Hamas bans announcement of new Gaza Islamic party
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
October 11, 2012 - 12:00am

GAZA, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) -- Islamic Hamas movement obstructed Thursday the declaration of a new Islamic party in the Gaza Strip, a spokesman for the Al-Nour Salafi party said. Hamas, which controls Gaza, summoned the members of the party's founding committee for questioning "in order to prevent the launching of the party" that was scheduled Thursday, said the spokesman, who calls himself Abu Outba.

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Are you serious?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Tariq Alhomayed - (Opinion) October 11, 2012 - 12:00am

The above title is a popular expression of disapproval previously used by my colleague Dr. Mamoun Fandy in an article about the previous stances of the Qatari Prime Minister. Now I find myself having to borrow the same expression following the rhetoric put forth by the head of the Hamas political bureau, Khaled Mishal, in his recent address in Qatar.

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Mashaal admits Hamas made mistakes in gov't
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Khaled Abu Toameh - October 10, 2012 - 12:00am

Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal was quoted Wednesday as admitting that it was difficult to combine governance with “resistance.” Speaking at a symposium in Qatar on Islamists and democratic regimes, Mashaal said that Hamas tried to “combine resistance with government, but this is difficult. Hamas has been and remains a resistance movement and is with the resistance.” Mashaal said that there should be no comparison between Hamas’s experience in power and the rise of Islamists to power in the Arab world.

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Low key escalation
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Roni Shaked - (Opinion) October 10, 2012 - 12:00am

The Hamas rulers of Gaza do not shed a tear when Israel takes out global jihad terrorists. This was the case Sunday night when the Air Force targeted two terrorists in Rafah, only this time 11 passersby, including women and children, were also injured – two of them critically.

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Hamas in transition
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from NOW Lebanon
by Hussein Ibish - (Opinion) October 9, 2012 - 12:00am

The recent exchange of attacks between Israel and militants in the Gaza Strip is unlikely to lead to a broader conflict, but it helps illuminate some of the dramatic changes happening within Hamas. It is yet another indication of the increasing willingness of Hamas factions in Gaza to resume not only countenancing but participating in rocket attacks against Israel. This, in turn, reflects the increasing influence and independence of more militant elements within the organization and their strategy for trying to wrest control of Hamas away from externally-based leaders. 

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Hamas in transition
In Print by Hussein Ibish - NOW Lebanon (Opinion) - October 9, 2012 - 12:00am

The recent exchange of attacks between Israel and militants in the Gaza Strip is unlikely to lead to a broader conflict, but it helps illuminate some of the dramatic changes happening within Hamas. It is yet another indication of the increasing willingness of Hamas factions in Gaza to resume not only countenancing but participating in rocket attacks against Israel. This, in turn, reflects the increasing influence and independence of more militant elements within the organization and their strategy for trying to wrest control of Hamas away from externally-based leaders. 

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Will Palestinians accept Romney's outstretched hand?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Christian Science Monitor
by Joshua Mitnick - October 9, 2012 - 12:00am

Tel Aviv, Israel Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has softened his message to Palestinians, even as he makes mending ties with Israel a main foreign policy plank.

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Israel Launches Airstrikes After Attacks From Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Fares Akram, Isabel Kershner - October 8, 2012 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM — Gaza militants fired a barrage of rockets and mortar shells into Israeli territory on Monday, causing no casualties but some property damage, after an Israeli airstrike in southern Gaza on Sunday killed one Palestinian and wounded at least nine others.

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Hamas election boycott leaves West Bank Palestinians with only one choice
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Ben Lynfield - October 6, 2012 - 12:00am

Municipal elections in the West Bank are still three weeks away, but the self-styled patriarch of Nablus politics, Ghassan Shakaa, speaks as if he is already in the mayor's office. He describes one of his key plans – an after-school program for teens who, he laments, currently languish in coffee shops – as if it's a sure thing.

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Khaled Mishal the “Zionist agent”!
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Tariq Alhomayed - (Opinion) October 4, 2012 - 12:00am

During the Israeli war on Gaza in early 2009, the Hamas movement was criticized for its recklessness in exposing Gaza to destruction and havoc only to serve the goals of Iran, Hezbollah and Bashar al-Assad in the region. Wise commentators said that the war was not justified, and that it was just another adventure for Hamas after Hezbollah’s adventure in Lebanon in 2006.

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