The Arab Spring is driving the Hamas-Fatah unity deal
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Robert Malley - (Opinion) May 3, 2011 - 12:00am

The impact on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process is the most debated aspect of the “unity” deal between the two principal Palestinian movements, Fatah and Hamas, but it is almost certainly the least significant. So far, U.S. reactions to the unexpected agreement have been predictably negative, with Washington warning against forming a reconciled government with an unreformed Hamas. In so doing, it appears to view this deal through the obsolete prism of a moribund peace process and a frozen conflict between a moderate and militant axis.

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Will PA-Hamas Reconciliation Threaten Other Palestinian Commitments?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Washington Institute for Near East Policy
by David Makovsky - (Opinion) May 3, 2011 - 12:00am

On May 4, Palestinian Authority (PA) president Mahmoud Abbas is slated to sign a reconciliation agreement with Hamas leaders in Cairo, a development first announced last week. The move will mark an end to the period of estrangement between the two factions, which began in summer 2007 when Hamas expelled PA security services and Fatah officials from Gaza. Given their acrimonious past, the extent to which the parties will work together going forward is questionable. The Agreement

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Good news for peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Ghassan Khatib - (Blog) May 2, 2011 - 12:00am

The reconciliation agreement that was initialed between Fateh and Hamas and will be signed by them in Cairo, next Wednesday, is good news for both the Palestinian people and the peace process. A united Palestinian people is more conducive to a successful peace process than Palestinians splintered and in conflict. This is especially true if they are united on a political basis compatible to the fundamental requirements of the peace process and international legality.

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Palestinian Reconciliation, First Step Toward Proclamation of the State
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat
by George Semaan - (Opinion) May 2, 2011 - 12:00am

The signing of the Palestinian reconciliation agreement between the authority and the Hamas movement is an extremely belated step. Throughout many months, this agreement remained quasi-impossible, but the Arab action, from Tunisia to Syria going through Egypt, Yemen and Jordan, was behind the activation of reconciliation, as the Palestinians felt that their cause was no longer the first item on the agenda of the Arab capitals facing a busy domestic schedule. At this level, it would be enough to mention the major transformation witnessed in Egypt, i.e.

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Israeli threat to withhold taxes to damage Palestinian economy: analysts
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
by Adam Gonn - May 2, 2011 - 12:00am

Israel's reaction to the Fatah- Hamas reconciliation continued this week as Israeli Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz threatened to withhold taxes collected by Israel on behalf of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) over fears that Hamas may use the money to fund its actions against Israel. Palestinian movements Fatah and Hamas announced last Wednesday an Egyptian-brokered reconciliation deal, which outlined the creation of a unity government and preparations for national and presidential elections.

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Palestinian factions' leaders arrive in Cairo for reconciliation deal
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
May 2, 2011 - 12:00am

Leaders of Palestinian political factions arrived in Cairo on Monday to join a ceremony of signing a reconciliation agreement over ending around four years of internal Palestinian division. Leaders of left-wing parties, Islamic Jihad and the independent Palestinian figures from Gaza and the West Bank arrived in Cairo to join the signing ceremony. The reconciliation deal is scheduled to be signed by the leaders of Islamic Hamas movement and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party in Cairo on Wednesday under the sponsorship of Egypt.

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Hamas-Fatah: Looking for the Red Lines
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Ideas Daily
by Yehudah Mirsky - (Opinion) May 2, 2011 - 12:00am

Things can always get worse, and in the Middle East they usually will. That was made depressingly clear once again with the April 27 announcement in Cairo of a reconciliation agreement between the rival Palestinian organizations of Fatah and Hamas.

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Hamas-Fatah reconciliation: Opportunity or disaster?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Gershon Baskin - (Opinion) May 2, 2011 - 12:00am

The Fatah-Hamas reconciliation caught everyone by surprise – even Mahmoud Abbas. Fatah, under Abbas’ leadership, had signed the proposed Egyptian document for reconciliation in October 2009. I speculated then that the only reason Abbas signed was because he was convinced Hamas would not. The new understandings contain less content and explicit reconciliation than the original document, which included a re-integration of the security forces. The current agreement is much more procedural in nature, and mainly focuses on preparing for new elections.

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Faction leaders leave for Cairo
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
May 2, 2011 - 12:00am

Delegates from Palestinian factions in Gaza left the coastal enclave Monday through the Rafah crossing en route to Cairo for meetings ahead of the signing of a reconciliation agreement. The delegates are expected in Cairo on Monday afternoon, where they will join Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas leader in exile Khalid Mash'al, who arrived earlier in the week. Egyptian authorities at the Rafah crossing told Ma'an early Monday that they were prepared to receive and welcome the delegations from Gaza to Egypt.

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Mash'al arrives in Cairo for Abbas meet
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
May 2, 2011 - 12:00am

Hamas leader in exile Khalid Mash'al arrived in Cairo Sunday night as head of a delegation from his Islamist party, Al-Jazeera reported, ahead of a meeting with President Mahmoud Abbas who arrived in the Egyptian capital earlier in the week. The two are expected to sign a historic unity document and set of guiding implementation principals that will reunify the governments of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Abbas and Mash'al, along with their respective delegations, will meet Monday for a series of talks ahead of the signing.

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