Hamas/Fatah Reconciliation | The American Task Force on Palestine

Is Palestinian reconciliation on track?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
by Ghassan Rubeiz - (Opinion) December 2, 2011 - 1:00am

Palestinian leaders Mahmoud Abbas and Khaled Meshaal met recently in Cairo to try to resolve their differences. The outcome is not entirely clear yet. Mr. Abbas is president of the Palestinian Authority and chief of Fatah, the mainstream political party. He administers a designated area in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Meshaal is chief of the Islamic resistance party, Hamas. After winning the first Palestinian elections in 2006, Hamas forced its way in 2007 to run Gaza. For security reasons, Meshaal is based in Syria, and not in Gaza.

Gaza official: Palestinian president opposes unity
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman
by Associated Press - November 30, 2011 - 1:00am

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas is not serious about reconciling with political rival Hamas despite public statements to the contrary, a senior Hamas official said in an interview published Wednesday. The official, Mahmoud Zahar, said Abbas "is not interested in achieving" a deal with Hamas, allegedly because the U.S. and Israel oppose it. "Reconciliation will not be achieved at all," Zahar told the London-based daily Asharq al-Awsat.

Standing united
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
(Opinion) November 28, 2011 - 1:00am

Israel is once again using the tax axe against the Palestinians; it is threatening the Palestinian Authority to withhold tax revenues due to them if Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas goes ahead with his reconciliation efforts with Hamas leader Khaled Mishaal. The two Palestinian leaders succeeded in striking a reconciliation accord during their recent meeting in Cairo. This progress on the Palestinian front displeases Israel, prompting Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman to warn the Palestinian Authority not to go ahead with the plan to form a unity government with Hamas.

Hamas: Palestinians to skip interim government
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Mohammed Daraghmeh - November 27, 2011 - 1:00am

RAMALLAH, West Bank — The Palestinians' rival leaders have quietly decided to keep their respective governments in the West Bank and Gaza in place until elections, a senior Hamas figure told The Associated Press. This proposal would remove a major obstacle to efforts to reconcile the factions: the need to form an interim unity government. A representative of Hamas' rival, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, denied that such a deal was struck. Abbas envoy Azzam al-Ahmed insisted there was no agreement and "no possibility of holding elections without a unity government."

Palestinian PM: Ready to leave post once new premier is chosen
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
by Saud Abu Ramadan - November 21, 2011 - 1:00am

RAMALLAH, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said Saturday that he will quit his post as soon as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah Party and the Islamic Hamas movement agree on the nomination of a new premier. Fayyad said on his page on the social website of Facebook that he awaits the instructions to leave his post as the prime minister of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), adding that "I have never imposed myself on the Palestinians in any of the governments I had chaired."

The problem is not reconciliation
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Ghassan Khatib - (Opinion) November 21, 2011 - 1:00am

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announced last week that he plans to meet the head of Hamas, Khaled Meshaal, on November 25 to discuss two issues. First, the leaders will discuss the future and challenges facing the Palestinian cause, and second, they will explore the prospects for reconciling the two factions they head and implementing a reconciliation agreement signed in May.

Where reconciliation could fail or succeed
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Amira Hass - (Opinion) November 21, 2011 - 1:00am

My crystal ball shattered long ago, so I cannot predict whether or not a Palestinian reconciliation government will indeed come into being. All I can do is offer a few thoughts and questions, and emphasize that it is not my Israeli identity that is responsible for them but rather my left-wing identity.

Fatah-Hamas meeting to focus on unified Palestinian vision
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Salah Jumaa - (Analysis) November 18, 2011 - 1:00am

Nimr Hammad, the Palestinian president's political adviser, has asserted that President Mahmud Abbas will focus at next week’s meeting with Hamas chief Khalid Mishal on the need to have a unified political program for the next government for the sake of communicating effectively with the world and so as to have a unified Palestinian vision for dealing with the world and with political issues. Hammad believes that the division and different political stands between Hamas and Fatah and the absence of a unified vision toward the strategic issues serve Israel.

Palestinians' talks over unity government likely to succeed
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
by Adam Gonn - (Analysis) November 18, 2011 - 1:00am

An agreement between Fatah and Hamas, Palestinians' rival parties, looks likely on the formation of a unity government with Fatah's flexibility on the future role of Prime Minister Salam Fayyad in the ruling body. Hamas, which established its own government in Gaza after routing out forces loyal to Fatah in 2007, has been opposed to Fayyad's playing any part in the unity government.

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