A New World Order?

"Peres to join Saudi King on interfaith panel for first time
By Yoav Stern, Haaretz Correspondent
Tags: Shimon Peres, interfaith

President Shimon Peres has been invited to take part in a United Nations interfaith conference initiated by Saudi King Abdullah in Washington next week.

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni is expected to accompany Peres to the conference, which will mark the first time Peres will participate in a panel alongside the Saudi ruler.

In addition to Peres and Abdullah, the panel will include Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Lebanese President Michel Suleiman, Jordanian King Abdullah, the king of Bahrain, the emir of Kuwait, the prime minister of Qatar, the prime minister of Yemen and the president of Pakistan.
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The President's Residence issued a statement Tuesday saying 'Peres and Livni plan to hold a round of political meetings with senior officials from the Arab world on the sidelines of the conference.'

A Palestinian man selling mugs featuring pictures of U.S. president-elect Barack Obama and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Gaza Sunday. (AP)

Peres was planning to invite a rabbi, a Muslim Kadi and a Christian priest to join his delegation to the conference, 'to show that Israel is a country that allows freedom of worship to all believers.'

The conference is part of Abdullah's initiative to promote interfaith dialogue, joined by religious representatives from the Jewish, Christian,"


And the view from Spiegel.

It was the night of grand sentiments. America reverberated with Democratic passion. Even John McCain, the defeated Republican contender, called him "my president." It was the strong departure of a weak candidate.

AFP

U.S. President-elect Barack Obama: The Bush doctrine was scrapped last night.

Barack Obama wasn't elected as 44th president of the United States because of his political platforms. Hillary Clinton was more precise, John Edwards more aggressive, McCain more experienced. But none of them hit the Obama tone, the tone of our age.

His base note is conciliatory, his overtone is exalted and the harmony is finely balanced. If anyone out there still doubted that the American dream was alive, he called out to his supporters in Chicago, "tonight is your answer."

"At this defining moment," he declared, "change is coming to America."

Obama's tone embraces people, it doesn't exclude them. It's a tone of political romanticism. It doesn't solve problems, but it lessens the pain. Where Bush stoked fear, Obama spreads calm.