Hopes fade over Palestinian unity
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Jazeera English
October 12, 2009 - 12:00am

A reconciliation agreement between Fatah and Hamas, the rival Palestinian parties, has been delayed, following a bitter dispute over the Palestinian decision not to back a UN report on alleged Israeli war crimes. The deal was to be signed on October 25, clearing the way for Hamas and Fatah to co-operate in rebuilding war-damaged Gaza by preparing for Palestinian elections in the first half of 2010.

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Abbas reverses course on Goldstone report
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
October 11, 2009 - 12:00am

President Mahmoud Abbas said on Sunday evening that he has instructed his envoy to the United Nations in Geneva to seek a new debate in the Human Rights Council on the Goldstone report on alleged war crimes in Gaza. During a televised speech, Abbas confirmed reports from Friday that his government had completely reversed course on the 575-page report. “I instructed the ambassador to call for another exceptional meeting of the Human Rights Council to vote on the report, seeking to punish all who committed the most grotesque crimes against women and children in Gaza,” Abbas said.

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Sources: Unity agreement to be signed on 15 October
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
October 11, 2009 - 12:00am

The rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah will finally sign a reconciliation agreement on 15 October, effectively ending two years of disunity and violence that began in the summer of 2007. Ma'an has learned from informed sources in Cairo that the deal proposed by Egypt will be accepted by both parties without amendment. According to these sources, Hamas and Fatah will receive copies of the draft agreement by Monday at the latest, and its signing will be scheduled as follows. - Drafts will be handed to Hamas and Fatah within 24 hours.

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Hamas…Procrastination is Not Reconciliation
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Tariq Alhomayed - October 11, 2009 - 12:00am

The Palestinian Authority made the mistake of participating in the postponement of the Goldstone report which deals with Israeli war crimes committed in Gaza without revealing and clarifying the reasons for this. However does this mistake necessitate the hard-line positions taken by the Hamas movement which is now calling for the Egyptians to postpone inter-Palestinian reconciliation? The answer is most certainly no.

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Hamas's PR Campaign Against the Authority
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed - October 11, 2009 - 12:00am

Everyone knows that Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas differs much from his predecessor, the late Yasser Arafat, in his method of managing crises. This prompted President Abbas many times to go into isolation and sometimes threaten to resign because he could bear internal and external pressures.

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Fatah official: Unity deal to be signed 25 October
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
October 9, 2009 - 12:00am

The head of Fatah's parliamentary bloc, Palestinian Legislative Council member Azzam Al-Ahmad, said on Thursday he expected his party would finally sign a unity agreement with Hamas on 25 October in Cairo. "Egypt informed President [Mahmoud] Abbas that he would invite each Palestinian faction to Cairo on 24 October," he said, adding, "The agreement will be signed on 25 October."

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What to Do With Hamas? Question Snarls Peace Bid
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Howard Schneider - October 7, 2009 - 12:00am

In the two years since it seized power here, the militant Hamas movement has undercut the influence of the Gaza Strip's major clans, brought competing paramilitary groups under its control, put down an uprising by a rival Islamist group, weathered a three-week war with Israel, worked around a strict economic embargo -- and through it all refused a set of international demands that could begin Gaza's rehabilitation.

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Palestinians outraged over Abbas bowing to Israel, US
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Ilene Prusher - October 5, 2009 - 12:00am

Demonstrators descended Monday on this city's most famous traffic circle, Manara Square, which for years was a launching point of Palestinian protests against the Israeli occupation.

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The Egyptian proposal: Facts and reactions
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
September 29, 2009 - 12:00am

As what many believe will be a decisive round of unity talks for Palestinian factions approach, the 13 participating Palestinian factions are abuzz with comments and criticism around the contents of Egypt’s “Conciliation Proposal,” a detailed plan based on the cumulative agreements from several rounds of talks in Cairo. The elements of the Egyptian plan include proposals on elections, security, detainees, government, and the function and structure of a supervisory committee to oversee the process. Elections

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Good news
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
September 29, 2009 - 12:00am

News coming out of Cairo recently suggests that the Egyptian mediation efforts may have reached a breakthrough in reconciling the differences between Fateh and Hamas. It appears that the two Palestinian factions are now ready to settle their differences and reach a viable compromise. The attempts to bring the two Palestinian movements closer seem to have succeeded in convincing Hamas leader Khaled Mishaal, who recently visited Cairo, of the wisdom of such move; now he is expected to give his approval to the Egyptian ideas, at least in principle.

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