Hamas leaders banned from entering Egypt
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
October 15, 2010 - 12:00am

Egyptian authorities will prevent a number of Hamas leaders from traveling through the country en route to Saudi Arabia for the annual Hajj. Hamas officials told Ma'an that among the leaders prohibited from accessing Egypt are lawmaker Salah Al-Bardawil and spokesmen Sami Abu Zuhri and Fawzi Barhoum. Abu Zuhri confirmed the ban, saying he was informed by Hamas' leadership that "an Egyptian official made contact and notified us of Egypt's refusal to allow a number of Hamas leaders to travel for Hajj."

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Dismay, disillusionment prevail in Palestinian camp
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Crispian Balmer - October 15, 2010 - 12:00am

The stalemate in direct peace talks with Israel risks undermining the moderate Palestinian leadership and should force world powers to reassess their Middle East strategy, senior Palestinian officials say. The U.S.-brokered negotiations kicked off in Washington last month, but stalled less than 4 weeks later after Israel refused to extend a freeze on settlement building in the occupied West Bank, prompting the Palestinians to refuse to carry on talking.

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US backs Palestinian demand to see borders
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
October 14, 2010 - 12:00am

WASHINGTON (Ma’an) -- The US on Wednesday supported the PLO's request to see a map of Israel's borders, but said such demands must be made face-to-face, not through the media. PLO Secretary-General Yasser Abed Rabbo on Wednesday called on Israel and the US to provide a map of Israel's borders before "asking anything else." "Israel is an unknown entity in terms of borders [so] how does it suggest to recognize it as a Jewish state? Israel and the US should first set out Israel's borders," he explained.

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Hamas shuts down journalists syndicate in Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
October 13, 2010 - 12:00am

Security forces in the Gaza Strip closed the headquarters of the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate without explanation Tuesday, a member of the press union's general secretariat said. Tahseen Al-Astal told Ma’an that forces arrived in civilian clothes and told them that the Ministry of the Interior had issued a decision to close the syndicate. He added that they were informed of the decision orally and received nothing in writing. The syndicate's Ramallah office condemned the move and is investigating.

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Israel could reconsider presence in Jordan Valley
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman
by Karin Laub - October 13, 2010 - 12:00am

JERICHO, WEST BANK — Israel's insistence on maintaining a presence on the eastern border of a future Palestinian state could be reviewed over time, a government spokesman said Wednesday. Israel's demand for such a presence is one of the potential obstacles to a Mideast peace deal. The Palestinians say they will not accept any Israeli deployment in their future state, arguing that the presence of international forces during a transition period — an idea they support — should be sufficient to address Israeli security concerns.

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PNA, Hamas slam Israel's "loyalty oath" law
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
October 11, 2010 - 12:00am

RAMALLAH, Oct. 10 (Xinhua) -- The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) slammed on Sunday the Israeli government's approval of the "loyalty oath" law, while the Gaza-ruling Hamas movement described it as "racist." Under the new law, non-Jews who seek Israel's citizenship have to take an oath of loyalty to Israel as a Jewish and democratic state. "It's a dangerous ruling," spokesman for the Palestinian government in the West Bank Ghassan al-Khatib told Xinhua. "This will undoubtedly harm the Arab minority in Israel as well as the Jerusalemites."

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PA official: Hamas ignoring internal security crisis
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
October 10, 2010 - 12:00am

RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- Palestinian Authority security department spokesman Adnan Ad-Dmeiri said Hamas was failing to deal with intelligence collaborators among its members. Ad-Dmeiri said security weaknesses within Hamas had enabled a series of assassinations of Hamas leaders. Israeli forces killed two leaders of Hamas' armed wing in Hebron on Friday, Nashat Al-Karmi and Maamoun Al-Natsha. Hamas leader Ali As-Suweiti was killed by Israeli soldiers in Hebron in April, and in March Mahmoud al-Mabhouh was assassinated in Dubai.

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Al-Qassam vows revenge over Hebron killings
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
October 8, 2010 - 12:00am

Hamas' military wing the Al-Qassam Brigades vowed Friday that it would respond to the killing of two senior commanders during an Israeli raid in Hebron. Al-Qassam Brigades spokesman Abu Ubaidah said the militia would "reply in a suitable way to such a crime," to the killing of Nashat Al-Karmi, a senior military commander and Maamoun Al-Natsha, a local Hebron commander. The killings, the spokesman said, would not "break the resistance and the fighters ... resistance fighters are free to reply at any time at any place."

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Hamas tells PA to 'unleash West Bank resistance'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
October 8, 2010 - 12:00am

Hamas has called on the Palestinian Authority to "unleash the resistance in the West Bank" by releasing political prisoners from jail and ending security coordination with Israel, a spokesman said. Sami Abu Zuhri said "Israel's continued offenses and invasions in Hebron come within the context of escalating Israeli crimes and attacks," following the killing of two Al-Qassam Brigades leaders on Friday, a statement read. "This attack comes with talks that the occupation is using as a cover to continue these crimes," the spokesman said.

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Gaza burns as Hamas declares war on drugs
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent
by Donald MacIntyre - October 8, 2010 - 12:00am

They made an incongruous sight, piled on to trestle tables in the car park outside a government office. Long bundles of dried marijuana branches – known as Bango here – the chocolate bar-shaped slabs of hashish, a few still half-covered with the blue Action cheese wrapping used to smuggle them in, and the smaller grubby blocks of off-white cocaine.

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