Stepping Down in Overtime
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat
by Abdullah Iskandar - (Opinion) November 9, 2009 - 1:00am

When Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announced he would not run for a new term in elections early next year, he justified his decision by focusing on his frustration with the stance by the US and the Arabs on the Israeli settlement issue. Irrespective of the ultimate consequences of this declaration and the chance that Abbas will go back on it, his justification reveals the depth of the predicament that the peace process is now in, along with the plan to establish a Palestinian state. It also reveals the depth of the predicament of Palestinian political action.

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Abbas feels enough is enough
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
by Uri Avnery - (Opinion) November 9, 2009 - 1:00am

MAHMOUD ABBAS is fed up. The day before yesterday he withdrew his candidacy for the coming presidential election in the Palestinian Authority. I understand him. He feels betrayed. And the traitor is Barack Obama. A year ago, when Obama was elected US president, he aroused high hopes in the Muslim world, among the Palestinian people as well as in the Israeli peace camp.

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Highlights from Abbas speech
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
November 6, 2009 - 1:00am

Following are highlights from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's speech on Thursday, in which he said he did not seek re-election and deplored deadlocked talks with Hamas and with Israel. ACCUSING ISRAEL... We pledged, us and the Israelis, with the participation and sponsorship of the international community, to reach a two-state solution. But month after month, year after year, there was procrastination and the increase of Jewish settlement and Israeli settlement on our land, which compromises the credibility of negotiations.

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Abbas pushes back
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Politico
by Laura Rozen - (Blog) November 6, 2009 - 1:00am

A day after Hillary Clinton returned from a swing through the Middle East where she pushed the Palestinians to go into peace talks with Israel short of a full Israeli settlement freeze, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is threatening to not run in Palestinian elections he has called to be held in January, reports say.

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Abbas: I will not seek second term
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
November 6, 2009 - 1:00am

President Mahmoud Abbas announced in Ramallah on Thursday he would not seek a second term in office. Confirming day-long rumors of his impending retirement, Abbas said the decision came amid Israel's intransigence on settlements and the international community's indifference to it. "I have informed the PLO Executive Committee and Fatah's Central Committee that I do not intend to seek a second term in the upcoming [24 January 2010] election," he said in a televised address. "This decision is not up for debate or negotiation."

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Fatah, PLO urge Abbas to reconsider candidacy
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
November 6, 2009 - 1:00am

President Mahmoud Abbas' announcement on Thursday evening that he would not be seeking a second term has left the PLO and Fatah without their top nominee, several officials said beforehand. According to Yasser Abed Rabbo, the secretary-general of the PLO's Executive Committee, Abbas remains the preferred candidate for next January's elections. He told reporters at a news conference in Ramallah that the PLO would reject Abbas' retirement from politics.

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Is Abbas just crying wolf again?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Zvi Barel - (Analysis) November 6, 2009 - 1:00am

Resignation, or rather the threat of resignation, is not an invention of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Former Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser used to wield the same weapon to boost his public support, and Yasser Arafat would from time to time threaten to quit just to shake up public opinion. It is true that Abbas sounded adamant on Thursday, but within the past year he has made decisive announcements on other matters only to backtrack later. He accepted the resignation of his prime minister, Salam Fayyad, only to reappoint him.

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Abbas Makes His Move
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
(Editorial) November 5, 2009 - 1:00am

Abbas Momani/Agence-France Press/Getty Images Mahmoud Abbas announcing in a televised speech on Thursday that he will step down as president of the Palestinian Authority. Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, announced on Thursday that he would not seek re-election in a presidential vote he has called for in January. While he said that this was not a “maneuver,” some of his aides have said that his decision is part of a strategy to persuade President Obama to support a full peace plan for an independent Palestinian state. What’s behind this unexpected announcement?

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Poll finds support for Hamas dropping, most support elections
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
November 5, 2009 - 1:00am

Bethlehem - Ma’an - Palestinians have flip-flopped in their support for Hamas, which spiked markedly following Israel’s war on Gaza last winter, a poll from the Palestinian Center for Public Opinion said.

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No obvious successor: An interview with Said Zeidani
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
(Interview) November 5, 2009 - 1:00am

bitterlemons: In the past week we've twice heard reports that Mahmoud Abbas is considering not running for re-election. How serious do you think this is? Zeidani: As far as Abu Mazen [Abbas] personally is concerned, I don't think he is interested in another term. He has expressed his desire to step down and I think he is sincere. The question is whether he will be allowed by his own Fateh faction to do so. I think there will be pressure on him to stay and run for another term. bitterlemons: Why?

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