Excerpts from CMEP's September Info Update are included below.  The topic areas include analyses of the upcoming November Israeli-Arab peace summit, background on the ongoing Olmert-Abbas meetings, a focus on the situation in Gaza, Jerusalem news, and a look at the status of Iraq's Christians. 

The update can be viewed in full on CMEP's website at: www.cmep.org/Updates/2007Sept10.htm.

1. November Summit: Risks and Possibilities

2. Olmert-Abbas Meetings: Convergence or Divergence?

3. Focus on Gaza: Civilians Caught Amidst Violence and Politics

4. Jerusalem News: Temple Mount/Haram al Sharif Digging Controversy; Settlements, Roads and the Impact of the Barrier in East Jerusalem

5. Conflicts Threaten Middle East Christianity: A Look at Iraq’s Christians

Washington’s summer break is over and the November Israeli-Arab summit is top on Middle East policymakers’ minds.  What will the agenda be?  Who will be at the table?  As of yet, there are still no concrete plans or final invitation lists.  Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Olmert and Palestinian President Abbas continue to meet regularly.  Quartet Envoy Tony Blair is currently in the region with a meeting of the Quartet expected on Sept. 23^rd, just before the United Nations General Assembly, and Secretary Rice is expected to visit the region again next week.  For all those committed to ending the Israeli-Arab conflict, expectation and optimism about the November summit are tempered by the discouraging possibility that a conference not well-planned or well-executed could fail to produce a reinvigorated peace process and could instead prompt a further breakdown, with ramifications felt throughout the Middle East. 

Marking the 6^th anniversary of Sept. 11^th in a Sunday Washington Post op-ed, Thomas Kean and Lee Hamilton, 9/11 Commission chair and vice-chair, cited the unresolved Israeli-Arab conflict as a key contributing factor to rising extremism throughout the region and recommend a “vigorous diplomatic effort, with the visible, active support of the president”.  As we reflect on the past and look ahead to possibilities for peace, this week also marks the start of Rosh Hashanah, the New Year according to the Jewish calendar, and Ramadan, the holy month of fasting according to the Muslim calendar.  Churches for Middle East Peace sends best wishes to our Jewish and Muslim friends—may these celebrations provide encouragement for the kind of sustained, committed and compassionate peacemaking that will be necessary for the season ahead.  As the Vatican said on Sept. 6^th, after a meeting of Pope Benedict with Israeli Pres. Peres, “All sides should make every effort to respond to the expectations of the populations, which have been exhausted by a crisis that has lasted 60 years and that continues to spread grief and destruction.” 

1.    NOVEMBER SUMMIT: RISKS AND POSSIBILITIES   

Looking ahead to the November Israeli-Arab summit, now is the time for serious and thoughtful preparation.  To have the positive impact that is so sorely needed, substantive political issues must be addressed, the groundwork for negotiations on final status issues must be laid, and the list of attendees must go beyond the usual line-up. The risks of failure are great.  If the conference turns out to be nothing more than a diplomatic exercise, the forces that oppose a two-state settlement will be the primary beneficiaries.  Below are updates and commentary related to the upcoming Israeli-Arab summit.   

“Daily [State Department] Press Briefing”, Tom Casey, Deputy Spokesman, Washington, DC, August 28, 2007 

QUESTION: And there are no further details about the conference? 

MR. CASEY: No, in terms of the international meeting itself, we are still working on specific dates and venue for it. Again, I think we are continuing consultations with not only the Israelis and Palestinians, but with a variety of other players in the region, including some of our friends and allies in neighboring states.

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/dpb/2007/aug/91533.htm

“The Middle East needs peace, not another symbolic photograph”, Editorial, The Daily Star, September 6, 2007

“…To date, it remains unclear what the real objectives of the meetings will be. Arab leaders have expressed fears that it is aimed solely at winning a photograph of Israeli, Saudi, and other Arab officials side by side…Arab League chief Amr Moussa warned on Wednesday that if the conference is merely ‘a meaningless and useless political demonstration’ the consequences would pose a serious threat to regional stability. Moussa and other Arab leaders know very well that repeated failures to achieve progress toward a peace agreement have contributed to a rise in extremism across the region, putting moderate Arab regimes under enormous stress...”

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&article_id=85061&categ_id=17

“November's Peace Summit: Some Guidelines for the Perplexed”, Daniel Levy, Prospects for Peace Blog, August 30, 2007

“…a certain expectation is developing in the region, though it is not yet felt in Washington (and it is perhaps unlikely to be, given Iraq's dominance of the agenda post-Labor Day), that Israeli-Palestinian political issues may be fast-tracked toward an outcome in November. Olmert and Abbas have twice held preliminary discussions on permanent status issues in four eyes, and are due to meet again soon. After that a decision is expected to be taken on establishing teams to possibly begin a drafting process. The US has approached the Arab states and Saudi Arabia in particular to secure their buy-in for November. Ehud Olmert has polled his own public and discovered that they support such an effort.  Issues such as future borders, division of Jerusalem and refugee resettlement are being aired for the first time in seven years, and there has been a flurry of diplomatic activity.  I just spent ten days back in the region to get a sense of where things are at -- meeting with very senior Israeli and Palestinian officials, and catching up with old acquaintances, analysts, and policy wonks.   This piece is an attempt to address ten questions about the prospective November summit. At the outset I should state that such an effort could be very encouraging if it is done right, but could also be rather dangerous if it's part of a more-of-the-same policy…” 

http://www.prospectsforpeace.com/2007/08/novembers_peace_summit_some_gu.html

“A road map for diplomacy”, Kenneth W. Stein, The Jerusalem Post, August 21, 2007

“Over the last 70 years, more than half a dozen Middle East peace conferences have been planned or convened…Common to the three most successful conferences - Geneva in 1973, Camp David in 1978 and Madrid in 1991: They were not ends in and of themselves, but instead led to substantive agreements and additional discussions…Before invitations to attend are issued, each side will want certain guarantees or understandings from whomever convenes the conference. How the conference is structured - public presentations, multilateral talks, bilateral talks, convened under certain UN Resolutions - and even the shape of the table all matters. These procedures often drown out the substance, but only temporarily. Politicians, editorial writers and analysts will do their best to tell you why a conference has no worth, why it will be a bust, and that it is only being held to save, prolong or enhance a political career. Finally, we have learned recently that elections and constitutions do not make democracy. Likewise, peace conferences do not make peace. Only leaders with vision, political will and the courage to compromise can do both.”

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1187502436780&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/Printer

“Internal complications”, Ghassan Khatib, Bitterlemons, Edition 31, August 20, 2007

“The Bush initiative to convene an international meeting on the Middle East has caused contradicting reactions in the region. Some politicians and analysts, particularly in Israel and Palestine, have greeted the initiative with optimism. They believe that as a result, a political process may be reactivated along with the American engagement that the conflict has long been waiting for. They see in this plan an attempt to reverse American support for former Israeli PM Ariel Sharon's unilateral approach and a return to the bilateral process that the US has traditionally supported. But others have been very skeptical about the real American motives and the ability of this administration to deliver anything positive on the Middle East…With regard to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, two factors mitigate against optimistic scenarios regarding an historic breakthrough before the end of US President George W. Bush' term. The first is the internal Israeli political scene and the second is internal Palestinian divisions…”

http://www.bitterlemons.org/previous/bl200807ed31.html#pal1