What’s Good For The Goose...
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by George Hishmeh - (Opinion) November 9, 2007 - 6:17pm

As the expectations for a serious movement towards a Palestinian-Israeli settlement seem to be growing by the day, a little-known group, Justice for Jews from Arab Countries (JJAC), is trying to ride the coattails of the upcoming US-sponsored Mideast peace “meeting” in Annapolis later this month.

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High Stakes For Annapolis Peace Meet
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Inter Press Service (IPS)
by Ali Gharib - November 9, 2007 - 5:55pm

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas joined U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Ramallah Monday to express optimism that progress towards a Palestinian state could be made in the upcoming talks sponsored by the George W. Bush administration between Israeli and Palestinian leaders in Annapolis, Maryland. But many critics fear that the hastily thrown-together meeting has greater inherent risks than the participants are willing to acknowledge.

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Palestinians Ease Demands For Conference
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Josef Federman - November 9, 2007 - 5:45pm

Encouraged by a conciliatory speech by Israel's prime minister, Palestinian negotiators have eased their demands that an upcoming U.S.-hosted peace conference lay out a plan for statehood, officials said Thursday. The Palestinians said they were pleased with Israeli pledges to resume peace talks after the conference this month — and were now less concerned with a pre-summit understanding that had bogged down earlier negotiations.

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Whose Road Map?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Jeff Halper - November 8, 2007 - 3:43pm

As did his pronouncements last August in Jericho, where Prime Minister Ehud Olmert indicated a willingness to withdraw from an area equivalent to 100% of the occupied territories, his latest declarations to the Saban Forum, in the presence of Condoleezza Rice and Tony Blair, sounded promising, even stirring.

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Last Call For A Two-state Solution
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from International Herald Tribune
by Immanuel Wallerstein - (Opinion) November 8, 2007 - 3:32pm

The prevailing worldwide view of how to resolve politically the conflict of two nationalisms in Israel/Palestine is the so-called two-state solution - the creation of two states, Israel and Palestine, within the boundaries of the onetime British Mandate of Palestine. Actually, this position is not at all new. One might argue that it was the prevailing worldwide position throughout the 20th century.

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'failure Risks Devastating Consequences'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Review Of Books
by Zbigniew Brzezinski, Lee Hamilton , Carla Hills , Nancy Kassebaum-baker , Thomas R. Pickering, Brent Scowcroft - (Commentary) November 8, 2007 - 3:27pm

The following letter on the Middle East peace conference scheduled for Annapolis, Maryland, in late November, was sent by its signers on October 10 to President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. The statement is a joint initiative of the US/Middle East Project, Inc. (General Brent Scowcroft, chairman, International Board, and Henry Siegman, president), the International Crisis Group (Gareth Evans, president), and the New America Foundation/American Strategy Program (Steven Clemons, director).

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Repeating The Same Mistakes
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Ghassan Khatib - (Opinion) November 6, 2007 - 12:56pm

The Syrian connection to the current American initiative on the Middle East to convene a political meeting at Annapolis in the autumn is a good illustration of its deteriorating value.

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Annapolis: Behind The Scenes
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Le Monde Diplomatique
by Dominique Vidal - November 6, 2007 - 12:55pm

“It’s time for the establishment of a Palestinian state,” announced US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice after a visit to the Middle East on 15 October. She claimed President George Bush had decided to make ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict “one of the highest priorities of his administration”.

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Abbas Sees Palestinian State Soon Achievable
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Karen Deyoung - November 6, 2007 - 12:45pm

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said Monday that he believes the path to peace with Israel is now clear and that a Palestinian state can be achieved before the end of the Bush administration in January 2009.

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Israel Puts Jerusalem On The Negotiating Table
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Ilene Prusher - November 6, 2007 - 12:41pm

As she visits the Middle East this week, USSecretary of State Condoleezza Rice is pressing Israeli and Palestinian leaders to commit to confidence-building measures and a timetable ahead of an upcoming US-sponsored peace conference in Annapolis, Md. Israel has resisted a timetable, but Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said in a major speech Sunday night that he is ready to begin accelerated peace talks – even on final-status issues such as Jerusalem.

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