Jun 27 2013 - 2:35pm The Bane of Palestinian Infighting
June 27, 2013

The only way for reform of the security forces to succeed — and for international confidence and investment in the West Bank to grow — is for all the involved parties to focus on rule-based professionalism, not personal patronage.

Jun 27 2013 - 2:31pm ATFP Translates - Salam Fayyad’s Vision for Women’s Rights: Simple but Hard to Achieve.
June 27, 2013

The remarkable participation of women in the Fayyad governments was not a matter of course or a mere coincidence, or the initiative of political parties. It was because of the pro-women policies Fayyad professed and implemented on the ground and worked to embed in the culture of Palestine.

Jun 26 2013 - 3:09pm Arab Idol’ Winner Returns to Palestine to Cheers and Unease
June 26, 2013

The popular pan-Arab talent contest put Hamas, the Islamic militant group that rules in Gaza, in a bind because the group’s strictly religious followers considered the show inherently un-Islamic.

Jun 26 2013 - 3:08pm In Israel, growing chorus against Palestinian state
June 26, 2013

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, who already had a tense relationship with Obama during the US leader's first term over pressure on the peace process, came out of elections leading a coalition that is even more critical of compromises.

Jun 26 2013 - 3:03pm King Abdullah II: The View from Amman
June 26, 2013

A stalemate in peace efforts would cause an explosion in Palestinian–Israeli ties in a sort of Arab Spring-like protest, taking the form of either a new intifada or a cycle of violence and counter-violence resulting from the loss of hope for the two-state formula and a one-state reality.

Jun 24 2013 - 9:30am The Palestinian PM’s trivial resignation
June 24, 2013

Perhaps Salam Fayyad’s problem is that he empowered the premiership position. He established the basis for state institutions that may one day see the light. This may be enough to push him towards resigning and thus replace him with an employee who just follows commands. Hamdallah refused this.

Jun 24 2013 - 9:24am Abbas Accepts Prime Minister’s Resignation
June 24, 2013

Palestinian officials said that Hamdallah resigned because of a conflict over his authority and responsibilities, and suggested his primary problem was with his two deputies. Analysts had expected him to be compliant with Abbas, a theory that made Hamdallah’s resignation all the more surprising.

Jun 24 2013 - 9:22am Middle East region's woes take centre stage as refugee becomes "Arab Idol"
June 24, 2013

Mohammed Assaf: "Spreading the words of young people and watching them achieve their dreams - this is much better than the sounds of gunfire that we are getting used to hearing in Palestine, Syria and around the Arab world."

Jun 21 2013 - 11:02am ATFP Translates - Hamdallah's government: a new conductor and his baton
June 21, 2013

People like me have thus lost the bet that pictures in the media are what is truly lasting, as Fayyad leaves the true image of his government imprinted in the memory of the public through economic and development projects and institutions he established through sincere and constructive efforts.

Jun 20 2013 - 12:26pm In office two weeks, Palestinian prime minister submits resignation
June 20, 2013

Hamdallah, 54, is believed to have resigned because of differences with his two deputies, Muhammad Mustafa and Ziad Abu Amr, who were imposed on him by Abbas. The two are close associates of the Palestinian president.


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