Elections, Palestinian and Israeli

Mustafa Barghuti (Middle East Online photo)

Palestinian PM Reiterates National Unity and Refuses Call for Early Elections
International Middle East Media Center 12/19/2006
In a televised speech, Palestinian Prime Minister, responded Tuesday to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ call for early Presidential and Legislative elections earlier this week in the wake of failed national unity government talks and the ongoing internationally-imposed economic embargo. The Palestinian premier recalled a 9-month old failed unity government talks, denying claims that the Hamas-led government has been a part of that failure, citing major stops in such a dialogue including the Qatari foreign minister’s , Hamad Bin Jasem, mediation efforts." The Qatari Foreign Minister has phoned me from Washington, telling me, ‘you are not a part of the problem’, Haniyeh recalled. PM Haniya also held Palestinian parties, without naming any, responsibile for attempting to fail his government...

One killed, 7 wounded in internal fights in Gaza
International Middle East Media Center 12/19/2006
At least one was killed and seven were wounded on Tuesday morning in clashes between the Palestinian General intelligence service and the Executive forces in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian sources reported. Ismael Abu Al-Kheir 24, member of the executive forces that were formed by the Ministry of Interior after Hamas took office in March of 2006. Medical sources in Gaza city said the clashes erupted in the campus of Al-Shifa hospital in the city and that the clashes are still ongoing. Unrest between the two main rival parties escalated after the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called last Saturday for holding Presidential and Parliamentary early elections in the Palestinian territories. Abbas said this is the only solution left to get the Palestinian people out of the tough blockade they are subject to since March of 2006.

One dead in Hamas-Fatah gun battle in Gaza hospital
Ha’aretz 12/19/2006
Fierce gunfire erupted early Tuesday within the compound of Shifa hospital in Gaza City between the security personnel of Hamas and Fatah, killing one member of the Hamas executive force and wounding six, witnesses and members of the rival forces said. They said the gunbattle occurred at the entrance and inside the compound of the Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, but could not say how the fighting had broken out. Gunmen from Fatah and Hamas had exchanged gunfire in Gaza City into the late hours of Monday further straining a shaky ceasefire between the rival Palestinian movements. Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas vowed on Monday to press on with early elections. It was Abbas’ weekend callm for elections that touched off the latest spiral of escalation between the rival factions in the Strip.

Hamas minister target of attempted assassination in Gaza
Ha’aretz 12/10/2006
Unidentified gunmen opened fire Sunday afternoon on the motorcade of Palestinian Interior Minister Said Siyam of Hamas, causing no injuries, in an apparent assassination attempt. Interior Ministry spokesman Khaled Abu Hilal, however, dismissed the shooting as a random attack and denied that the target was Siyam. The men, driving in a nearby car, apparently shot at a car in the motorcade, but not at the vehicle carrying Siyam, he said. Earlier Sunday, Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said that early Palestinian elections would lead to unrest. He made the comments after accusing Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, the head of the rival Fatah movement, of trying to force Hamas out of all government positions.

Diplomacy..

EXPECTANT: Palestinians wait outside a polling station in the West Bank town of Jericho during Thursday's municipal elections. Hamas battled Fatah for voter support. MUHAMMED MUHEISEN/AP

President Abbas meets Italian foreign minister, advances progress in negotiating with Israel; ignores domestic issues
Ma’an News Agency 12/21/2006
Ramallah - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has, on Thursday, expressed optimism over the success of efforts to hold a meeting between himself and the Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert. In a joint press conference with the Italian foreign minister, Massimo D’Alema, President Abbas added that "it isn’t a secret to say that we endeavour to meet with Olmert, and we hope to achieve that before the end of this year, 2006." With regard to domestic issues, Abbas said that the unity government is still possible, despite all obstacles. President Abbas also stressed before the Italian minister, the necessity of international monitoring of the intended early Palestinian elections. Abbas also affirmed the Palestinian interest in resuming negotiations based on the two-state solution, which would guarantee the termination of the 1967 occupation.

