Ex-U.S. Diplomat Talks With Hamas
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Glenn Kessler, Howard Schneider - July 16, 2009 - 12:00am


To Hamas officials Bassem Naim and Mahmoud al-Zahar, a recent meeting in Switzerland with a former senior U.S. diplomat represented an opening in relations with the Obama administration, and a path to easing the Islamist group's isolation. "I hope it will be the beginning of addressing some of the mistakes of the last three years," Naim said of his talks with Thomas R. Pickering, a former undersecretary of state and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. "This was a first meeting to investigate the positions in general terms of both parties without any commitment on any side."


Shock of the new media
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Brian Whitaker - July 16, 2009 - 12:00am


Whether true or not, the idea that Yasser Arafat, the Palestinian leader who died rather mysteriously in 2004, had been deliberately poisoned continues to fascinate people. It's one of those stories that just won't go away – like the "murder" of Princess Diana and the various Kennedy assassination plots.


Palestinian Political Party Gears Up for Rare Meeting
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line
by Rachelle Kliger - July 16, 2009 - 12:00am


Fatah members will be gathering in Bethlehem in August for what will be the party’s first conference in 20 years. The general congress of the most prominent Palestinian political party has drawn a great deal of interest, as more than 1,500 delegates will be discussing the future of the movement that shaped Palestinian history, and electing a new leadership.


Qaddoumi drops a bombshell
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
by Mohammed Mar’i - July 15, 2009 - 12:00am


The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) on Tuesday harshly criticized Farouk Qaddoumi, secretary-general of Fatah, for accusing President Mahmoud Abbas of involvement in the alleged poisoning of Yasser Arafat. The PLO said in a statement that as part of Qaddoumi’s efforts “to disrupt the sixth convention of Fatah, he made hysterical remarks to reporters during his visit to Amman in the last two days.”


ATFP Translation: The Palestinian Obama
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Quds
by Mohammed Daraghmeh - (Opinion) July 1, 2009 - 12:00am


Over the last few weeks, we witnessed three speeches by three leaders at three universities: United States President Barack Obama and his speech at Cairo University, Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu and his speech at Bar Ilan University, and Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and his speech at al-Quds University.


ATFP Translation: What does it mean to be a Palestinian leftist?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Ayyam
by Hassan Khader - (Opinion) June 30, 2009 - 12:00am


I have been reading newspaper accounts over the past few days about a conference in Ramallah entitled "Experiences of unifying and activating the left in Palestine and the world." I recall the memory of a young woman from the cold and distant north who asked me during the Beirut civil war thirty years ago what was preventing the unification of two large leftist organizations. I instantly responded: stupidity.


Landmark Fatah leadership conference set for 4 August in Bethlehem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
June 25, 2009 - 12:00am


Ramallah – Ma’an - After 37 rounds of talks Fatah leaders pegged 4 August as the date for the sixth Revolutionary Council meeting to be held in Bethlehem. It will be the first Fatah leadership meeting in twenty years. The decision was made at the government headquarters in Ramallah on Wednesday, in a two-day long meeting that set out the final details for the conference. There will be 1,550 active Fatah members attending the conference, and organizers asked Palestinian President and Fatah’s leader Mahmoud Abbas to ensure that members from abroad were included in the conference.


Palestinian groups round up rivals
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Omar Karmi - June 25, 2009 - 12:00am


RAMALLAH, WEST BANK // On June 14, Fatah and Hamas, the estranged main Palestinian factions, seemingly moved a step closer to reconciliation when representatives met in Ramallah and Gaza City and agreed to begin releasing prisoners held by both sides. But 10 days later, with a security sweep in the West Bank that netted more than 100 Hamas members, and the closing of a Gaza newspaper and the arrest of its editor, the rivals appear instead to have taken two strides backward.


Palestinian premier seeks stronger institutions
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Richard Boudreaux - June 23, 2009 - 12:00am


Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said Monday that Palestinians can make a stronger case for ending Israel's occupation by building up self-governing institutions that would strengthen global support for a Palestinian state. He set a goal of establishing an independent state within two years. "I call upon our people to unite around the project of establishing a state and to strengthening its institutions . . . so that the Palestinian state becomes, by the end of next year or within two years at most, a reality," he said in a speech to a university audience.


Fayyad irks Abbas allies with statehood speech
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Ali Sawafta - June 23, 2009 - 12:00am


Critics accused Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad on Tuesday of exceeding his mandate and challenging President Mahmoud Abbas by declaring a goal of statehood within two years. Fayyad, a former IMF economist, is far from popular with many in the Fatah party, the dominant faction of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) which, led by Abbas, is the strongest political force in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.



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