Mohammed Assadi
A Palestinian boy looks from the window of his house in the southern Gaza strip October 30, 2007. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa  
RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Palestinians will not pursue peace talks with Israel without an agreed timeline for reaching a deal on statehood, chief Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qurie said on Tuesday.
"The Israeli prime minister had announced that he will not accept a timeline, and we say we won't accept negotiations without a timeline. We do not want to go to open negotiations," Qurie told reporters.
He made the comments ahead of a planned visit to Israel and the occupied West Bank at the weekend by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who is preparing the ground for a U.S.-led Middle East conference in late November or early December.
Western and Israeli officials have described a two-track process coming out of the Annapolis, Maryland meeting: the start of formal talks over a Palestinian state and a push to implement the first phase of a long-stalled "road map" peace plan.
The officials said Washington was considering holding a large follow-up meeting in mid-2008, bringing the two tracks together in a way that the Palestinians hope will culminate ...   more »

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has demanded Israel open its nuclear facilities to inspection by the UN nuclear watchdog and dismantle its weapons programme.
The security situation in the Middle East continues to pose a major threat to international peace and stability due to Israel's insistence on keeping its nuclear weapons and their delivery systems, Ahmed Abdulla Ali Al Ketbi, member of the UAE delegation, has told a UN General Assembly panel, WAM news agency reported Tuesday.
Ketbi decried as double standard the exemption to Israel -- which has not signed the NPT -- from inspection by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and said this has led to a dangerous security imbalance in the region.'This (the exemption) has contributed in one way or another to the irresponsible development of Israel's nuclear weapons, and encouragement of some other states, in the context of their concept of security deterrence, to acquire dangerous nuclear weapons,' Ketbi said.
'In spite of the confidence-building measures taken by Arab countries, including the United Arab Emirates, particularly in the area of disarmament of weapons of mass destruction, the security situation in the Middle East continues to pose a major threat to international peace, security and stability,' ...   more »

Chad Groening 
A defense analyst says even though Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made a splash at the U.N. and at Columbia University during a recent trip to the U.S., he is apparently facing serious political problems at home.
Greg Copley, president of the International Strategic Studies Association, says the Russians are very concerned about the stability of their neighbor to the south. According to the defense analyst, events of the past few weeks have really started to unravel Ahmadinejad's hold on power.
"They have isolated Ahmadinejad from the military. So basically Ahmadinejad is on the defensive; the clerics are trying to close ranks," he says. "That doesn't mean that even the clerics who are opposed to Ahmadinejad [are] good guys, from the sense of being allies or potential allies of the west or the United States or even the Iranian people -- they are not. However, they are more cautious than Ahmadinejad, whom they regard as being reckless."
Coplet contends Ahmadinejad is clearly on the defensive trying to stop Grand Ayatollah Ali Khameni and former president Akbar Rafsanjani from removing him from office.
Original Source

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The first Rally to "Defend Jerusalem" will be held on Sunday, October 28, 2007 from Noon to 2 P.M. at the Torch of Friendship in downtown Miami, 5th St. and Biscayne Blvd. Everyone needs to reach out to every caring person who supports Israel and wants a united Jerusalem to show your visibility at this event and to let your networks know as well.
Miami Rally to Defend Jerusalem
If you understand this crisis and need to act, please join us on these dates and if you can help in other ways and have additional suggestions we are happy to work with you, locally, nationally and internationally and suggest that folks in every community speak out on these dates as well and let your voices be heard. Silence at this time will only make matters worse.
DATE: October 28
TIME: 12:00 to 2:00 PM
LOCATION: Torch of Friendship
MORE: 5th Street and Biscayne, Downtown Miami
More Info: Contact Bob Kunst 305- 864-5110   
  If you receive this mail and live in another state, pleaes email us if you would like to have a Rally. Also pass this on to your friends who live in the Miami, Ft. Lauderdale area, ...   more »

Dion Nissenbaum | McClatchy Newspapers
JERUSALEM — The last time Israeli leaders sat down for meaningful peace talks with Palestinian negotiators, then-Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert led a march around the Old City's ancient walls to protest any plans to divide his adopted home.
"No concessions on Jerusalem," Olmert said on the eve of the 2000 Camp David summit. "For 33 years, Israel has said there will never be a compromise on Jerusalem. Do you think we were joking?"
But seven years, one Palestinian uprising and three Israeli elections later, Olmert, now Israel's prime minister, is floating the idea of carving up the city he led for 10 years. As he gears up for the most intense round of peace talks since the Camp David talks failed, Olmert has indicated that he's prepared to turn over Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem to the Palestinians.
In many ways, Jerusalem is the third rail of Israeli politics. Few are willing to touch it, and those who do often get burned. Former Prime Minister Ehud Barak came close to ceding control of about half of the Old City to the Palestinians before the Camp David talks crumbled, his government lost its credibility and Palestinians launched ...   more »