Fearing Civil Wars, Cairo Counsels Restraint
Inter Press Service 12/21/2006
CAIRO, Dec. 21 (IPS) - While the situation in U.S. -occupied Iraq has slid further into chaos and sectarian strife, Egypt has watched anxiously as two areas closer to home -- the occupied Palestinian territories and Lebanon -- have also been roiled by the specter of civil war. Although tense political standoffs in both the Gaza Strip and Beirut have prompted a flurry of diplomatic activity by Cairo, there has been little by way of progress in either case. In nearby Gaza, attempts to forge a national unity government between leading opposition party Fatah and the Hamas-led government ended in failure, with the two sides unable to agree on terms for power sharing. Calls by Fatah-affiliated Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Dec. 18 for fresh parliamentary elections further alienated Hamas...

Barghouthi hosts European parliament delegation
Ma’an News Agency 12/21/2006
Ramallah - PLC member Dr Mustapha Barghouthi has met with a delegation from the European parliament, headed by Louisa Morgantini. In the Ramallah meeting, Barghouthi discussed the developments in the territories and the difficulties with which Palestinians are living under the Israeli occupation, and explained the fall-out from the siege imposed on Palestinians after the Hamas movement won the legislative elections. Barghouthi also briefed his guests about the difficulties and obstacles that face the unity government formation, but stressed that the opportunity to form such a government still exists. [end]

Al-Qaeda attacks Palestinian poll
BBC Online 12/20/2006
Al-Qaeda’s second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahiri has appeared in a new video to speak out against elections in the Palestinian territories. The deputy to Osama Bin Laden said in the video, aired on al-Jazeera television, that only jihad, or holy war, would "liberate Palestine". Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas last weekend called for new elections. His Fatah party is locked in a struggle with Hamas, which won elections in January and opposes new polls. Second truceZawahiri says in the video: "Any road other than jihad will only lead to loss." Those trying to liberate the land of Islam through elections based on secular constitutions... will not liberate a grain of sand of Palestine." In the video, Zawahiri wore a white robe and black turban, with a rifle behind his shoulder.

Haniyeh: 20-year truce in exchange for state
YNetNews 12/19/2006
Palestinian prime minister delivers speech on internal issues, accuses Abbas of isolating government. However, he also conveys message to Israel: If Palestinian state is established within 1967 borders, Hamas will aggress to long-term hudna. Meanwhile, Abbas calls for end to Gaza fighting -- Hamas is ready for a ceasefire with Israel if a Palestinian state is established, Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas said in a speech delivered Tuesday afternoon. Haniyeh’s speech dealt mainly with internal issues. He responded to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ call for elections in the Palestinian Authority and called for unity in the struggle against the occupation. However, he also called for the establishment of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders.

US threatening Hamas rule, says Haniyeh
The Guardian 12/20/2006
Palestinian PM calls for end to infighting · Power struggle brings Gaza to brink of civil war -- The Palestinian prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh, last night accused the US of trying to bring down the elected Hamas government and called for calm after at least four people were killed in a day of heavy fighting between rival factions in Gaza. "There was a direct decision to bring down this government and make it collapse, and the Americans are behind this policy," Mr Haniyeh said in a speech on Palestinian television. His words came only a day after Tony Blair travelled to Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank, to give his backing to Mr Haniyeh’s rival, the Palestinian president and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas. Mr Abbas issued a challenge to Hamas on Saturday when he called for early presidential and parliamentary elections.

Hamas’ response to Blair’s visit: we won’t recognize Israel nor shall we accept the Quartet’s conditions
Ma’an News Agency 12/18/2006
Gaza - The Hamas movement has, on Monday, called on British Prime Minister Tony Blair to cease his intervention in the domestic affairs of other countries, "namely the Palestinian people". The spokesperson of the Hamas movement Fawzi Barhoum declared. "We assure the British Prime Minister that our policy is already known to everybody; we won’t accept the Quartet’s conditions and we won’t recognize Israel. This we say both in public and in closed-door meetings." Barhoum also called on Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to reconsider his call for early elections, so as to avoid a further split, in light of the agreement to cease inter-Palestinian clashes. He stated that the call for early elections "does not rely on any legal basis. That is supposed to be determined by the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC)..."

