1. Annapolis Conference: Key Analysis and Documents

2. Jerusalem News: Har Homa Tests Annapolis; Debate Continues on a City Already Divided

3. Humanitarian Outlook: Improved Palestinian Economy Goes Hand in Hand with Peace

4. Christian Peacemaking: CMEP Post-Annapolis Letter and Evangelical Leaders on Two States

5. O Little Town of Bethlehem: National Geographic Magazine Features City of Jesus’ Birth

6. Interreligious Holy Land Leaders: Support Peace Efforts, Should Play Role in Negotiations

As 2007 draws to an end, prospects for Holy Land peace seem poised at a moment of great hope, opportunity and risk. 

There is hope because the Annapolis conference brought together Israeli, Palestinian, Arab and world leaders like never before to focus all of these parties, if only for one day, on the achievement of an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement.  There is opportunity now because international attention is focused on the urgent need for the establishment of a viable Palestinian state that can live in peace alongside a secure Israel.  The contours of a peace agreement are widely known—what is needed is the necessary political and moral courage.  There is risk because failure to implement the plans made at Annapolis could dash fragile hopes and jeopardize the leaders involved, creating further instability in a region already marked by turmoil. 

With the pomp and circumstance of the Annapolis conference now over, all parties must turn to the hard work of implementation:  to make significant humanitarian and security changes on the ground while pursuing serious final status talks to capitalize on the momentum created by the international meeting.  The talks held Dec. 12^th between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators, though off to a fraught start with tense discussions over settlement expansion plans in East Jerusalem and continued rocket attacks out of Gaza, represent the first actual bi-lateral peace negotiations in seven years.  The donor meeting on Dec. 17^th will be the next opportunity to follow up on Annapolis commitments and take tangible steps to improve living conditions in the Palestinian territories.  The Moscow meeting tentatively planned for early 2008 is slated to cover comprehensive Israeli-Arab issues.  President Bush plans to visit the region in early January, his first visit to the Holy Land as President. 

While peace efforts are always accompanied by a good deal of skepticism, there is no excuse for key players and interested parties not to do all that they can to ensure that the process launched in Annapolis becomes the vehicle for achieving Israeli-Arab peace.  The apt question is not whether Annapolis will fail, but what must be done to make sure it leads to success.  The United States in particular, through sustained and robust diplomacy, has a key role to play to carry out the Annapolis understanding and help turn the promise of peace into reality in 2008. 

1. ANNAPOLIS CONFERENCE: KEY ANALYSIS AND DOCUMENTS

“An opportunity for peace”, Rafi Dajani, The Boston Globe, November 29, 2007

“The importance of the Annapolis meeting on Middle East peace was not in the joint statement it produced, or in the speeches of the American, Israeli, and Palestinian leaders. Rather, it is in the real opportunity that the meeting has created for peace.   This opportunity reflects the realization by all parties and the international community that the time has come for Israeli-Palestinian peace because the costs of inaction are high and mounting. For all of its forecasted inadequacies, Annapolis in fact has delivered the official re-launching of peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians after a seven-year deep freeze.  It also significantly demonstrated a deep and public commitment of the United States, the international community, and major Arab players to supporting Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations…”

"Thoughts on Annapolis", Daniel Levy, Prospects for Peace Blog, November 29, 2007 

“…It's easy to be cynical, but Annapolis does matter. Israelis and Palestinians formally re-launched permanent status negotiations after seven long, violent and destructive years. The Bush administration is finally engaged and expending some capital on this issue. The Arab world, including Saudi Arabia and Syria, attended. At the very least, it is the kind of gathering that cannot be convened every fortnight. The uninvited naysayers back home—Hamas, Iran, you know the list—may look like meanie spoil-sports today, but if a month from now negotiations are stalled and the situation on the ground is just as dreadful (place your bets), then it is they who will be wearing the Cheshire cat grins. Annapolis could signify the rebirth of hope, but for this to be the case the credibility gaps that have the sceptics buzzing will need to be addressed…” 

Full Article >

“The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Annapolis and After”, Middle East Briefing N°22, International Crisis Group, November 20, 2007

“…The [Annapolis] meeting, like the process it aims to spawn, occurs in a highly politicised context, with sharp divisions in the Palestinian and Israeli camps. These will make it hard to reach agreement and harder still to sell it to both constituencies and, for the foreseeable future, virtually impossible to implement. Moreover, failure of the negotiations could discredit both leaderships, while further undermining faith in diplomacy and the two-state solution.  To maximise chances of success and minimise the costs of failure, Israelis and Palestinians need to seriously confront permanent status issues, while taking steps to improve the situation on the ground; the U.S. and other international actors need to adopt a more proactive role, proposing timely compromises as well as imposing accountability for both sides’ actions; and a different approach is needed toward those (principally Syria and Hamas) whose exclusion risks jeopardising any progress…”

Full Report >

“Joint Understanding Read by President Bush at Annapolis Conference”, Office of the White House Press Secretary, November 27, 2007

“Remarks By President Bush At The Opening Of The Annapolis Meeting”, United States Naval Academy, Annapolis Conference, November 27, 2007

“Address By Prime Minister Of Israel, Ehud Olmert At The International Meeting In Annapolis”, United States Naval Academy, Annapolis Conference, November 27, 2007

“Speech By President Mahmoud Abbas”, United States Naval Academy, Annapolis Conference
November 27, 2007

View Understanding and Speeches in One document (Compiled as part of the materials distributed at the Nov 29^th Capitol Hill event, “Digesting Annapolis: Digesting Annapolis: What Happened, What It Means, and What Happens Next?” co-sponsored by Churches for Middle East Peace together with Americans for Peace Now, the American Task Force on Palestine, the Arab American Institute, Brit Tzedek v'Shalom, the Foundation for Middle East Peace and Israel Policy Forum.)