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1. Even in US Post-Election Transition, Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Requires Attention
2. Recent Developments: Bush-Olmert Meeting, Palestinian Unity Govt, Gaza Crisis & Rice’s October Speech
3. New Efforts Needed to Kick-Start Peace Process: No Shortage of Plans and Ideas
4. Update on Humanitarian Situation in the West Bank and Gaza
5. Jerusalem News: Statement from Church Leaders and Religious Freedom Issues
6. Interview with a Palestinian Christian

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1. Even in US post-election transition, israeli-palestinian conflict requires attention

Even as the transition in the House and Senate takes place over the coming months, the Bush Administration and Congress must work together on peacemaking.  The much-anticipated report from the Baker-Hamilton Iraq Study Group is set to be released in December and it is possible that it will recommend US engagement on the Arab-Israeli conflict as a key component of regional stability.  Meanwhile, the violence in and around Gaza has escalated further in recent weeks and it is clear that a failure to calm the crisis will have devastating effects on Israelis, Palestinians and the entire region, as well as our own national security.   A renewal of a diplomatic process between Israelis and Palestinians that provides a political horizon for both peoples and the region is absolutely necessary.  This month’s info update includes resources and articles related to several recent developments, options for reviving a Mideast peace process, the Palestinian humanitarian situation, news from Jerusalem and the situation of Holy Land Christians.   

2. recent developments: bush-olmert meeting, Palestinian Unity Govt, Gaza Crisis & rice’s october speech on a Palestinian state

Below are several statements and resources related to Israeli-Palestinian/US developments in the last month.  First, the transcript from the Nov, 13^th meeting between Prime Minister Olmert and President Bush, which indicated no new initiative on Israeli-Palestinian peace and no attention to the unfolding crisis in Gaza.  Second, is an update on progress on negotiations between President Abbas and Hamas toward a Palestinian unity government made up of technocrats.  Third, is a link to the US response following the recent escalation of violence in Gaza.  Finally, Secretary Rice’s October speech at an American Task Force on Palestine gala event outlines her personal commitment to a Palestinian state living in peace alongside Israel.   

“President Bush Welcomes Prime Minister Olmert of Israel to the White House”, Oval Office, November 13, 2006

PRESIDENT BUSH: …I appreciate the Prime Minister's strategic thoughts.  He cares deeply about his country, and he cares deeply about securing the peace.  We talked about our commitment to a two-state solution.  We talked about the need for a Palestinian government to embrace the principles of the Quartet and the road map, which both our governments strongly support…But the whole central thrust of our discussions was based upon our understanding that we're involved in an ideological struggle between extremists and radicals versus people who just simply want to live in peace, and that as democracies we have an obligation, obviously, to listen to the will of our people, but at the same time, work together to help those who want to live in a peaceful society achieve their ambitions…”  

PRIME MINISTER OLMERT:  “…I say time and again, on different occasions, that we want to open a serious dialogue with the Chairman of the Palestinian Authority.  And I will make every possible effort to help Abu Mazen to get into such a dialogue with us.  Indeed, we hope that the new government will be established soon on the basis of the Quartet and the road map, and that will allow an immediate contact between him and me that I'm sure will lead to extend this negotiation process.  Again, Mr. President, it's always a great joy to be with Your Excellency.  And I always thank you for your friendship -- your personal friendship, and even more important, your friendship for the state of Israel.”

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/11/20061113-3.html 

"Agreement on Palestinian Unity Government Almost Complete", Samar Assad, Palestine Center, Information Brief No. 145, November 13, 2006

”…Palestinian officials seem to have made significant progress toward the creation of a unity government. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is expected to receive a complete list of nominees when he arrives in Gaza on Thursday, 16 November. Palestinians hope that the new government will end months of international economic siege and political isolation that has deepened an extremely dire humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip and throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territory…” 

http://www.thejerusalemfund.org/images/informationbrief.php?ID=171 

“United States urges Israelis, Palestinians to find path to peace: Latest Gaza violence highlights need for return to talks, says State spokesman”, David McKeeby, Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State, November 9, 2006 