Rice to seek additional funds to boost Abbas’ security forces
Ha’aretz 12/15/2006
United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Friday she would ask the U.S. Congress for tens of millions of dollars to strengthen the security forces of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas." We will request funding to support the security reform [of Abbas’s forces] and I think we will get support," said Rice in an interview with Reuters, adding that the aid would be in the range of tens of millions of dollars. The funding request comes as tensions are at their highest in a decade in the Palestinian Authority, with government unity talks stalled and Hamas accusing Abbas of trying to start a civil war. The United States wants to ensure that Abbas, whose Fatah party was trounced by Hamas in elections last January, emerges victorious in any power struggle with Hamas...

Ex-UN adviser laments siege on Palestinians
Daily Star 12/12/2006
AMMAN: Former United Nations special adviser Lakhdar Brahimi urged the world community on Monday to re-engage in efforts to secure Israeli-Palestinian peace, slamming current policies as a failure. The policies adopted by the so-called Middle East "Quartet" after Hamas took power in January parliamentary elections "have been utterly misguided," Brahimi told a conference in Amman." They amount to harsh collective punishment inflicted on all Palestinians because ’they did not vote right’," he said of a Western aid freeze imposed on the Palestinian Authority." The position of the United States and the European Union and even of the United Nations on Palestinian issues renders their pronouncements on human rights and democracy hollow, if not down right hypocritical," he said.

Foreign ministry accuses Solana of interfering
Ma’an News Agency 12/4/2006
Gaza - The Palestinian ministry of foreign affairs has accused Javier Solana of interfering in Palestinian internal affairs. This follows statements by Solana in November in which he accused Hamas of missing an opportunity to lift the siege that was imposed on the Palestinians after their election. In a statement, the ministry said, "It would have been better for Solana to call for respect for the Palestinian people’s choice and to respect the results of the democratic elections, and [to call for] the lifting of the siege." [end]

Human Rights..

On January 9, 2005 Palestinians living in the occupied territories will elect a president of the Palestinian Authority and new members of the Palestinian Legislative Council in the second general elections in nearly eight years. (Helga Tawil photo)

Years of solitary confinement in Israeli jails: a lawyer is able to meet with several prisoners
Palestine News Network 12/22/2006
Lawyer Shadi Younis reports that the sanitary conditions and the state of detention for Palestinian political prisoners in solitary confinement in Israeli prisons is deteriorating. He was speaking of many political prisoners, including leaders from the Hamas party who were arrested upon winning office in the Legislative Council elections held on 25 January 2006 and those who were arrested before that time. Younis said, “The policies and practices of the prison administration, which took away all rights from the detainees, deprived them of visits and isolated them absolutely from the outside world, are deplorable. ”Younis issued an appeal on behalf of the political prisoners for intervention from humanitarian institutions. He is asking for international action and pressure to be applied to the Israeli authorities to at least provide medical care.

Palestinians Rally for Peace in Gaza Outside Parliament Building
International Middle East Media Center 12/22/2006
Hundreds of Palestinians gathered outside the Parliament Building in Gaza to protest the ongoing violence and infighting which was initiated after President Abbas called for new Presidential and Parliamentary elections. The protest comes one day after two members of Fatah were shot and killed in a gun battle in Gaza. Reports today indicate another round of fighting between Hamas and a local group in which one person was killed and another is reported to have been abducted. Despite the sporadic violence the shaky truce seems to be holding as Palestinian citizens have poured onto the streets to protest the ongoing fighting. [end]

