night.

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The Roadblocks To Another Mideast Summit
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Joshua Mitnick, Dan Murphy - October 19, 2007 - 4:29pm

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice spent four days in the Middle East this week to drum up support for an international summit that the US hopes will push the moribund Israeli-Palestinian peace process forward.

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Analysis-gruelling Road Ahead For Rice On Middle East Peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Adam Entous, Arshad Mohammed - October 19, 2007 - 4:26pm

The battle over the agenda of a conference on Palestinian statehood offers U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice a glimpse of the gruelling process that awaits if and when the two sides enter formal negotiations. The odds of ultimate success are slim at best unless the Bush administration, which once derided what it called former U.S. President Bill Clinton's "shoot the moon" diplomacy, can bring weakened Israeli and Palestinian leaders to take risks their predecessors would not accept, former negotiators said.

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Peace And Archaeology In The Middle East
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The American Prospect
(Special Report) October 19, 2007 - 4:20pm

The sign caught my eye: It held far more than the intended meaning. It hung on a corrugated metal fence in the antiquities park that faces the southwest corner of the Temple Mount, and it said:

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Rice 'encouraged' By Mideast Trip
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Matthew Lee - October 19, 2007 - 4:17pm

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Thursday she was encouraged by a round of furious Mideast diplomacy to prepare a U.S.-hosted peace conference in the fall despite divisions between Israel and the Palestinians that could derail it. With tensions running high and time running out to plan the meeting, a senior U.S. official said Rice would return to the region at the end of October or early November after National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley goes there next week to press the two sides to launch formal peace talks.

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Joint Israeli, Palestinian Statement Will Address 'core Issues,' Sources Say
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Avi Issacharoff, Barak Ravid - (Opinion) October 18, 2007 - 5:47pm

Israel is prepared to make a joint declaration with the Palestinians at the international peace conference scheduled to take place next month in Annapolis that will address the core issues of Jerusalem, refugees and permanent borders, a senior government official told Haaretz yesterday. Palestinian officials demanded Israel commit to a timetable for negotiations.

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Lessons From Camp David
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Financial Times
by Moshe Amirav - (Opinion) October 18, 2007 - 5:40pm

Next month the US president George W. Bush proposes to host an international conference in Annapolis, near Washington, in the hope of advancing a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians. The failure of previous attempts – in Madrid in 1991, in Oslo in 1993 and at Camp David in 2000 – highlights the difficulties. What have we learnt from these failures so that the same errors in judgment do not recur?

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Rice Wins No Firm Mid-east Vows
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bbc News
October 18, 2007 - 5:38pm

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has ended a Middle East tour without firm commitments to a conference on the Israel-Palestinian conflict. But she said the talks, due to be held in the US by the end of the year, still had a "reasonable chance of success". Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas accused Israel of holding up a joint document with the Palestinians. He said time was running out and the Palestinians could opt out of the conference without the document. The Israelis are pushing for a more general framework.

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Rice Upbeat On Mideast, Heading Back Soon
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Arshad Mohammed - October 18, 2007 - 5:33pm

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Thursday she was encouraged by her talks in Israel and the Palestinian territories this week and a U.S. official said she planned to return in about two weeks. White House National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley plans to visit the region next week to prepare for a U.S.-hosted peace conference later this year, said the U.S. official who spoke on condition that he was not identified.

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