“The 18 civilian deaths in a recent Israeli attack in the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun in the Palestinian Territories is a tragedy that highlights the urgent need for Palestinians and Israelis to resume their search for a path to peace, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said November 9. ‘There's nothing we can do to assuage the grief that friends and family are feeling. But the answer and the response is not more violence,’ McCormack told reporters in a briefing in Washington. ‘The answer is to do what you can to work for a better way of life for the Palestinian people and for the Israeli people.’…” 

http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2006&m=November&x=20061109164958IDybeeKcM0.1699488

Full transcript of the Nov. 9^th press briefing by Sean McCormack: http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/dpb/2006/75742.htm

“Helping Palestinians Build a Better Future”, Secretary Condoleezza Rice, Keynote Address at the American Task Force on Palestine Inaugural Gala, Washington, DC, October 11, 2006 

“…Last month, in his speech to the UN General Assembly, President Bush reiterated his deep conviction that the Palestinian people deserve a better life – a life that is rooted in liberty and democracy, uncompromised by violence and terrorism, unburdened by corruption and misrule, and forever free of the daily humiliation of occupation.  It is this belief that led President Bush, in June of 2002, to become the first American president to make it a matter of policy that the creation of a Palestinian state, with territorial integrity, with viability, living side by side with Israel, in peace and security, would indeed strengthen peace and security, not just in the region but the peace and security of us all…I know that sometimes a Palestinian state living side by side in peace with Israel must seem like a very distant dream. But I know too, as a student of international history, that there are so many things that once seemed impossible that, after they happened, simply seemed inevitable…I know the commitment of the Palestinian people to a better future. I know firsthand the commitment of President Abbas and moderate Palestinians to that future. And I know the commitment of the people in this room and of the American Task Force on Palestine that one day indeed there will be a Palestinian state living side by side in peace with Israel. I can only tell you that I, too, have a personal commitment to that goal because I believe that there could be no greater legacy for America than to help to bring into being a Palestinian state for a people who have suffered too long, who have been humiliated too long, who have not reached their potential for too long, and who have so much to give to the international community and to all of us. I promise you my personal commitment to that goal.”

http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2006/73895.htm 

3. new efforts needed to kick start peace-process; no shortage of plans and ideas

It seems that every week another high-profile proposal emerges related to the urgent need for new efforts toward a comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace.  Just today the Quartet and Arab leaders met in Egypt to discuss options for restarting the Mideast peace process.  The upcoming report from the Baker-Hamilton Iraq Study group may also include a recommendation related to US engagement on Arab-Israeli peace.  There are plenty of scenarios and ideas to choose from, all of which share a common end goal of a negotiated two-state solution in the context of an Israeli-Syria and Israeli-Lebanon deal. The way forward does not need to be invented; the aimed-for outcome is not mysterious, but US leadership is needed.  Below are a number of articles highlighting some of these possibilities.   

“From Conflict Management to Conflict Resolution”, Edward Djerejian, Foreign Affairs, November/December Issue 

“…President George W. Bush should [therefore] reiterate the vision of a comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace settlement that he presented in June 2002, including his explicit call for a two-state solution involving a Palestinian state living in peace and security next to the state of Israel, and make it clear that he will work toward that end with the international community for the remainder of his presidency.  This could give the parties in the region the political space they need to make the tough decisions and compromises for a negotiated peace.  This thorough approach to peace, which would bring all the Arab and Israeli parties together to address the issues on the Palestinian, Lebanese, and Syrian fronts in a parallel manner, could be modeled after the Madrid peace conference of 1991.  All of the key issues in the Middle East – the Arab-Israeli conflict, Iraq, Iran, the need for regionwide political and economic reforms, extremism, and terrorism – are inextricably linked.  Nothing short of a comprehensive strategy can solve the problems, marginalize the radicals, and promote the values and interests of the United States and the parties in the region.  Washington has waged war in Afghanistan in Iraq.  The question now is whether it can muster the political will to wage peace as well.”

