3 killed in blast at Gaza training camp
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
May 31, 2011 - 12:00am

Three men were killed Tuesday in an explosion at a resistance training ground in the southern Gaza Strip. Popular Resistance Committees spokesman Abu Mujahid told Ma'an that three men affiliated with the group were killed in a blast at the Abu Ataya training ground in Tel Sultan, west of Rafah. It was not immediately clear what caused the explosion but the Israeli military said it was not responsible. Abu Mujahid identified those killed as Younis Abu An-Naja, Ramzi Abu Harb, and Mahmoud Al-Arqan.

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Hamas opens memorial to dead flotilla activists
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman
May 31, 2011 - 12:00am

The Islamic militant group Hamas has unveiled a memorial for nine activists killed last year in an Israeli raid on an international flotilla seeking to break a blockade of the Gaza Strip. The memorial at Gaza's harbor includes nine 12-yard-(meter)-high metal statues shaped as sails, and a new public park. Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said Tuesday the memorial commemorates "the heroes who drew the world's attention to the siege of Gaza."

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Hamas prevents youths from holding conference in Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
May 31, 2011 - 12:00am

The Hamas police arrested two people on Tuesday and prevented a group of youths from holding a conference sponsored by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) , witnesses said. The conference was aimed at supporting a national agreement that Egypt brokered between Hamas and President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party. Dozens of policemen surrounded the hall where the conference was scheduled to be held, prevented people from entering, "beat several organizers and arrested two of them," said Ibrahim Al- Shatali, one of the organizers.

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Hamas founder remembered in new museum
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman
by Ibrahim Barzak - May 30, 2011 - 12:00am

The Hamas militant group has turned the modest home of its founder into a museum — seven years after the wheelchair-bound Palestinian cleric was killed in an Israeli airstrike as he was wheeled out of a mosque. The Sheik Ahmed Yassin museum, located in an alleyway in the rundown Sabra neighborhood of Gaza City, has become a popular destination since it opened last month. Dozens of schoolchildren and well-wishers visit each day.

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New generation of Palestinian jihadists challenges Hamas
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Globe and Mail
by Patrick Martin - (Analysis) May 29, 2011 - 12:00am

The towering Ibn Taymiyyah Mosque, a white stucco building with blue glass, stands within sight of the Egyptian border, close to Rafah's infamous tunnels that supplied Gaza with food and arms over the past five years. The mosque is named for the 14th century Muslim scholar who combined a love of jihad with a hatred of anything unorthodox. This is the community from which Hamas sprang, where the Muslim Brotherhood ruled the roost under men such as Sheik Ahmed Yassin, the blind paraplegic preacher, and where devoted Hamas youths stared down Israeli tanks.

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Hamas: Unity does not mean we take on Fatah's platform
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
May 25, 2011 - 12:00am

In an interview with the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar, senior Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahhar set out the compromises the party was willing to make for a unity deal with Fatah, and made clear that unity would not change the party's platform. "Reconciliation does not mean Hamas has changed its agenda," the leader was quoted as saying in the Tuesday report, adding that nor was Fatah bending its own goals to those of Hamas when it signed the document.

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Hamas' top leader challenged by Gaza strongman
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
May 24, 2011 - 12:00am

Gaza's Hamas strongman on Tuesday was quoted as challenging the Islamic militant movement's top leader because of his tacit backing of Palestinian negotiations with Israel. The comments by Mahmoud Zahar were carried by the Lebanese newspaper al-Akhbar on Tuesday and signaled a rare public dispute among Hamas leaders. A Hamas statement in Gaza claimed the comments were fabricated, but did not explain.

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Hamas says not to recognize Israel as state
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
May 24, 2011 - 12:00am

Hamas will not recognize Israel as a state, Hamas Deputy Political Director Mousa Abu-Marzouk said here on Tuesday, according to Interfax news agency. Slashing the Palestine Liberation Organization's recognition of Israel, Abu-Marzouk said the move was a "historic mistake." Abu-Marzouk said Hamas was not going to participate in the transitional Palestinian government of national unity, but will help other Palestinian movements to form such a government. He said the transitional government would be technocratic, but not based on a parliamentary majority.

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A Message to Khaled Mishal
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Tariq al-Homayed - May 23, 2011 - 12:00am

Khaled Mishal, the leader of the Hamas movement, demonstrated strong political pragmatism after the uprising witnessed by Syria, as the inter-Palestinian reconciliation agreement was completed quickly in Cairo after years of procrastination. The question today is: does Mishal demonstrate as much political intelligence as pragmatism?

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Hamas: Obama will not force Israel recognition
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
May 22, 2011 - 12:00am

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri on Sunday slammed Barack Obama's speech to the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee, saying the US president's call on the party to recognize Israel would go unanswered. In Washington, Obama addressed the powerful pro-Israel lobby group and elaborated on statements made Thursday in his Mideast policy speech, urging calls to democracy and reform across the region.

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