August 12, 2009

Middle East News: World Press Roundup

Middle East Progress interviews ATFP Advocacy Director Ghaith al-Omari. Fatah concludes its party congress, electing a largely new leadership committee and prompting speculation on a new beginning for the party. The New York Times reports that many Israelis are worried that this tranquil summer may be ‘the calm before the storm.’ Kadima party chairwoman Tzipi Livni voices her opposition to releasing jailed Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti. The Israeli organization Peace Now reports that construction is underway to expand an existing Jewish settlement north of Jerusalem. Israel and the US are reportedly discussing the status of the West Bank settlement of Ariel. Israeli officials reportedly visited Jordan last week to assuage concerns that Israel plans to transfer Palestinians from the West Bank into Jordan.

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Concrete Steps Forward

What do you think administration officials are referring to when they say that Arab states have responsibility toward the Palestinian Authority, toward improving relations with Israel and for preparing their publics for peace?

Fatah Party Election Brings in a New Generation

Fatah, the mainstream Palestinian nationalist party, elected a mostly new leadership committee, ushering in a younger generation and ousting some prominent veterans, according to preliminary results released here on Tuesday.

Israel Is Wary of Calm Days That May End in Turmoil

Rocket fire from Gaza has markedly declined. The Lebanese border is quiet. Terrorist attacks from the West Bank are rare. The national airport processed a record number of travelers in the first week of August. The currency is so strong that the central bank has bought billions of dollars to keep the exchange rate down.

Abbas emerges stronger from Fatah conference

As the Fatah party convention wrapped up Tuesday, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas emerged stronger, signaling a comeback for the US-backed peace proponent after his party was trounced by Hamas.

His success in shepherding the long-anticipated congress, which updated Fatah's political platform and ushered in a new guard of leaders in the first party elections since 1989, enabled him at last to come out from under the long shadow of Yasser Arafat – the late party founder and icon of Palestinian nationalism.

Fatah: A new beginning?

The party founded by the Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat four decades ago is struggling to revive its fortunes. But has its latest congress really made it a more united and credible force?

It was the first Fatah congress on Palestinian soil - and that in itself ensured that organising it would be a tall order.

The event brought together more than 2,000 delegates, not just from the West Bank but from the Palestinian diaspora.

Fatah needed Israel's permission for activists to come from Lebanon and Syria.

Fatah's old guard ousted by election of intifada chief

The once-dominant Fatah movement took a first step towards reversing its decline among Palestinians yesterday by electing new leaders – including a firebrand jailed for life by Israel.

Marwan Barghouthi, the leader of the second intifada uprising who is serving five life sentences for attacks on Israeli targets, was one of a raft of new faces on Fatah's central committee. He is seen as a potential successor to Fatah's leader, Mahmoud Abbas, if he is freed by Israel in a future deal.

"This is a great result, a great mix," said Ziyad Abu Ayn, a close associate of Mr Barghouthi.

Livni: Barghouti is a murderer - he cannot be released

Kadima chairwoman Tzipi Livni declared her opposition Wednesday to releasing jailed Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti from an Israeli prison.

Barghouti, who recently won a spot on the Fatah central committee in a party convention that was held in Bethlehem earlier this week, is serving numerous life sentences for masterminding attacks against Israeli civilians.

Fatah showed Palestinians democracy is more than just a slogan

A week after the Sixth Fatah Convention opened, its chairman Mahmoud Abbas could finally sit back, relax and smile. The rais is beginning to shine through as the undisputed winner. Not only did he manage to convene the conference, an achievement that eluded his legendary predecessor Yasser Arafat, the huge event went through almost without incident (barring a brief shootout between the Presidential Guard and their general intelligence colleagues, in a fight over a parking spot).

Peace Now: Halt illegal construction north of Jerusalem

The left-wing Peace Now organization claims that construction works are being carried out to expand the settlement of Kochav Yaakov, located north of Jerusalem, eastward.

A neighborhood with some 15 caravans has reportedly been established as part of the construction works. According to Peace Now, some of the caravans have already been connected to the water and sewage infrastructures, and a children's playground has been set up in the area.

Fatah Women Fume Over Election Results

"We formed a coalition with the men, but they betrayed us; they were voted in due to our support, but they failed to reciprocate," Intissar al-Wasir said Tuesday after all the female candidates failed to gain a seat on Fatah's 21-member Central Committee at the movement's landmark conference in Bethlehem.