As 2006 ends in the West Bank, a call for ’dignified health care’
ReliefWeb/Church World Service 12/22/2006
Turmus’ayya, West Bank -- Going to the hospital for the first time is difficult enough without worrying about a strike. But the relatives of Yousef Abed Elatif Sedqee had to factor that in when they recently took the 7-year-old from the West Bank village of Megaer to the nearby clinic run by Augusta Victoria Hospital in the village of Turmus’ayya. Young Yousef had hurt his hand in an accident -- requiring clinic personnel to remove a nail from one of his fingers. Normally such minor surgery would have been treated at a Ramallah hospital the family normally visits. But Yousef’s uncle, Ahmed Azem Naessan, said that hospital was affected by the strike of public hospital employees angry about not getting paid -- the result of international sanctions imposed on the Palestinian Authority since early 2006 for the Hamas party’s victory in Palestinian legislative elections.

Israeli military court postpones trial of elected Hamas official after failing to find charges
Palestine News Network 12/12/2006
The Israeli military court in Ofer, in a “closed military zone” in western Ramallah, postponed the trial of Hamas leader, Sheikh Hassan Youssef after failing to bring charges against him. He is a deputy in the Palestinian Legislative Council, and one of many Palestinian officials who the Israelis arrested upon resuming their new positions in government after the last elections. Human rights sources reported that the Israeli military prosecution, which is the representative of the occupying authority, was granted more time by the military judge to bring in six new witnesses against the 52 year old. The witnesses include Israeli soldiers and members of the police. They are expected to testify against Sheikh Youssef, but for what exactly, remains unclear. He is currently in Ofer Prison in the West Bank. [end]

Palestinian journalists call for immediate union elections
Palestine News Network 12/9/2006
One hundred Palestinian journalists from the Gaza Strip and West Bank signed on to a measure calling for immediate and fair elections in the Journalists Union. The issue has been on the table since Fall, calling for a change in the union’s leadership. Saturday’s memorandum says “no procrastination” in an elections timetable will be accepted. This morning’s call reads, “We, the undersigned, Palestinian journalists and members of the media, out of our sense of responsibility and interest in the Palestinian media, trade unions and human rights, call to implement the principle of democracy and elections in the Palestinian Journalists Union. ”

People..

Yossi Beillin and Yasser Abed Rabbo, leaders of the so-called Geneva Accord

Veteran Palestinian American Writer Ramzy Baroud: Ask About Palestine
Islam Online.net 12/21/2006
MUFULIUDEEN MUH RAJI - Nigeria - What is exactly the current situation in Palestine? Answer: Two major Palestinian factions are clashing over ideological, political, but also factional interests. Fatah, the largest Palestinian Liberation Organization party lost the legislative elections by a large margin last January 2006, to a non-PLO faction, Hamas. That loss was historic for it’s the first time that a dominant political group in the Middle East (aside from Israel) concede to another in a peaceful, transparent elections. Fatah of course was not happy; supported and financed by the US and Israel, certain factions within the now splintering Fatah party vowed to topple the government and are working diligently to achieve such a goal. Abbas and Hamas agreed to a coalition government that would bring an end to the violence and discord, but there are still major disagreements...

Poll: significant increase in the level of dissatisfaction with the performance of the Hamas government and the President
Arabic Media Internet Network (AMIN) 12/19/2006
Ramallah, Dec. 17, 2006-- A significant decrease in public satisfaction with the performance of the president and the Hamas government leads the majority to support the holding of early presidential and parliamentary elections, according to a poll that was conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip during December 14-16, 2006. The poll showed that the gap between the popularity of Fateh and Hamas increased in favor of Fateh. The poll results also showed great concern about internal security and a negative evaluation of the role played by the “Executive Force. ” These developments have affected public attitude with a majority supporting the holding of early presidential and parliamentary elections. They have also led to a limited decrease in the popularity of Hamas.

