Poll: Most Palestinians view talks as precursor to 1 state
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Yitzhak Benhorin - (Analysis) November 20, 2010 - 1:00am

The majority of Palestinians support direct talks and the two-state solution, but ultimately want the entire area between the Jordan River and Mediterranean Sea to turn into one Palestinian state, a poll sponsored by The Israel Project, a Jewish-American organization, shows. The data, collected by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research in October, shows that the Palestinians blame Hamas for the current state of affairs in the Gaza Strip, and are hostile not only towards the Islamic organization but also towards Iran.

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Fayyad: Security pluralism exhausting us
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
November 15, 2010 - 1:00am

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said Saturday that efforts to reconcile with Hamas should focus on security rather than political issues, the London-based Ash-Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper reported. "Progress is measured according to political pluralism, which is a source of strength if it managed appropriately. What exhausts us is security pluralism not political pluralism," Fayyad was quoted as saying. Security was the most important issue to achieve the main objective, the creation of a Palestinian state, the prime minister said.

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GAZA: Book explores vibrant, diverse graffiti-art scene in war-torn strip
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
(Book Review) November 13, 2010 - 1:00am

Joy, sadness, dreams and politics are among the emotions and messages expressed in graffiti paintings and murals on the concrete walls of Gaza, captured in a recently published book on graffiti art in the strip.

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Fatah official: Talks waste of time
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
November 12, 2010 - 1:00am

The gap between Fatah and Hamas is very big despite the recent commitment to continue talks in Damascus, head of Fatah's unity talks delegation Azzam Al-Ahmad told the Jerusalem-based Al-Quds newspaper Thursday. Outlining the basic divisions, Al-Ahmad said both sides claimed to be in charge of the legitimate security service, with Director of the PA's General Intelligence Majed Faraj and Fatah Central Committee member Sakher Bseiso holding firm on the belief that security services in the West Bank are "complete and legitimate and cannot be restructured,."

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Abbas talks peace process at Arafat memorial
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
November 12, 2010 - 1:00am

Palestinians will not accept Israel's construction of settlements on occupied Palestinian land, President Mahmoud Abbas told a crowd attending a memorial for late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat on Thursday in Ramallah. "We don't want settlements on our land for they are illegitimate from the beginning. We all are sure that Jerusalem is the Palestinians' capital and the refugees will return," he said to the tens of thousands gathered at the site dedicated to the construction of the Arafat Museum.

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Fatah-Hamas dialogue in Damascus ends with no progress: Spokesman
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
November 11, 2010 - 1:00am

The second round of dialogue between Islamic Hamas movement and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Fatah party held in Damascus ended on Wednesday with no progress, a Hamas spokesman said. Ayman Taha, a Gaza-based Hamas spokesman told Xinhua that the second round of dialogue, which was held for two days, had ended without reaching any agreement on the thorny security issue.

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Palestinians gather in Ramallah to mark anniversary of Arafat death
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
November 11, 2010 - 1:00am

Thousands of people began gathering at the Palestinian Authority's headquarters in Ramallah on Thursday to commemorate the sixth anniversary of the death of their leader, Yasser Arafat. More were expected to arrive, as supporters of Arafat's Fatah movement were being bused in from all over the West Bank to the Mukata'a headquarters in the central city.

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Hamas nixes Arafat commemoration in Gaza Strip
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Khaled Abu Toameh - November 8, 2010 - 1:00am

As it has every year since taking control of the Gaza Strip in the summer of 2007, on Monday Hamas announced its decision to ban Fatah supporters from holding a rally in the Gaza Strip to mark the anniversary of Yasser Arafat’s death. Zakariya al-Agha, member of the Fatah Central Committee, said the Hamas government had informed him formally of the decision to ban the rally, which was scheduled to be held on November 11. He said the rally, which had been planned by Fatah, was supposed to be held in Gaza City’s Katibeh Square.

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PA’s path to independence
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by Daoud Kuttab - (Opinion) November 4, 2010 - 12:00am

I can see the path to the state of Palestine. And education is an integral part of it. Palestinians have always prided themselves on being among the highest educated among all Arabs, but if this was true in the past, it is not true anymore, and it is certainly not true for Palestinians in the occupied territories.

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'Israel's aggressive policies threaten peace talks'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
November 4, 2010 - 12:00am

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas arrived in Kuwait on Wednesday, following a visit to Bahrain earlier in the week as part of a tour of the Gulf region to "exchange views with brotherly leaders and the region on the latest developments of the Palestinian question," Kuwait News Agency reported. According to the report, Abbas praised Kuwaiti support for the Palestinian people, saying "Kuwaiti-Palestinian relations are historical and excellent. It is a great honor for us that the Fatah movement was launched in Kuwait."

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