Building a Palestinian state
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Global Post
by Fredy Gareis - December 17, 2010 - 1:00am

RAMALLAH, West Bank — It was a couple of minutes after 10 on a Saturday morning when the Palestinian prime minister, Salam Fayyad, stepped onto a rainy stage in Bethlehem and voiced his support for the enemy. Fayyad urged the people not to hold all Israelis responsible for the actions of some fanatical settlers. The day before some of them had burned down a Palestinian olive grove. The audience at the Olive Harvest Festival clapped their hands cautiously. Maybe they were expecting something else: rallying cries, slogans, boasting. But their prime minister is not the inciting type.

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Hamas turns away from its face of moderation
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Hugh Naylor - (Analysis) December 16, 2010 - 1:00am

Ahmed Yousef, Palestinian intellectual, diplomat, and self-described public-relations extraordinaire, champions many causes. Bridging the chasm that divides Iran's Shiite theocracy from the Muslim world's majority Sunnis is one. Reconciling Islamist governance with democracy and human rights is another.

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Hamas leader in Gaza vows group will never recognize Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Douglas Alexander - December 15, 2010 - 1:00am

Hamas will never recognize Israel, Gaza leader Ismail Haniyeh said Tuesday at a rally to mark the 23rd anniversary of the militant group's founding. "We say it with confidence as we said it five years ago when we formed our government, and we say it today: We will never recognize Israel," Haniyeh told a crowd in Gaza City numbering tens of thousands. A poster at the rally featured photographs of Hamas leaders assassinated by Israel in the last 10 years. "Hamas will be the faithful guard of the Palestinian people's rights and the basic Palestinian principles," Haniyeh continued.

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Hamas celebrates 23rd anniversary with mass rally
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman
by Ibrahim Barzak - December 14, 2010 - 1:00am

Tens of thousands of Hamas supporters flocked to Gaza City Tuesday for a mass rally to boost support for the militant Palestinian group on its 23rd anniversary. Streets, cars and buildings were adorned with Hamas' trademark green, and huge crowds of flag-waving supporters clogged the streets to reach the rally where Hamas leaders lauded the group's history of fighting Israel. "Hamas has not failed, Hamas has not collapsed," Prime Minster Ismail Haniyeh told the crowd. "Hamas did not fail to bring together government and resistance."

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Fatah, Hamas agree to meet in late December: official
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
December 13, 2010 - 1:00am

RAMALLAH-- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party agreed with Islamic Hamas movement to resume reconciliation dialogue by the end of December, a Fatah official said Monday. The two movements will meet by the end of this month for more discussions of controversial issues between the two rivals, said Azzam Al-Ahmad, a member of the Fatah Central Committee.

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Hamas reaches out, tries to shore up popularity
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman
by Ibrahim Barzak - December 13, 2010 - 1:00am

GAZA CITY, GAZA STRIP — Gaza's ruling Hamas movement has politicians sweeping streets to show community spirit, activists distributing chocolates and cards signed "from Hamas with love" and police officers visiting homes and schools to soften the often harsh image of the security forces.

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Reality Check
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Thomas L. Friedman - (Opinion) December 11, 2010 - 1:00am

The failed attempt by the U.S. to bribe Israel with a $3 billion security assistance package, diplomatic cover and advanced F-35 fighter aircraft — if Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu would simply agree to a 90-day settlements freeze to resume talks with the Palestinians — has been enormously clarifying. It demonstrates just how disconnected from reality both the Israeli and the Palestinian leaderships have become.

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Hopes of Fatah-Hamas reconciliation still alive
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Maher Abukhater - (Interview) December 11, 2010 - 1:00am

Reporting from Ramallah, West Bank — With reconciliation talks between leading Palestinian movements Fatah and Hamas apparently at another impasse, hopes of an accord are fading fast. In the wake of a violent split in June 2007, when a coalition government collapsed, the more moderate Fatah has been in control of the West Bank and the militant Islamist Hamas has run the Gaza Strip, in effect dividing the Palestinian cause.

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Medics: 3 injured by Israeli shelling in Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
December 8, 2010 - 1:00am

Israeli tank shelling injured three Palestinians Wednesday east of Gaza City, medics said. The three hurt in the incident, near the Karni crossing, were not identified. An Israeli military spokesman said that "an IDF force fired tank rounds toward a number of suspicious individuals who approached the security fence in the northern Gaza Strip. "The men were approaching the fence with the intention of planting explosive devices," he added. "The force confirmed that the suspects had been hit and there were no injuries to IDF soldiers."

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Fatah, Hamas argue over holding new reconciliation meeting
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
December 6, 2010 - 1:00am

Palestinian Islamic Hamas movement and its bitter rival Fatah party still argue over holding another round of dialogue to reach an inter-reconciliation deal and end their split, a Hamas official said Monday. Salah el-Bardaweel, a Gaza-based Hamas leader, told Xinhua that the contacts between Hamas and Fatah over setting up a date for holding another round of reconciliation dialogue are severed "and haven't led yet to anything new."

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