Listen to Marwan Barghouti
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
(Editorial) March 30, 2012 - 12:00am

Marwan Barghouti, the most prominent Fatah leader imprisoned in Israel, this week released an unusual statement from his cell. He called on his people to start a popular uprising against Israel, to stop negotiations and security coordination and to boycott it. Jerusalem would do well to listen to him.

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Fatah: Hamas detained spokesman
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
March 27, 2012 - 12:00am

RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- Fatah on Tuesday accused Hamas of detaining its spokesman in Gaza a day earlier. Hamas forces detained Fayez Abu Eita on Monday, Fatah spokesman Usama al-Qawasmi said in a statement. The detention is a "dangerous escalation" and threatens efforts to reconcile the rival factions, al-Qawasmi said. It is a disappointment for the Palestinian leadership and Egyptian mediators, he added. On Tuesday, Hamas accused the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority of detaining eight of its members across the West Bank.

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Hamas: Fatah Prefers US Dollars to National Agreements
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
March 21, 2012 - 12:00am

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Fatah has not implemented any of its reconciliation commitments because it prefers American money to national agreements, a spokesman for the Hamas-led government in Gaza said Monday. Taher al-Nunu said in a statement that Fatah is trying to destroy the reconciliation agreement it signed with Hamas last May. Al-Nunu's remarks were made in response to comments by senior Fatah official Azzam al-Ahmad, who said Hamas was responsible for the ongoing delay in forming a unity government.

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Zahhar: Fatah’s Cooperation With Israel Stalling Unity
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
March 9, 2012 - 1:00am

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Senior Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahhar on Thursday said Fatah's cooperation with Israel was stalling national reconciliation. Hamas does not recognize Israel while Fatah, which leads the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, coordinates with Israel under agreements signed in the 1990s. Zahhar, speaking at a conference on the Arab Spring in Gaza City, said Fatah's security coordination had delayed the implementation of an agreement signed by the rival factions last May.

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Palestinian Elections Delayed by Hamas-Fatah Bickering
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Hugh Naylor - March 9, 2012 - 1:00am

RAMALLAH // Palestinians will not hold presidential and parliamentary elections in May because of disagreements between the two main political factions, a Palestinian elections official said this week. The gridlocked Hamas-Fatah reconciliation has made it impossible for the Palestinian Central Elections Commission (CEC) to hold elections on May 4, the date originally set by the groups, said the Ramallah-based organisation's chief electoral officer, Hisham Kuhail.

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PLO official calls to end Israel's "policy of racism"
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
February 28, 2012 - 1:00am

RAMALLAH, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- An official of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) on Tuesday called on the international community to force Israel to end its "policy of racism" against Palestinians. Hanan Ashrawi, head of the PLO information and culture department, criticized Israel's "racist separation system" against Palestinians, referring to the West Bank barriers, checkpoints and the expansion of Jewish settlements. In the West Bank, which Israel occupied in 1967, there are 500, 000 Jewish settlers "living on the sources of income of the Palestinians," she added.

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PA angry over Israeli leaks regarding Amman talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Khaled Abu Toameh - February 22, 2012 - 1:00am

The Palestinian Authority is angry over Israeli leaks regarding the recent Israeli-Palestinian peace talks in Jordan. Chief PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat said Wednesday he filed a complaint with the Quartet members – the US, EU, UN and Russia – about leaks by the Israeli government regarding the Amman talks. Erekat said that reports in the Israeli media about the meetings contained “half-truths.” The Israeli government was behind these leaks, he charged.

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Abbas’ Deal with Hamas Gets Support from Fatah, PLO
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
February 9, 2012 - 1:00am

RAMALLAH, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday got support from his Fatah party and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) to the agreement he had reached with rival Hamas movement. The Central Committee of Fatah and the PLO's Executive Committee met in the West Bank city of Ramallah and welcomed the deal, which was struck in Qatar Sunday. According to the agreement, Abbas will form an interim government to prepare for elections in the Palestinian territories, including in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.

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Legal Controversy on Abbas’ Posts Grows After Doha Delaration
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
by Saud Abu Ramadan, Emad Drimly - February 8, 2012 - 1:00am

RAMALLAH, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- A legal controversy over the posts of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas rose on Tuesday, one day after he agreed in Qatar with Islamic Hamas movement's chief Khaled Meshaal that Abbas will form and lead a unified transitional government. The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Xinhua that if Abbas as president of the Palestinian National Authority ( PNA) also becomes the prime minister of the Palestinian government, "there would be doubts on whether he will be able to run in the upcoming presidential elections or not."

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Is Palestinian Handshake Much Ado About Nothing?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Hugh Naylor - February 8, 2012 - 1:00am

JERUSALEM // After Hamas and Fatah agreed to form a unity government and hold elections, you would think their rapprochement would be cause for optimism among Palestinians. But just ask Mohammed Youssef. He flatly dismissed Monday's accord as nothing more than a ruse between Fatah's chairman and the Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas and outgoing Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal to quell public anger over the slow pace of their reconciliation.

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