The full article is in hard copy in the November/December issue of Foreign Affairs (http://www.foreignaffairs.org/). 

“Arab League proposes new Mideast peace conference”, Reuters, November 12, 2006  

“Arab League foreign ministers meeting in an emergency session in Egypt on Sunday called for a fresh international peace conference to resolve the Arab-Israeli dispute based on the principle of land for peace. The Arab ministers also pledged to break financial sanctions on the Palestinian Authority, but gave scant details as to how that would be accomplished. The ministers…said in a communique that permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, Israel and Arab parties would be invited to attend the peace conference…”

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L12512697.htm 

“Israel opens door to Saudi proposal: Promise, not blueprint, seen in '02 peace plan”, Aron Heller, Associated Press, November 1, 2006

”Israel's defense minister said Tuesday that a dormant Saudi initiative for Middle East peace could be a ‘basis for negotiation,’ indicating a new possibility for talks with the Palestinians after years of stalemate.  The Saudi plan calls for a comprehensive peace between Israel and the Arab world that would be based on a complete Israeli withdrawal from lands it captured in the 1967 Middle East war -- the West Bank, Gaza Strip, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights.  Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz said he was not endorsing the plan. But he was the most senior Israeli official to even consider it publicly.  ‘We could see the Saudi initiative as the basis for negotiation. This does not mean that we are adopting the Saudi initiative, but it can serve as a basis,’ Peretz said during an academic conference at Tel Aviv University.  The Saudi initiative was adopted at an Arab League summit in Beirut in March 2002. For the first time, it offered Israel normal relations with the entire Arab world in exchange for a complete withdrawal from captured territory….” 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0611010175nov01,1,5460140.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed 

“Mediterranean ministers call for Road Map revision”,  Associated Press, October 28, 2006

”Diplomats from 11 countries called Saturday for a multilateral approach to resolving the Middle East conflict, proposing an urgent revision of the Road map process and an international conference to end what they called the current state of stagnation.   ‘The time has come for a new effort aimed at solving the problems that lie at the heart of the Middle East crisis,’ ministers from countries bordering the Mediterranean said in a document tiled the ‘Declaration of Alicante.’  The declaration added [that] the Israeli-Palestinian Road Map needed ‘urgent attention’ and that ‘it was obvious for such a process to succeed it should include all the parties to the conflict, namely Israel, the Palestinian National Authority, Syria and Lebanon.’…”

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3320593,00.html 

“Toward a comprehensive settlement of the Arab—Israeli conflict”, Gareth Evans (President and CEO of the International Crisis Group), Al-Hayat (Lebanon), October 22, 2006 

“With the recent Lebanese—Israeli and Palestinian—Israeli crises, a new global Middle East peace initiative is urgently needed to generate a final and comprehensive settlement of the Arab—Israeli conflict. As we are all acutely aware, the Middle East has been immersed in its worst crisis in years, with serious concern about developments in Iraq and Iran but the Arab—Israeli conflict still at its heart. So long as that conflict continues, everyone will be losers except the extremists throughout the world who prosper on the rage it continues to provoke…the urgent need for a comprehensive, just and sustainable peace could not be more obvious. But the spark has to be somehow lit, and a serious new Middle East peace process started. Unfortunately, there is a continuing absence of the necessary political will to achieve this.  But there is also today broad international understanding of what is needed to ultimately resolve the outstanding, and closely inter—related, Israeli—Palestinian, Israeli—Lebanese and Israeli—Syrian issues. The outlines should be based on U.N. Security Council resolutions 242 and 338, the Arab League Initiative of 2002, the Clinton Parameters and the Roadmap proposed in 2003 by the Quartet (the U.S., the EU, Russia and the U.N.). The goal must be security and full recognition of the state of Israel within internationally recognised borders, an end to the occupation for the Palestinian people in a viable independent, sovereign state, and the return of lost land to Syria…” 

http://english.daralhayat.com/opinion/commentators/10-2006/Article-20061022-6f992d6b-c0a8-10ed-0055-76e262a459bc/story.html

4. update on humanitarian situation in the west bank and gaza 

Below are a number of resources on the economic and humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territories, including a report from the World Bank, a brief by a Palestinian economist, a recent poll of Palestinian public opinion and a report from the International Monetary Fund.   

