Hamas | The American Task Force on Palestine

Gaza journalists accuse Hamas of harassment
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Roy Greenslade - (Blog) April 1, 2011 - 12:00am

Journalists covering protests in Gaza this week have complained that they were obstructed and harassed by Hamas security forces. Four reporters - Wissam Mohamed Yasin of Al-Hurra; Ayyad Talal Taha and Mohamad al-Hassoun of Radio Watan; and Al-Arabiya cameraman Mamdouh al-Sayyid - claim they were physically assaulted. A fifth, Wajih al-Najjar, a reporter for the Palestinian news agency WAFA, said he was beaten by police during his five-hour detention. The New York-based press freedom watchdog, the Committee to Protect Journalists, has condemned the actions.

UC students met with Hamas leader
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
March 31, 2011 - 12:00am

University of California-Irvine students met with a Hamas leader during a student trip to Israel. The Institute for Jewish and Community Research recently learned that the UC Irvine branch of the Olive Tree Initiative, an Israeli-Palestinian peace organization, arranged for a meeting between UC students and a Hamas leader in the West Bank while the students were on a trip to Israel in September 2009. The communal organization is protesting the meeting.

Gaza Man Says Israel Kidnapped Him
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - March 31, 2011 - 12:00am

Dirar Abu Sisi, a Gaza engineer who disappeared in Ukraine in mid-February and surfaced in an Israeli prison, spoke to reporters for the first time while attending an Israeli court hearing to extend his detention. He said he had been kidnapped by Israel “for no reason.” Most details of the case are subject to a court-imposed rule of silence, but Israeli leaders say Mr. Abu Sisi, 42, is a member of Hamas who holds valuable information.

Neither Hamas nor Israel seem to want new war
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Times
March 30, 2011 - 12:00am

After 10 days of strikes and counter-strikes, a sense of calm appeared to have returned to the tense Israeli-Gaza border over the weekend, despite an air strike on Sunday that killed two members of Islamic Jihad's military wing. Gaza's armed groups have agreed to observe a period of calm if Israel reciprocates, but a rocket fell in Israel late on Tuesday, prompting another air strike overnight which killed a third Islamic Jihad militant and threatened to see a return of the tit-for-tat violence.

The Palestinians: Why Is Abbas Running After Hamas?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Hudson New York
by Khaled Abu Toameh - (Opinion) March 29, 2011 - 12:00am

Instead of searching for ways to revive the peace process with Israel, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has been busy seeking permission from Hamas to visit the Gaza Strip. However those who think that Hamas would one day agree to cede control over the Gaza Strip are living in an illusion. It would be better for Abbas if he invested his energies in reviving the peace process instead of courting Hamas.

New Signs of Hamas headway into Post-Mubarak Egypt
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line
by David Miller - March 29, 2011 - 12:00am

A visiting Hamas leader to Cairo brought a conciliatory message amid signs ties between Egypt and the Islamist movement were beginning to thaw in the post-Mubarak era. "Hamas has not and will not tamper with Egypt's national security," Mahmoud Al-Zahar told reporters in Cairo Monday, referring to Egyptian accusations of Hamas involvement in the bombing of an Alexandria church on New Year's Eve. Hamas was cautious to comment about the Egyptian uprising that began on January 25, but was emboldened by the revolution's success to oust its arch-rival, President Husni Mubarak on February 11.

Gaza cops use ‘beatings, stun guns’ on women reporters
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Khaled Abu Toameh - March 28, 2011 - 12:00am

Hamas policemen used force to disperse the protesters, who were calling for an end to the dispute between the Islamist movement and Fatah. The rallies were part of a Facebook campaign organized by Palestinian youth on March 15. At least eight journalists were beaten by the Hamas police officers during the rallies. Some had their cameras and laptops confiscated, while others were taken into custody and made to sign a document pledging to refrain from covering such events in the future.

Abbas would give up US aid for Palestinian unity
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Mohammed Daraghmeh - March 28, 2011 - 12:00am

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is making a heavy push for reconciliation with Hamas and is willing to give up hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. aid if that's what it takes to forge a Palestinian unity deal, a top aide said Monday. The comments were the latest sign that Abbas is giving up on stalled peace talks with Israel and prefers to pursue unity with Gaza's Hamas rulers as he makes a push toward independence. "Of course we need the American money. But if they use it as a way of pressuring us, we are ready to relinquish that aid," said Azzam Ahmed, an Abbas aide.

Another Israel-Hamas war is inevitable
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Barry Rubin - (Opinion) March 27, 2011 - 12:00am

I’m going to make a prediction here that, unfortunately, I’m sure is going to come true. Any good analyst should be able to see this, yet few will, until it happens within the next two years: The Egyptian revolution will make another Israel-Hamas war inevitable, with a lot more of an international mess. And I’ll go a step further: An incompetent and mistaken US policy makes such a conflict even more certain. Why?

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