Hamas says never to negotiate with Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
November 11, 2009 - 1:00am

Palestinian Islamic Hamas movement said Tuesday it will never negotiate with Israel, slamming Palestinian officials who warned of possible talks between the Islamic movement and the Jewish state. "Hamas will not negotiate with the (Israeli) occupation and will not be the lifeboat for Oslo team," said Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas spokesman, referring to the Palestinian National Authority's(PNA) negotiation with Israel under the Oslo accords since 1993.

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Adieu President Abbas?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
by Osama Al-Sharif - November 11, 2009 - 1:00am

It is probably ironic that the only direct, and most likely genuine, plea with Mahmoud Abbas to stay on and rescind his decision not to contest next year’s elections, came not from his close Arab and Western allies, but from Israeli President Shimon Peres.

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Palestinian Authority’s Future Is in Question
Media Mention of Ziad Asali In The New York Times - November 11, 2009 - 1:00am

The collapse of the Palestinian Authority, Israel’s negotiating partner, was raised as a possibility on Monday, as several aides to its president, Mahmoud Abbas, said that he intended to resign and forecast that others would follow.

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Abbas may quit Fatah, PLO posts
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
November 10, 2009 - 1:00am

President Mahmoud Abbas is considering resigning from his roles on the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Executive Committee and the Fatah Central Committee, Palestinian officials said on Tuesday. The sources, who spoke on the condition that their names be withheld, also said that Abbas’ announcement last week that he will not seek reelection as president was a serious decision and not a political maneuver as analysts have said. Abbas is also waiting for the appropriate moment to announce his resignation from the PLO and Fatah governing bodies, the sources added.

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How Will the Palestinians Survive without Mahmoud Abbas?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed - (Opinion) November 10, 2009 - 1:00am

We must not forget that the Palestinian president – no matter who he might be – is an important figure not just for the West Bank, but for the entire Arab world. This is because the Palestinian President is the guardian of the most important cause – the Palestinian Cause – and therefore possesses exceptional [political] legitimacy in the Middle East's political arena. Therefore the issue that we are facing is one that concerns everybody.

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Palestinian leaders foresee bleak future
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Omar Karmi - November 10, 2009 - 1:00am

It must be assumed that the discussion at the somewhat reluctantly and hastily arranged meeting in Washington last night between Barack Obama, the US president, and Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, would have focused almost exclusively on the future of the Palestinian-Israeli peace process.

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Abbas isn't finished just yet
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
by Sami Moubayed - (Opinion) November 10, 2009 - 1:00am

The last thing Mahmoud Abbas needed was a pat on the back from his Israeli counterpart Shimon Peres, shortly after announcing that he would not seek another term as president of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA).

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Hamas said to ban Arafat death commemorations
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP)
November 10, 2009 - 1:00am

The Islamist Hamas movement ruling Gaza has banned all public commemoration of Yasser Arafat's death this year, officials with the rival secular Fatah group said on Tuesday. Wednesday will mark five years since Arafat, the revered Palestinian leader and founder of Fatah, died in a Paris military hospital at the age of 75. "The (Hamas) internal security forces have summoned dozens members of the (Fatah) movement in the Gaza Strip to tell them that all commemoration of Abu Ammar's (Arafat's) death has been banned," a senior Fatah official told AFP.

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Clear signal
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
(Editorial) November 9, 2009 - 1:00am

With Mahmoud Abbas, the PA president and head of the PLO, announcing that he will not seek another term in power, the clearest possible signal has been sent that the possibility for any peace process between Palestinians and Israelis is moribund. The Palestinian-Israeli conflict has now reached a critical impasse, and only something dramatic can break the stalemate. Without anything suitably dramatic, the current artificial state of affairs can limp on for a few years until Palestinians yet again reach a breaking point and there is another serious round of violence.

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Abbas's mixed messages
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Hussein Ibish - (Opinion) November 9, 2009 - 1:00am

The recent announcement by Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas that he would not seek a second term in office or run in elections has prompted considerable speculation, even confusion, around the world. His decisions contains much ambiguity while conveying different messages to different parties at the same time.

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