In pictures: Palestinian views on political crisis
BBC Online 12/18/2006
Hamzi Atar, student: Mahmoud Abbas shouldn’t be calling for new elections. We held elections 10 months ago and Hamas should be given the chance to govern. But if there are new elections I would vote for neither Hamas nor Fatah. We have suffered under both the parties.... Raed Sirhan, doctor: I think holding new elections is a good idea as the people will decide. Just now is a very difficult time for the Palestinian people and we need to find some sort of solution. I would prefer us to have a national unity government. But if this doesn’t happen, then I want fresh elections...

International..

Maliki allies triumph in Iraq provincial polls
Middle East Online 2/19/2009
BAGHDAD - Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s allies triumphed in the January 31 provincial polls, final results showed on Thursday, boosting his position in war-battered Iraq after fiercely contested elections. Candidates backed by Maliki dominated in Baghdad and also won a majority in all nine of Iraq’s Shiite provinces, in a huge vote of confidence for the premier whose standing has grown steadily at home and abroad in the past year. Just over half of Iraqis voted in the largely trouble-free elections, which were seen as a vital test of the country’s progress since the US-led invasion ousted Saddam Hussein from power almost six years ago. Maliki, a Shiite, did not stand in the provincial council polls but threw his backing behind State of Law Coalition candidates. The polls held in 14 of Iraq’s 18 provinces were seen as a referendum on Maliki’s performance.

Mohammad Khatami criticizes rival Ahmadinejad over Iran’s isolation
The Associated Press, Ha’aretz 2/12/2009
The top reformist candidate in Iran’s presidential race has criticized hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad over the country’s international isolation. The comments were the first by Mohammad Khatami about the president since Khatami entered the race last weekend. They signaled that his campaign will likely focus on Iranians’ worries that Ahmadinejad’s fiery anti-Western rhetoric has worsened the country’s status in the world at a time when Iran is suffering economic woes. Khatami, a liberal cleric who was president from 1997-2005, told a group of his supporters that the current situation in the country is not desirable, according to Khatami’s Web site. Khatami warned at the meeting late Wednesday that if the situation continues, the country’s social capital and international reputation will be damaged even more.

Iraq’s Parliament fails to elect new House speaker
Agence France Presse - AFP, Daily Star 2/9/2009
BAGHDAD: Iraq’s Parliament remained deadlocked on the election of a new speaker on Sunday, just two days after US Vice President Joe Biden said Iraq needed to push ahead with political reform. The failure is a blow to the fledgling democracy, which without a speaker cannot debate or approve a new budget and oil laws deemed crucial to the reconstruction of the country. There are five candidates vying for the post, but rival Sunni politicians cannot agree on who should get the job. "A group of parties left the hall today and there were not enough MPs to choose a new speaker," said Jamal al-Butikh, chief of the National Iraqi List, the parliamentary group headed by former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi. Outspoken Mahmoud Mashhadani quit as speaker on December 23, triggering political wrangling over a replacement. He resigned after Kurdish and Shiite MPs clamored for him to go because. . .

Iraq’s Sadrists complain of vote fraud
Middle East Online 2/7/2009
BAGHDAD - Iraqi politicians backed by the cleric Moqtada al-Sadr on Saturday said they would lodge an official complaint about votes being excluded during last weekend’s provincial elections. Allies of Sadr said that preliminary results declared by election authorities were markedly different from estimates compiled by the party’s observers during the hotly-contested vote. "There is a big difference in some provinces between the figures we have, through our agents and observers, and those that were declared," said Amir al-Kinani, secretary general of the Free Independent Movement, backed by Sadr. "We will submit the appeal in the results of a number of Baghdad areas and other provinces, including Najaf, Maysan, and Diwaniyah," he said. The Free Independent Movement finished second in the capital Baghdad with nine percent of the vote, which left them 29 percent behind candidates backed by Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.

