Secretary of State Madeleine Albright’s Mideast trip, scheduled for next week, isn’t shaping up the way administration officials had hoped. And the rumbles of discontent in Washington, along with the implied threat that she could cancel the visit entirely, may have played a part in this week’s sudden flurry of Israeli-Palestinian diplomacy.
The State Department is making it clear that despite Palestinian demands for more direct U.S. intervention, Albright will be mostly assessing the status of Israeli-Palestinian talks, not serving as an intermediary.

When 15-year-old Ryan Green wore his new Star of David necklace to the first day of class at Harrison Central High School in Gulfport, Miss., it drew the attention of wary school officials.
The school superintendent, backed by the entire local school board barred the carrot-topped, freckle-faced boy from wearing the silver pendant, citing a school policy that prohibits students from wearing gang symbols.
The case swiftly gained national attention, spurring a federal lawsuit, charges of anti-Semitism and raising new questions about religious freedom in public schools.