Hussein Ibish on the Fantasy World of One-Staters
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Atlantic
by Jeffrey Goldberg - (Interview) November 3, 2009 - 1:00am


Hussein Ibish, a senior fellow at the American Task Force on Palestine, which is the leading American group advocating for an independent Palestine alongside Israel, has a new book out, "What's Wrong With the One-State Agenda?" which does a comprehensive job of demolishing the arguments made by those who think that Israel should be eliminated and replaced by a single state of Jews and Palestinians. He has performed an important service with this book by noting one overwhelming truth about this debate: Virtually no one in Israel wants a single-state between the river and the sea.


Analysts look ahead to a peace process without Abbas
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Omar Karmi - November 2, 2009 - 1:00am


Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, is on another mission to persuade Palestinians and Israelis to negotiate peace. But she may have to continue in the future without Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian leader, who twice last week reportedly said he was considering not running for a second term if and when new Palestinian elections are held. With Washington apparently softening its position on an Israeli settlement construction freeze as a precondition for talks, Mr Abbas may feel he has been backed into a corner and can ill afford to back down.


Abbas' absence would have a dramatic effect
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Ghassan Khatib - (Opinion) November 2, 2009 - 1:00am


President Mahmoud Abbas [Abu Mazen] is known as the Palestinian politician most dedicated to a peacefully negotiated end to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. His possible absence from the scene could have serious implications for the peace process.


Interview: How Salam Fayyad plans to save the Palestinian dream
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Ilene Prusher - (Interview) November 2, 2009 - 1:00am


Palestinian elections are scheduled to be held in less than three months, but the prime minister of the Palestinian Authority (PA), Salam Fayyad, isn't concerned about running for office. Rather, he's set his sights on a longer-term platform: establishing a Palestinian state by 2011 – a goal he outlined recently in a clear, well-organized booklet titled "Palestine: Ending the Occupation, Establishing the State."


PLO Factions to Run on One Ticket against Hamas
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Kifah Zaboun - November 2, 2009 - 1:00am


Ramallah, Asharq Al-Awsat-Well-informed sources have told Asharq Al-Awsat that PLO factions are studying a proposal by Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas to run in the forthcoming presidential and legislative elections as one list to confront Hamas, which achieved a sweeping victory in the previous elections four years ago, when it won majority seats in the Palestinian Legislative Council [PLC].


Palestinian anger over Jerusalem is affecting Abbas
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Avi Issacharoff - October 30, 2009 - 12:00am


The pattern repeats itself: A relatively marginal Jewish organization calls upon the public to hold prayers on the Temple Mount to mark Yom Kippur, Sukkot or, as was the case this week, "Rambam Day" (commemorating Rabbi Moses Ben Maimon's visit to the Land of Israel in the 12th century). These announcements win a great deal of attention in the Palestinian and Arab media, of course.


Will elections help or hurt Palestinian reconciliation?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by Daoud Kuttab - (Opinion) October 30, 2009 - 12:00am


The decree issued by Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, has pushed the conflict between PLO’s main faction, Fateh, and the Islamic Hamas movement to yet another stage. While many consider this move very risky for the future of Palestine, others feel that it is the only democratic way out of the impasse.


Plan B for Abbas - Palestinian unity or bust
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Mohammed Assadi, Douglas Hamilton - (Analysis) October 29, 2009 - 12:00am


President Mahmoud Abbas has no intention of going down in history as the man who legitimised the permanent and possibly fatal division of the Palestinian independence movement. But he has called an election for January that could be a nail in the coffin of Palestinian unity, assuming his Islamist political rivals in control of the Gaza Strip are serious about their threat to ban the vote on their territory. The outcome of an election held in the West Bank but not in the Gaza Strip would be "worse than the two Koreas", said Zakaria al-Qaq, an expert on national security issues.


Hamas gambles, and will lose
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
(Editorial) October 29, 2009 - 12:00am


The game of one-upmanship between Hamas and Fatah grows increasingly tiresome, and the latest row over elections in January is especially so. Hamas has responded to Fatah’s election call by banning them in Gaza. But in doing so, Hamas risks not only alienating itself abroad but lowering its stature even further in the eyes of the Palestinians.


Hamas to block elections in Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
October 28, 2009 - 12:00am


The Hamas-controlled Ministry of the Interior announced on Wednesday that it will not allow elections to go ahead in the Gaza Strip as decreed by President Mahmoud Abbas. The call for elections "came from someone who does not have the right to declare it," a ministry statement said in reference to Abbas. The ministry reiterated Hamas’ objection that the elections were called without a national unity agreement in place. The statement said furthermore that the ministry will "bring to account anyone who deals with these elections."



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