Middle East News: World Press Roundup

A New York Times editorial stresses the need for serious and sustained U.S. engagement at the Annapolis meeting and beyond if there is to be any chance of an Israeli-Palestinian peace settlement (1.) A Washington Post opinion by Robert Novak contrasts the former President Carter's 'clarity' on the Palestinian issue with that of President Bush and Congress (3.) The Christian Science Monitor examines how the deployment of Palestinian police in Nablus is a test of the ability of the Palestinian president and could bolster his position in upcoming talks with Israelis (5.) The Guardian (UK) reports on the campaign by the Palestinian Authority (PA) to prevent clerics affiliated with Hamas from preaching dissent at West Bank mosques (8.) The Independent (UK) reports from Nablus on reaction to the deployment of PA forces in an effort to improve security (10.) A Gulf News (UAE) editorial urges that the upcoming Annapolis meeting address the 'core issues' if there is to be any serious progress towards peace (11.) A Haaretz (Israel) opinion by Akiva Eldar makes the case for a nuclear-free Middle East (12.)

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In Mideast, Rice Pushes Annapolis Talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Karen Deyoung - November 5, 2007 - 2:23pm Israel is ready to put "all basic questions, all the substantive problems, all the historical questions" about Palestinian statehood on the table in a U.S.-hosted peace conference later this month in Annapolis, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Sunday. "It is time," Olmert said in an impassioned speech. "All questions are on the agenda. We won't run away from any of them." » Read more

Restive Nablus Challenges Fatah's Abbas ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Joshua Mitnick - November 5, 2007 - 2:25pm Over the course of the second Palestinian intifada, this city became the West Bank's capital for car thefts, kidnappings, and suicide bombers. Now, with 300 security officers from the Palestinian Authority (PA) freshly deployed around Nablus, the city has become a testing ground for an embattled Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas. » Read more

Rice Seeks Mideast Peace Deal While Bush In Office ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Sue Pleming - November 5, 2007 - 2:27pm Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice joined Israeli and Palestinian leaders on Monday in voicing hope they could reach a peace agreement before President George W. Bush leaves office in January 2009. But wrapping up two days of talks in the region, she again gave no date for a U.S.-led conference which all parties have said would serve as a launching pad for statehood negotiations. Rice said only that the meeting, in Annapolis, Maryland, would take place "before the end of the year." » Read more

Rice Expects Little From Mideast Trip ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Ashraf Khalil - November 5, 2007 - 2:28pm Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice returned to Israel on Sunday for the third time in six weeks, seeking to nudge the Israeli and Palestinian sides before an upcoming U.S.-sponsored peace conference. But after a day of meetings with Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Rice acknowledged that her two-day visit was unlikely to get the two sides to agree on the joint pre-conference statement of goals that the U.S. has sought. » Read more

Fatah Targets Mosques In Latest Anti-hamas Campaign ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Rory Mccarthy - November 5, 2007 - 2:30pm The Palestinian Fatah-led government has mounted a crackdown on preachers from the rival Hamas movement, arresting or sacking clerics accused of spreading political dissent. The Fatah campaign, which is being enforced across the West Bank, is a reaction to the violent Hamas takeover of Gaza in June and marks a widening divide between the two factions and territories. » Read more

Jerusalem Diary: Monday 5 November ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bbc News by Tim Franks - November 5, 2007 - 2:32pm DIRECTING THE POLICE DIRECTING THE TRAFFIC There may not be many well-paid jobs in the occupied territories. But there are plenty of policemen and security officers. They were on the streets of Nablus in the West Bank the other day, waving furiously at the traffic. They were trying to ensure that the path was clear for Gen Keith Dayton, the US point man in the region, whose job is to help knock the Palestinian security forces into better shape. » Read more

New Palestinian Police Force Makes Tense Debut In West Bank ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent by Donald Macintyre - November 5, 2007 - 2:36pm camp excitedly mobbed the armed, olive-uniformed officers from the second special brigade of the National Security force, deployed with their soft-top Jeeps across the road for the first time. They crowded round the blue and white patrol car driven by Major Eyad Shteyer, the city's deputy police chief, thrusting their hands through an open window in friendly greeting. » Read more

Rice's Visit Won't Bring Change ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News (Editorial) November 5, 2007 - 2:37pm As US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice begins yet another visit to the region, the purposefulness of such visits comes into serious question. Tackling the differences between the Palestinians and the Israelis is something that could be done only by addressing the real issue. » Read more

No Exceptions ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Akiva Eldar - (Opinion) November 5, 2007 - 2:38pm How can a country, which according to endless foreign reports has kept secret for years several atomic weapons, manage to rally the international community in a struggle against a neighboring country that insists on acquiring nuclear energy? What do Israeli politicians answer to those asking why Iran should not be allowed to acquire the same armaments that are already in the arsenals of neighboring countries, like Pakistan and India? » Read more

Pm Slams Israel Rightists' Provocation Over Peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Joseph Nasr - November 6, 2007 - 12:44pm Prime Minister Ehud Olmert vowed on Monday to fight violent "incitement" by Israeli groups opposed to his efforts to negotiate with the Palestinians and said he was ready to make "painful concessions" to secure peace. His speech, heavy with memories of violence within Israeli society, was a reaction to displays of hostility that marked Sunday's 12th anniversary of the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, who was shot by a Jew angry at his peace efforts. » Read more

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. » Read more

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. » Read more

Fatah And Hamas: The Division Continues… ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat by Kifah Zaboun - November 6, 2007 - 12:58pm When Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip last June; it emerged as a strong victorious army while Fatah was weak and defeated. Palestinians were awestruck by the force and speed of Hamas’s military takeover and believed that the already fragmented Fatah had been dealt a severe blow from which it would not recover. Meanwhile, others believed that the Gaza takeover represented the deadly blow for the victorious Hamas, which had fallen into the Gaza trap. » Read more

Analysis: Rice's Shuttle Diplomacy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from World Peace Herald by Claude Salhani - (Blog) November 8, 2007 - 3:30pm U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has borrowed a chapter or two from Henry Kissinger's book of applied negotiations as she headed back out to the Middle East for her eighth visit to the region in the last six months.  » Read more

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