The Successes of Palestinian Authority Institution Building
Media Mention of Ziad Asali In The Jerusalem Times - Bulletin - February 17, 2011 - 1:00am

For decades, the political process simply meant negotiations about the often-repeated final status issues. Hopes were raised and then dashed in extended clusters of negotiations, numerous international conferences, TV appearances and commentaries by politicians and pundits that yielded no meaningful progress toward resolution of the conflict.

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Past time for PA to break impasse in the West Bank
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
(Editorial) February 16, 2011 - 1:00am

Recent events may have given the Palestinian Authority the nudge, but it was already standing very close to the brink. On Saturday, the PA promised presidential and parliamentary elections in September; two days later, the entire cabinet quit. In a quieter news cycle, those decisions would have dominated the Middle East agenda, but protests in Egypt, Bahrain, Yemen and Iran produce new headlines every day. Indeed, it is worth asking what this recent shake-up in the West Bank will achieve.

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Hamas: PA cabinet shuffle 'superficial'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
February 15, 2011 - 1:00am

The Palestinian Authority cabinet shuffle is a "superficial change with no hint of reform," Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said Monday. PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad handed his cabinet's resignation letter to President Mahmoud Abbas following an early morning cabinet meeting Monday. Barhoum said the move was a weak attempt to legitimize upcoming elections in the West Bank.

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Palestinian Erekat says he resigned to set example, not because of contents of leak
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Joel Greenberg - February 15, 2011 - 1:00am

Saeb Erekat, the longtime chief Palestinian negotiator who resigned Saturday after a massive leak of documents from his office, said Tuesday that he did not leave because of the substance of the leaks but because they happened on his watch. Excerpts from the documents released last month by the al-Jazeera satellite television channel showed Palestinian negotiators discussing significant concessions on the issues of East Jerusalem and Palestinian refugees during talks in 2008. The revelations caused a storm of controversy among Palestinians and in the wider Arab world.

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Abbas asks Fayyad to form new government
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
February 14, 2011 - 1:00am

Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad tendered his government's resignation Monday, just months before local and legislative elections are expected to be held. The move, which was announced during an early-morning cabinet meeting in the West Bank city of Ramallah, had been discussed since June, with officials saying the latest delay was due to the popular uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, officials said.

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Reading Hebron – review
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Michael Billington - February 14, 2011 - 1:00am

No one could accuse this theatre of ducking the Arab-Israeli conflict. A year ago it staged an absorbing play, Ben Brown's The Promise, about the Balfour Declaration of 1917 supporting the principle of a Jewish homeland. Now it brings us a 15-year-old play by Toronto-based Jason Sherman about a massacre that took place in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron in 1994. While it would be comforting to say Sherman's play feels like old news, what is shocking is just how urgently relevant it seems.

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As Egypt tumult spreads, top Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erekat, resigns
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Ben Lynfield - February 13, 2011 - 1:00am

Top Palestinian peace negotiator, Saeb Erekat, has resigned after embarrassing depictions in media leaks of his posture towards Israel, saying he hopes his stepping down will set a model of transparency for the young Palestinian state-in-the-making.

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Palestinian PM to resign for reshuffle: sources
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
February 13, 2011 - 1:00am

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad will resign Monday to open the door for reshuffling his West Bank-based government, sources said Sunday. The sources told Xinhua that Fayyad would form and lead the new government. Months ago, Abbas declared that the government would be expanded and modified. The news about the new government followed several decisions made by the Palestinian leadership to settle a state of internal split between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, where rival Hamas movement holds sway.

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Abbas orders Palestinian media not to attack Qatar
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
February 13, 2011 - 1:00am

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday ordered Palestinian media and official spokesmen not to attack Qatar's Emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani. The order, published by official news agency Wafa, bans official media, spokesmen of Palestine Liberation Organization and Fatah movement from harming Qatar and its Emir. According to the order, the spokesmen can respond to Al-Jazeera 's campaign against the Palestinian leadership "by refuting the lies and claims."

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A blessing for the region: an interview with Bassma Kodmani
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
(Interview) February 10, 2011 - 1:00am

BI: How would you assess Wikileaks' contribution to the revolutionary popular uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt and elsewhere?

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