Abbas: We don't want guarantees
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
February 1, 2010 - 1:00am


Bethlehem – Ma'an – President Mahmoud Abbas told reporters in London on Friday that his government was not interested in US guarantees and denied reports that Arab ministers exerted pressure on him in Washington to resume negotiations with Israel. "The US continued to contact us and the Israelis, and they intended to give what they call 'guarantees,' but we said frankly that we didn’t want guarantees," Abbas added.


Mahmoud Abbas: Israel's West Bank occupation leading to one-state solution
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Seumas Milne - (Interview) January 31, 2010 - 1:00am


srael's continuing colonisation of the West Bank is leading to a "one-state solution", the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, has told the Guardian, while indicating that he may be poised this week to accept a US proposal for "proximity talks" with Israel through American mediators.


‘Corruption will let Hamas take W. Bank'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Khaled Abu Toameh - January 29, 2010 - 1:00am


Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has surrounded himself with many of the corrupt officials who used to work for his predecessor, Yasser Arafat, and that’s why Hamas will one day take control of the West Bank, Fahmi Shabaneh, who was appointed by Abbas four years ago to root out corruption in the Palestinian Authority, said on Thursday.


PA cabinet expresses 'regret' for not holding elections
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
January 27, 2010 - 1:00am


Ramallah - Ma'an - During its weekly cabinet meeting, chaired by caretaker Prime Minister Salam Fayyad held on Monday, members said that elections could be held in June, if the Egyptian document is signed immediately.


PA issues 2010 state-building budget
Media Mention of Hussein Ibish In Politico - January 27, 2010 - 1:00am

The Palestinian Authority has issued a 2010 budget document laying out a state-building plan. Palestine: Moving Forward: Priority Interventions for 2010, issued this week by the Palestinian Authority finance and planning ministries, is a Palestinian state and institution building program that complements the diplomatic process the Obama administration is trying to revive, the American Task Force for Palestine's Hussein Ibish told POLITICO.


Gaza key power plant could shut over money row
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
January 27, 2010 - 1:00am


A money dispute between the rival Palestinian governments is threatening to shut down Gaza's only power plant. The dispute pits the internationally backed government of the West Bank against Gaza Strip's Hamas rulers. The plant provides power to much of northern Gaza. The European Union used to pay for the plant's fuel as part of an aid package to the Palestinian Authority. However, the EU decided to start scaling back and said it wants the Palestinian Authority to find other ways to pay for the fuel. The Palestinian Authority demands that Hamas pay its share.


New Fatah charter omits language on Israel’s demise
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
January 27, 2010 - 1:00am


The new Fatah charter maintains a militant tone but emphasizes democratization and omits language in earlier documents that called for Israel's destruction. The office of the U.S. Director of National Intelligence translated the document that emerged from Fatah's council in Bethlehem last summer, and Secrecy News, a project of the Federation of American Scientists watchdog group, obtained a copy and published it Wednesday.


PA issues 2010 state-building budget
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Politico
by Laura Rozen - January 27, 2010 - 1:00am


The Palestinian Authority has issued a 2010 budget document laying out a state-building plan. Palestine: Moving Forward: Priority Interventions for 2010, issued this week by the Palestinian Authority finance and planning ministries, is a Palestinian state and institution building program that complements the diplomatic process the Obama administration is trying to revive, the American Task Force for Palestine's Hussein Ibish told POLITICO.


Palestinian parliament expires four years after Hamas electoral upset
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Erin Cunningham - January 26, 2010 - 1:00am


Four years after Hamas won an upset victory in the 2006 Palestinian legislative elections, prompting swift international sanctions and a Western-led diplomatic boycott, the mandate for the parliament it dominated officially expired on Monday. According to the Palestinian Constitution, new parliamentary elections should have been held Sunday, Jan. 24, in both the West Bank and Gaza Strip. But continued political division between the West Bank, governed by the Western-backed Palestinian Authority (PA), and the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, has delayed the elections indefinitely.


The Upsides of the Siege for Hamas: An Honest Assessment
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Huffington Post
by Hani Almadhoun - (Blog) January 26, 2010 - 1:00am


Spending more than four months in Gaza with not much to do but observe the situation on the ground, I interacted with the Palestinian people in Gaza, listened to Israeli jets fly over, noticed minimal Israeli military campaigns against Hamas, and did not see nor hear news of any significant homemade rockets. One cannot help but conclude that there is a sort of unspoken ceasefire between Hamas, the local ruling party, and the Israelis.



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