“Coping with Crisis: Palestinian Authority Institutional Performance”, World Bank, November 2006 

“This monitoring note is an attempt to assess the impact of the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) fiscal crisis on the functioning of the PA’s institutions and service provision…there are strong indications that the PA is currently experiencing severe difficulties in sustaining government operations in terms of both routine administrative tasks and service provision. As of end-September, work has ground to a halt in many ministries and agencies. As the fiscal and administrative crisis has intensified, the risk has increased that significant long-term damage will be done to PA governing structures…While the primary goal of this exercise is to examine the effects of the ongoing fiscal crisis on PA institutions, one must bear in mind that not all of the trends observed can be attributed to the financial crisis alone. Some may be attributable to other factors, such as border closures and the fragmentation of the Palestinian economy, Israeli military measures, conflicts between Palestinian political factions, and the disruption caused by a change in Government…”   http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTWESTBANKGAZA/Resources/PAInstitutionalPerformanceNov.7.06.pdf 

“Gaza Economic Predicament One Year After Disengagement: What Went Wrong?", Dr. Mohammed Samhouri, Senior Fellow at the Crown Center for Middle East Studies, Brandeis University, November 13, 2006  

“…Although no one expected miracles to happen within the year after Israel unilaterally pulled its settlers and troops out of Gaza, the speed at which economic and humanitarian conditions have deteriorated in the teeming 360- sq-km Palestinian enclave was not foreseen either—nor was the scope and intensity of the decline in such a short period of time. This unfortunate turn of events following the Israeli evacuation of Gaza last year raises a whole host of questions as to what exactly happened there…The objective of this Brief is to reflect on this short period in Gaza’s recent history…and draw some relevant conclusions—all from an economic standpoint…”  

http://www.brandeis.edu/centers/crown/publications/Mid%20East%20Brief/Brief%2012%20October%202006%20Samhouri.pdf

“Poll on Palestinian Economy”, Poll No. 159, Palestinian Center for Public Opinion, Dr. Nabil Kukali, November 7, 2006 

“The most recent economical survey prepared by Dr. Nabil Kukali revealed that: (78.6%) Are worried about their personal security.  (80.9%) Of the Palestinians are worried about the naked subsistence of their families at present. (78.1%) Evaluated their economic condition as bad.  (62.3%) Are pessimistic about the improvement of the economic and political conditions.  (62.1%) Hold the United States, Israel and other donor countries responsible for the deterioration of the economic conditions in the Palestinian territories…”

http://www.pcpo.ps/polls.htm 

“IMF: PA funds down 60% under Hamas”, Associated Press, November 6, 2006 

“The Palestinian Authority's income fell by 60 percent after Hamas took power in March, even as the government payroll expanded, creating an increasingly unsustainable situation, the International Monetary Fund reported Wednesday.  Between April and September, the government took in just US $500 million, down from more than US $1.2 billion in the same period in 2005, the report said. Much of the drop was due to Israel's refusal to turn over an estimated US $360 million in taxes it collects on behalf of the Palestinians, a response to Hamas' refusal to recognize Israel. Despite an international aid boycott of the Hamas-led government, some US $420 million in foreign aid reached the Palestinians between April and September, more than in all of 2005. This enabled the government to pay civil servants some 40 percent of their salaries in the past six months, the report said. The bulk of the aid, some US $300 million, came from Arab countries and bypassed Hamas. Of the Arab money, US $246 million was transferred directly to moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, bolstering his leverage as he tries to pressure Hamas to form a moderate government acceptable to the West…About 80 percent of the US $500 million in income in the past six months was spent on the ever-expanding government payroll and on fuel imports, leaving little for other budget items, such as welfare payments, the report said…” 