Israel, Iran, Pakistan world’s least popular nations - poll
Jim Lobe, Inter Press Service, Daily Star 2/7/2009
WASHINGTON: Israel, Iran, North Korea and Pakistan are widely seen as exerting the most negative influence on world affairs, according to the latest in a series of annual global surveys by the BBC’s World Service on popular perceptions of the world’s most powerful or newsworthy nations. The survey, which questioned some 13,500 respondents in 21 countries around the world, found that perceptions of Russian and Chinese influence also became considerably more negative during 2008. At the same time, views of the United States, which rivaled those of Israel and Iran just two years ago, continued improving modestly last year but remained predominantly negative despite the victory of Barack Obama in the November 2008 presidential elections. "Though BBC polls have shown that most people around the world are hopeful that Barack Obama will improve US relations with the. . . "

Maliki: Iraq elections ’changed political map’
Middle East Online 2/6/2009
BAGHDAD - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said Friday that Iraq’s provincial elections had "changed the political map" and were a success for the country’s citizens. "It is a success for all Iraqis," he told reporters in Baghdad, in his first comments since results showed on Thursday that candidates backed by him had triumphed in fiercely contested polls held six days ago. "Sure, there are changes to the political map, because the citizens voted to see the changes," said the Shiite premier, who has adopted a notably secular political outlook. "Iraqis voted based on the programme presented by candidates and not on a sectarian affiliation," he said. "I am more happy for that than the fact that our list topped the vote. " Maliki did not stand in last Saturday’s elections but campaigned vigorously for candidates in the State of Law Coalition, who swept the poll in Baghdad and in eight of Iraq’s nine Shiite provinces.

Initial results indicate triumph for Maliki in provincial polls
Agence France Presse - AFP, Daily Star 2/6/2009
BAGHDAD: Iraqi Premier Nuri al-Maliki’s allies triumphed in weekend elections, preliminary results showed Thursday, delivering him a popular mandate after fiercely contested polls in the war-torn nation. Candidates backed by Maliki took the biggest vote in Baghdad and eight of the country’s nine Shiite provinces, in a huge vote of confidence for the premier, whose standing has steadily grown at home and abroad in the past year. Just over half of Iraqis voted on Saturday in the election, which was seen as a vital test of the country’s progress since a US-led invasion ousted Saddam Hussein from power almost six years ago. Maliki, a Shiite, did not stand in the election but threw his backing behind candidates from the country’s State of Law Coalition. The preliminary tally released by the Iraqi High Electoral Commission showed that the coalition had a resounding success in Baghdad, achieving 38 percent of the vote.

Arabs heed Obama’s call for change
Alaa Bayoumi, Al Jazeera 2/4/2008
If it were not for Barack Obama, many Arabs would not even bother to follow the results of the US presidential race on Super Tuesday. Such gloomy views could be attributed to Arabs’ negative attitudes toward governments and politics in general. Arabs have been living under authoritarian governments, many of them US allies, for decades. And the US’s traditional support for Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian land, coupled with the war on Iraq, has meant Arab mistrust of the US has dipped to new lows in recent years. Against this backdrop, it is easy to see why many Arabs will not be following the latest news from the US presidential primary elections. ’Offensive’ rhetoric Many do not see any serious differences between the Republican and Democratic candidates who are taking part in the race.

Ahmadinejad battles on the home front
Khody Akhavi, Asia Times 2/5/2008
WASHINGTON - Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad has garnered headlines around the world for his defiance of Washington, as well as his rhetorical grandstanding on Palestinian issues, Israel and his government’s alleged support of Shi’ite militias in Iraq. Still, it appears that Iran’s parliamentary elections in March will be determined less by debates over the country’s foreign policy than by rising criticism of incompetence and economic mismanagement of conservatives and hardliners in the legislature and in Ahmadinejad’s office." Ahmadinejad is in trouble, not only because his economic policies have not worked; he has managed to antagonize almost the entire Iranian elite because of his exclusivist management style," said Farideh Farhi, an independent researcher on Iran and political scientist at the University of Hawaii.

