Jerusalem

JERUSALEM -- Wrapping up a visit to push forward Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice criticized Israel's continued building in West Bank settlements after plans were announced yesterday for new housing construction. The Jerusalem municipality said it had approved plans for 600 new homes in Pisgat Zeev, a neighborhood built on West Bank land annexed to the city after the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. The ultra-Orthodox Shas party said Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had promised to build 800 more homes in Betar Illit, a town of strictly Orthodox Jews near Jerusalem that is one of the fastest-growing settlements in the West Bank.

JERUSALEM -- Israel unveiled plans yesterday to build 1,120 apartments for Jews in East Jerusalem, a move the Palestinians called a new setback for U.S.-backed peace negotiations. The announcement by Housing Minister Zeev Boim appeared to be aimed at placating the Shas religious party, which had vowed to quit the coalition government if it conceded anything to the Palestinians on Jerusalem. Shas had criticized a government freeze on approval of new Jewish housing projects in territory claimed by the Palestinians.

Jerusalem is draping itself in the flags of the city, Israel and the United States in honor of President Bush's visit this week, perfect for the essential photo op. And that's all this trip sounds like it's shaping up to be since neither the president nor his advisers have identified any policy or message that Mr. Bush will relay to advance the commitments made at the Annapolis peace summit. And that's just unacceptable. The Tel Aviv-Jerusalem-Ramallah leg of Mr. Bush's Middle East journey can't be simply a stopover before the president heads to Arab capitals to discuss economic progress, regional security and his concerns over Iran.

JERUSALEM -- Israeli and Palestinian negotiators launched their first full-fledged peace talks since 2001, but yesterday's session was marred by tensions over an Israeli construction project in East Jerusalem and fresh rocket attacks carried out by Palestinian militants based in the Gaza Strip. Israel's plans to build 300 new homes in a neighborhood it calls Har Homa have drawn denunciations from Palestinian officials and had prompted calls to boycott the formal start of a promised yearlong effort to reach a peace agreement.

Excuse me? What was that I didn't hear? Journalists from around the world lined up early at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium yesterday to attend the one-day Israeli-Palestinian peace conference in Annapolis. After getting credentials, the reporters were sent through metal detectors, guided onto a waiting bus, schlepped down to the U.S. Naval Academy and directed into a gymnasium where they could view the statements of President Bush, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on a giant screen.

JERUSALEM -- I seem to be one of the few people left in Israel with any real hopes for Annapolis. I admit that my optimism has been somewhat lessened by the barrage of negative media reports about the negotiations. It does seem apparent that the joint declaration will inevitably be less than what I had hoped for when the negotiations first began. Under the auspices of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, in partnership with our own Israel/Palestine Center for Research and Information, I spent a week this month in Washington with a joint team of Israeli and Palestinian political leaders.

As the State Department finalizes the agenda for the Middle East summit in Annapolis, it should consider including some last-minute participants who have the clout to build authentic support for the peace process. We suggest that they include the region's most senior Israeli and Palestinian religious leaders in these and all future talks. These courageous leaders have joined together to form a Council of Religious Institutions of the Holy Land with the express purpose of removing religion from the conflict and putting it into the peace process.

Past efforts at resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict have failed for multiple reasons, chief among them the issue of Jerusalem. And while the leaders gathering in Annapolis have agreed not to agree about the holy city's fate for now, it will likely be the unbridgeable divide in the follow-up negotiations. As Madeleine K. Albright noted, "If Jerusalem were just a real estate issue, we could have dealt with it long ago." Jerusalem is hardly a real estate issue. It is at the heart of the Israel-Arab impasse, for it relates fundamentally to history, theology and national identity.

RAMALLAH, West Bank -- Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas dedicated Yasser Arafat's sleek new mausoleum in a ceremony yesterday, drawing on his predecessor's continued popularity as he heads into peace negotiations with Israel. The dedication of the mausoleum, on the third anniversary of Arafat's death, was meant to boost Abbas' legitimacy as he faces a stiff challenge from the rival Hamas. Arafat died at age 75 in a French military hospital, after spending his final years under Israeli siege at his West Bank headquarters.

On October 18, 2007, AARON SEABRON. On Tuesday, friends may call at the VAUGHN C. GREENE FUNERAL SERVICES, 4101 Edmondson Avenue from 4-8 P.M. On Wednesday, Mr. Seabron will lie in state at Jerusalem Baptist Church, 2401 Loch Raven Road where the family will receive friends form 11:30 A.M-12 noon with services to follow. Inquiries to (410) 233-2400.