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A regular feature of news and opinion pieces from the Israeli and Palestinian press. 1.) A new poll has affirmed the centrality of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to the worldview of most Middle Easterners. “According to the study, 88 percent of Egyptians rank it among the top three most important issues [facing the region], while 100 percent of Jordanians do the same. In addition, 99 percent of Lebanese rank this issue as one of the top three.” ( Haaretz ) Strikingly, the poll also asked respondents to choose from a list of possible American policies that would most improve their opinion of the United States; Fifty percent said that brokering an Israeli-Arab peace accord was the “the single most important step to improving their views of the United States.” This issue was even considered of greater importance than an American withdrawal from Iraq, a removal of US forces from Saudi soil, and the provision of additional economic aid to the region. 2.) In a positive sign, Israel and Syria are reportedly preparing for direct, high-level peace talks to be held in the coming weeks. Turkey had previously acted as the third-party facilitator for preliminary discussions. Yet despite such indications of progress, major hurdles remain. Syria, for example, again re-emphasized recently that the United States must play a mediating role in any viable negotiation. Such involvement still remains extremely unlikely, however, as the Bush administr ...
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A regular feature of news and opinion pieces from the Israeli and Palestinian press. 1.) A new poll has affirmed the centrality of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to the worldview of most Middle Easterners. “According to the study, 88 percent of Egyptians rank it among the top three most important issues [facing the region], while 100 percent of Jordanians do the same. In addition, 99 percent of Lebanese rank this issue as one of the top three.” ( Haaretz ) Strikingly, the poll also asked respondents to choose from a list of possible American policies that would most improve their opinion of the United States; Fifty percent said that brokering an Israeli-Arab peace accord was the “the single most important step to improving their views of the United States.” This issue was even considered of greater importance than an American withdrawal from Iraq, a removal of US forces from Saudi soil, and the provision of additional economic aid to the region. 2.) In a positive sign, Israel and Syria are reportedly preparing for direct, high-level peace talks to be held in the coming weeks. Turkey had previously acted as the third-party facilitator for preliminary discussions. Yet despite such indications of progress, major hurdles remain. Syria, for example, again re-emphasized recently that the United States must play a mediating role in any viable negotiation. Such involvement still remains extremely unlikely, however, as the Bush administr ...