Middle East News: World Press Roundup

A Boston Globe opinion by Israeli filmmaker Hilla Medalia discovers the humanity of Palestinians by visiting the Deheisheh refugee camp in the occupied West Bank (2.) In his Prospects For Peace blog, New America and Century Foundation senior fellow Daniel Levy is supportive of the bipartisan letter sent to President Bush by eight former senior U.S. officials regarding the upcoming Annapolis meeting (5.) A Financial Times (UK) opinion by CSIS's Jon Alterman outlines why the way that the Annapolis meeting is unfolding will only prove how hard it is to achieve peace and will strengthen rejectionists on both sides (6.) The Independent (UK) reports on the visit by British university vice-chancellors to the occupied Palestinian territories in order to strengthen ties with universities there (8.) A Gulf News (UAE) opinion by George Hishmeh takes issue with the fact that none of the US presidential candidates have said anything meaningful about the Annapolis meeting (10.) In a Jerusalem Post (Israel) interview, Canterbury Archbishop Rowan attributes the emigration of Palestinian Christians from their land to the separation barrier and its effects (12.) A Haaretz (Israel) opinion by Aluf Benn explains how Israel's avoidance of the 'core issues' at the Annapolis meeting will result in the meeting's failure and harms chances of a future agreement (14.)

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In Humanity Lies Hope For Peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Boston Globe by Hilla Medalia - (Opinion) November 1, 2007 - 2:19pm DELEGATES FROM Israel and a consortium of Arab states will meet in the United States this month with the hope of devising an agreement - or at least the DNA of an agreement - that will lead to the formation of a Palestinian state and, theoretically, stability in the Middle East. It is the first such US-led summit in years, and regardless of the outcome, it will be a historic event. » Read more

The Siege Of Gaza Is Going To Lead To A Violent Escalation ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Seumas Milne - (Commentary) November 1, 2007 - 2:40pm There is, it seems, an unbridgeable gap between the western world's apparent recognition of the dangers of Palestinian suffering and its commitment to do anything whatever to stop it. This week the collective punishment of the people of Gaza reached a new level, as Israel began to choke off essential fuel supplies to its one and a half million people in retaliation for rockets fired by Palestinian resistance groups. A plan to cut power supplies has only been put on hold till the end of the week by the intervention of Israel's attorney general. » Read more

Middle Eastern Links: In Place Of A Boycott... ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent November 1, 2007 - 2:41pm When the university and college lecturers' union, the UCU, voted at its conference in May this year to have a debate on an academic boycott of Israel, all hell broke loose. British academia was criticised by many commentators in the UK, and by professors around the world, for anti-Semitism and for inhibiting the free flow of ideas. » Read more

Old Rivals Team Up To Win Saudi Backing For Peace Talks On The Middle East ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Times by Richard Beeston - (Editorial) November 1, 2007 - 2:42pm Gordon Brown and Tony Blair teamed up yesterday to try to salvage a planned Middle East peace conference in America by clinching Saudi Arabia’s attendance. According to British officials, first the Prime Minister and then his predecessor met King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia yesterday. It was made clear at the meetings that the country’s participation was crucial for what is being billed as the best chance for peace in the region for seven years. » Read more

From Payer To Player In The Middle East ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star by El - Hassan Bin Talal - (Commentary) November 1, 2007 - 2:45pm The European Union's policy in the Middle East is the litmus test of its common foreign and security policy. Many Europeans share this belief, but, as the EU considers entering the fray of Middle East peace talks, it must respond to former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's jibe that in the region "you are payers, not players." » Read more

Reaping The Occupation's Fruit ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Amira Hass - November 1, 2007 - 2:48pm If the plot of land belonging to Dr. Salam Fayad, the Palestinian prime minister, were located 50 meters west of its present location, in the level part of the village of Deir al-Ghusun, it would now be growing thorns and thistles. If it were located 50, or at most 100 meters, to the west, Fayad's plot would have found itself on the other side of the separation fence, on the other side of Gate 609, which soldiers open and close three times a day to allow entrance to those who have managed, after investing considerable efforts, to get permits in order to get to their land. » Read more

You Can Learn It In A Negotiations Course ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Aluf Benn - November 1, 2007 - 2:49pm It is not easy to discuss the negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians in a practical manner, without past grudges. Too many emotions, historical memories and political interests are involved, turning every discussion of a solution to the conflict into a slogan contest: "diplomatic horizon," "partition of Jerusalem," "right of return." » Read more

Abizaid: Mideast Wars May Last 50 Years ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press November 2, 2007 - 4:44pm It might take as long as half a century before U.S. troops can leave the volatile Middle East, according to retired Army Gen. John Abizaid. » Read more

We Aren’t One: American Jewish Voices For Peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Lewrockwell.com by Murray Polner - (Opinion) November 2, 2007 - 4:49pm Back in the 1980s the major American Jewish welfare organization adopted as its fundraising slogan "We are One." The implication was that American Jews were a united bloc. But we are not "one" and never have been. Ideologically, we are everything from anarchists to Zionists, working people to the gilded rich. Noam Chomsky is as Jewish as Irving Kristol, and Norman Finkelstein as Jewish as Alan Dershowitz. We are neither angels nor saints. » Read more

Pa Infighting / Blood Brothers ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Avi Issacharoff - (Opinion) November 2, 2007 - 5:13pm The Palestinian organizations responsible for the massive firing of Qassam rockets and mortar rounds at Israel over the past few days may harbor hostility toward one another, but they share a common goal: Dragging Israel into a massive activity in the Gaza Strip. Yesterday, it was the Fatah-affiliated Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades that fired a heavy salvo of rockets at Sderot. But despite their affiliation, the men who launched the rockets are not taking orders from Fatah chief and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. » Read more

The Art Of The Possible ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National Interest by Lee H. Hamilton - (Opinion) November 6, 2007 - 12:50pm AMERICAN FOREIGN policy confronts a basic paradox. The United States stands alone as the world’s most powerful nation, with the strongest military, the largest economy, the highest level of technological capacity and the most extensive cultural influence around the world. Even after the setbacks of recent years, no other single power or grouping of states comes close to matching the United States. And yet America’s ability to accomplish things abroad has rarely—in recent memory—seemed so limited. Why? » Read more

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. » Read more

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