'Don't Give Up the Ship' -- the motto at Annapolis

Memorial Hall, where the Annapolis Conference on Middle East peace will get underway today. Photo by Mark Silva

by Mark Silva

ANNAPOLIS -- "Don't Give Up the Ship,'' reads the motto on the flag hanging in a glass case above the main hallway of Bancroft Hall at the U.S. Naval Academy which leads to Memorial Hall, an ornate space surrounded by pillars, topped with a vaulted skylight and adorned with chandeliers.

The same flag hangs in a glass case on a side wall of the conference's Memorial Hall as well -- hanging above the side of the table where President Bush will be seated.

This is where Bush will join Israeli and Palestinian leaders and representatives from Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Syria and others -- a total of 40 nations, plus the Arab League and Portugal as the representative of the European Union -- around a square table set up for "The Annapolis Conference.'' No negotiations will take place here, the White House says. But instead, Israeli and Palestinian leaders will commit themselves to negotiations aimed at securing a lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

The goal has eluded them for decades. And for three decades, American presidents have attempted, in varying measures, to secure an accord that not only confirms Israel's place in the world, but also provides Palestinians a place. President Bush, the first U.S. president to endorse the creation of a Palestinian state, has convened this conference -- some five years after first voicing his goal of Israelis and Palestinians living side-by-side in peace.

For leaders filling Memorial Hall, it is a question of saving ships of state.

Bancroft Hall, on the campus of the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis. This houses Memorial Hall, setting for the Annapolis Conference. Photo by Silva

This is the seating chart in Memorial Hall today:

Looking at the conference table as a square, with the top in front of the pillars and a mural of The Annapolis Conference that frames the setting:

It would appear that chairs are reserved at the top of the square for Olmert and Abbas.

Seated down the left side of the square:

Arab League, Algeria, Austria, Bahrain, Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, India, Indonesia, Italy

At the bottom of the square:

Japan, Jordan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mauritania, Morroco, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Poland and Qatar

Up the right side of the square:

Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sudan, Sweden, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United States, Yemen, Portugal.