Palestinian voter registration extended for two days
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
February 18, 2013 - 1:00am

The Palestinian Elections Commission (CEC) on Monday extended the registration of new voters in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank for two more days. The updating of voter registration records was supposed to end Monday, but as more people are going to the registration centers, Palestinian groups recommended the CEC to extend the period of registration, said Hisham Kuhail, the CEC executive director.

»

Another round of Palestinian talks fail to deliver on unity
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Hussein Ibish - (Opinion) February 18, 2013 - 1:00am

Last week the interminable Palestinian national reconciliation negotiations failed yet again, amid mutual recriminations. Hamas complained that Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas was attempting to re-litigate already agreed-upon items. There was also apparently a dispute about the prospect of Mr Abbas serving simultaneously as both president and prime minister.

»

Abbas: Hamas opposes elections
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
February 14, 2013 - 1:00am

Fatah leader President Mahmoud Abbas says elections will be the basis to end the division, but that Hamas opposes a vote "at this stage." "An agreement has been reached with Hamas that we form a unity government to be headed by me, then we have parliamentary elections and Palestinian National Council elections three months after the Central Elections Commission is ready for elections," Abbas said at a meeting in Ramallah with newly-elected mayors and a delegation of senior PA officials.

»

Abbas to issue decrees on elections, unity govt
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
February 13, 2013 - 1:00am

President Mahmoud Abbas will issue decrees announcing elections and declaring a new unity government, a senior Fatah official said Tuesday. At a news conference in Ramallah, Azzam al-Ahmad said the two decrees would be issued at the same time. Abbas has already started consultations to form a unity government of technocrats, which will be sworn when the Central Elections Commission finishing updated the voter registry, by the end of March, al-Azzam told reporters.

»

Hamas, Fatah ‘not serious about reconciliation’
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
by Nasouh Nazzal - February 13, 2013 - 1:00am

Palestinian rival factions Fatah and Hamas are not serious about achieving Palestinian internal unity and the recent Cairo meetings were only aimed at appeasing the Palestinian street, said a senior Palestinian official.

»

Why a Palestinian settlement is elusive
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
by Lihi Ben Shitrit, Mahmoud Jaraba - (Editorial) February 12, 2013 - 1:00am

In recent weeks Fatah and Hamas celebrated their movements’ founding in Gaza and the West Bank. It was the first time since the Hamas-Fatah rift of 2007 that thousands of Hamas supporters were allowed to rally in the West Bank in mid-December and thousands of Fatah supporters were able to show open support for Fatah in the Hamas stronghold of Gaza in early January. On Jan.

»

Fatah, Hamas to meet in Cairo Feb. 19, official says
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
February 12, 2013 - 1:00am

Fatah and Hamas will meet in Cairo on Feb. 19 to continue reconciliation talks, a Fatah official said Tuesday. Sakhr Bseiso told Ma'an that the factions will meet under Egypt-mediation a day after the Central Elections Commission has finished updating the election register in Gaza. The rival factions met in Cairo to discuss reconciliation over the weekend, but reached no agreement on the formation of a unity government or on a revision of the Palestine Liberation Organization.

»

PA Employees in Gaza Key to Reconciliation
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Monitor
by Omar Shaban - (Editorial) February 11, 2013 - 1:00am

In response to the Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip in June 2007, the Palestinian Authority (PA) took several measures, all of which — according to their claims — aimed to render the Hamas government’s task of running the Gaza Strip impossible, and to push it to quickly be exposed and collapse.

»

Hamas blames Abbas after unity talks falter
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Khaled Abu Aker - February 9, 2013 - 1:00am

 

»

For Hamas, new light on the horizon
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
by Mkhaimer Abu Sada - (Opinion) February 8, 2013 - 1:00am

Hamas, the militant political movement that has ruled Gaza since 2007, has emerged from the latest round of fighting with Israel with its regional status significantly enhanced. At the same time, the movement faces new questions about its ability to take advantage of the diplomatic opportunities that it has gained. Hamas’ forceful response to Israel’s military operation in Gaza in November, which included landing rockets near Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, demonstrated its commitment to its core value of steadfastness.

»


American Task Force on Palestine - 1634 Eye St. NW, Suite 725, Washington DC 20006 - Telephone: 202-262-0017