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull&cid=1162378303889

5. jerusalem news: Statement from Church leaders & Religious Freedom Issues

• Status of Jerusalem: New Statement from Jerusalem Church Leaders

The heads of churches in Jerusalem have released a new statement on the status of Jerusalem that follows up on a memorandum they issued in 1994, "The Meaning of Jerusalem for Christians." The statement highlights the need for a more concerted effort to build a lasting peace in the Middle East, beginning with Jerusalem. It discusses the importance of the interreligious character of the city, affirming the uniqueness of the city for each of the three faiths. The church leaders set out requirements for a just and durable solution for Jerusalem, focusing on the need for common agreement by the two peoples and laying out different solutions, including a united city with shared sovereignty and a divided city with two distinct sovereignties. The statement also calls for an open city with a special status that corresponds to Jerusalem's "double character, holy and universal, and ordinary and local, where daily life unfolds." The church leaders appeal for cooperation with their fellow religious leaders in the Holy Land and call on political authorities to "find a solution [to Jerusalem] which corresponds to the city's sacred character."

To read the full statement, go to: http://www.cmep.org/Statements/2006Sept29_JerusalemChurchLeaders.htm 

• Religious Freedom Issues in Jerusalem

“Wall and Restrictions Divide Jerusalem Area Christians from Their Faith and Life”, October Newsletter, The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land  

“The last time the Abu Leils tried to go to the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer (about 5 kilometers from their house), they left over an hour early and got there at the end of the service.  They don't try anymore.  They live in Al Ram, which used to be considered a part of Jerusalem because it was integrated with the neighborhoods of East Jerusalem, but it is about to be sealed off on the West Bank side of the Wall…”    

http://www.julierowe.net/ELCJHL/newsletters/06%20October%20Newsletter.html 

“At least on their holiday”, Haaretz Editorial, October 19, 2006

”Very little goodwill and tolerance remains in Israeli-Palestinian relations, and therefore, prohibiting access to the Al-Aqsa Mosque on Jerusalem's Temple Mount to male Muslim worshipers under the age of 45 is perceived as an obvious security measure. However, the desire to protect Israeli citizens is not a convincing reason when it comes to the month of Ramadan, during which the security establishment should deploy more forces and permit freedom of worship to everyone…”

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/776639.html

6. Interview with a Palestinian christian

Below is an interview with Dr. Bernard Sabella, a Catholic Palestinian from Jerusalem, while he was here in Washington in October.  Dr. Sabella’s visit was hosted by Churches for Middle East Peace and included meetings with Congressional staff and State Department and Administration officials as well as public briefings.  In the article below, Dr. Sabella points out the complexities of the situation of Palestinian Christians and concludes that the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict poses the most significant problem for Christians, and indeed all the people, of the Holy Land.   

“Palestinian Laments Christian Plight”, Ron Kampeas, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, October 30, 2006 

“Bernard Sabella's message as a Palestinian Christian is this: His people are leaving the Holy Land. But so are Muslims and Jews, and it's all part of the same problem.  Sabella, a Christian in the Palestinian Authority Parliament and a sociologist who specializes in his community at Bethlehem University, toured Washington last week in an effort to tamp down the aftereffects of an especially nasty Washington fracas this summer over who was making Holy Land Christians suffer more - Jews or Muslims?  The problem is the question, Sabella said last week in an interview. ‘Reducing everything to a religious dimension confuses the issue,’ he said.  The problem is a failure of political will by both Palestinians and Israelis to come to an accommodation, he said. ‘It is leading Palestinian Christians and Muslims, and young Jewish Israelis who are promising professionals, to leave the country,’ said Sabella, whose visit was sponsored by Churches for Middle East Peace, a dovish coalition of mainstream churches…” 

http://www.cmep.org/Alerts/2006Nov2.htm 

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The views expressed by the authors of the items included do not necessarily reflect those of Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP).  CMEP is a coalition of 21 Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant church bodies and organizations that work together in pursuit of a peaceful resolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict where two viable states, Israel and Palestine, live side-by-side within secure and recognized borders.