The Women's Committee demanded that at least 30% of those elected to Fatah's governing bodies be women, but the demand was rejected.

Al-Wasir is the widow of Fatah founder Abu Jihad and the only female member of the outgoing Central Committee.

Hope from Bethlehem

What great disappointment and what a blow to peace-lovers: The Fatah Congress that convened in Bethlehem did not recognize Israel as a Jewish state, did not adopt Hebrew as an official language, and did not end with the singing of Israel’s national anthem. The Palestinians have remained the same; a beaten and persecuted people seeking independence alongside Israel, but without recognizing or endorsing the Zionist idea and the principals of the Jewish State.

Jerusalem, US debate status of Ariel

Jerusalem and Washington are currently discussing whether Ariel constitutes one of the settlement blocs where - under a compromise agreement being worked out - construction that has already begun can continue, diplomatic sources told The Jerusalem Post Tuesday.

According to the sources, the two sides are continuing to discuss a compromise solution on settlement construction whereby most of the 2,500 housing units currently under construction in the West Bank would continue to be built, but Israel would declare a temporary moratorium on any new projects.

Israel: We 'won't make Jordan Palestine'

A delegation of security officials secretly traveled to Jordan last week in an attempt to assuage concerns that Israel plans to transfer Palestinians from the West Bank to the Hashemite Kingdom, The Jerusalem Post has learned.

The purpose of the visit was to ensure that strategic ties between the countries are not harmed.

The delegation was led by several officials from the Defense Ministry's Diplomatic-Security Bureau, who met with senior officials close to King Abdullah II.

A brand new Fatah?

Convening Fatah's Sixth General Conference in Bethlehem represents a new chapter not only in the history of the movement but also in its future deliberations.

Fatah was established as an underground resistance movement in exile inspired by the radical liberation movements of the 1950s and '60s in Vietnam, Latin America and elsewhere. The declared goal was to liberate all Mandatory Palestine from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River.

Does Obama have a plan for peace—or a plan for a plan?

Are the parties in the Middle East ready for a U.S. peace plan? Or just for a plan for a peace plan?

Talk of a near-term U.S. peace plan was spurred last week when a State Department official said one would be in place "within weeks" -- a projection confirmed within a day by Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak.

"I think it will be in a matter of weeks," the spokesman, P.J. Crowley, said in an Aug. 3 briefing when he was asked when George Mitchell, President Obama's envoy to the Middle East, would present a plan.

Will Fatah Regain the Initiative?

After the Fatah Movement concluded its conference and elected its leadership committees, it is now expected to regain the initiative at all levels. Over the past years, especially after President Yasser Arafat passed away, the conflicts and personal positions amongst the historic leaders played an obstructing role in making decisions and protecting them. Each of these leaders was a pole in himself, and they all often pulled in every direction. This was mainly reflected on the movement, the Palestinian Liberation Organization and the relations with other factions.

Fatah provides role for youth

After a long week of internal controversies, the Fatah Congress came to a conclusion in Bethlehem with the election results for the powerful central committee showing a few signs of progress.

The highlight of the meeting was that younger Fatah leaders gained powerful posts, including the influential jailed leader Marwan Barghouti. Mohammad Dahlan, a controversial figure in the Gaza Strip also won - no surprises there. Ahmad Qurei, the first Palestinian prime minister, was among the veterans who lost their seats, signalling that many within Fatah are invested in taking a new direction.

For the Arab states, doing nothing is not an option

When the Saudi foreign minister Prince Saud al Faisal publicly expressed dissatisfaction with the slow and incremental US push for peace between Israel, Palestine and its other Arab neighbours two weeks ago, the Arab world was quick to applaud him. His frustration and impatience were made abundantly clear in the presence of the rebuffed US secretary of state Hillary Clinton: “Incrementalism and a step-by-step approach has not and we believe will not achieve peace. Temporary security, confidence-building measures will also not bring peace.”

Two opposing trends, the same failure

Two opposing trends were visible in Israel and Palestine on Monday, and one of them must disappear. The Fatah congress in Bethlehem reaffirmed the strategic decision among a majority of Palestinians to seek a negotiated peace with Israel, while a string of senior Israeli officials said that they would continue expanding settlements in East Jerusalem and would not repeat the “mistake” of withdrawing from Gaza.

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