IRAN: Ahmadinejad Caught Between Reformists and Hardliners
Khody Akhavi, Inter Press Service 1/28/2008
WASHINGTON, Jan 28(IPS) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has garnered headlines around the world for his defiance of Washington, as well as his rhetorical grandstanding on Palestinian issues, the existence of Israel, and his government’s alleged support of Shiite militias in Iraq. Still, it appears that Iran’s upcoming parliamentary elections in March will be determined less by debates over the country’s foreign policy than by rising criticism of incompetence and economic mismanagement of conservatives and hardliners in the legislature and in the office of the president. "Ahmadinejad is in trouble, not only because his economic policies have not worked; he has managed to antagonise almost the entire Iranian elite because of his exclusivist management style," said Farideh Farhi, an independent researcher on Iran and political scientist at the University of Hawaii.

Mideast press urges action on Gaza
BBC Online 6/14/2007
The Palestinian press makes an urgent appeal for action to prevent the violence in Gaza from turning into a full-blown civil war, urging President Abbas to call a state of emergency and ask for intervention from the region’s Arab states. Papers in the wider Middle East blame the violence on Palestinian leaders and demand fresh elections to resolve the power struggle between the Hamas and Fatah factions. In Israel, commentators ponder how the country should react to the Palestinian infighting, with one advocating a total withdrawal of Israeli troops and settlers from the occupied territories. - Palestinian AL-QUDS -- It seems we have reached the point of no return in this infighting and are witnessing the beginnings of civil war.

Lebanon factions resume talks
AlJazeera 3/22/2006
Leaders of Lebanon's rival factions have resumed talks on the fate of the country's pro-Syrian president and a UN call for the disarmament of the Hizb Allah group. The talks come amid signs that an agreement remains elusive on the two issues that threaten to destabilise the country. The discussions, which began on 2 March, have focused on a 2004 UN Security Council resolution that calls for disarming Hizb Allah and Palestinian fighters. The resolution also urged new presidential elections. It was passed in September 2004, days before Lebanese legislators extended Emile Lahoud's term for three years.

Chirac vows 'voice of reason' on Iran
Daily Star 3/6/2006
French president labels cartoon row a 'clash of ignorance' -- RIYADH: French President Jacques Chirac said Sunday the West would still reach out to Iran for a deal on its disputed nuclear file, in the first address to the Saudi consultative council by a foreign leader. The president's wide-ranging speech in Riyadh also covered Lebanon, Syria, the Palestinian elections, reform in the conservative monarchy and the "clash of civilizations" between the West and Islam. "In Iran, the voice of reason that France, the United Kingdom and Germany wanted to be heard on the nuclear file has not been heard, for the time being," Chirac told the appointed advisory council, an all-male body of 150 members.

Palestinian Americans Push Religious Pluralism in P.A.
Forward 2/17/2006
WASHINGTON — Palestinian American activists are vowing to lobby Hamas against turning the West Bank and Gaza into an Islamic theocracy. Anxious about the victory of the Islamic fundamentalist group in last month's Palestinian parliamentary elections, Palestinian American leaders say that they will push for laws favoring American-style church-state separation, pluralism, equality and inclusiveness. "We are at the time when defining decisions may very well be made in Palestine," said Ziad Asali, president of the American Task Force on Palestine. The task force is a prominent pro-Palestinian advocacy group in Washington.

Disagreement With Gaza Disengagement Sours Orthodox on Bush
Forward 6/24/2005
As Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met with Israeli and Palestinian leaders this week, cracks were emerging in the coalition of Jewish conservatives that rallied this past November around the claim that President Bush was "the best friend Israel ever had in Washington." Many influential Republican loyalists and non-Orthodox hawks appear to be remaining firm in their support of Bush. But a growing number of Orthodox activists who were avidly courted by Bush in the 2004 election are feeling distinctly dismayed as the administration embraces Israel's Gaza disengagement plan and presses for more aid to the Palestinians.

Elections give hope to Palestinian refugees
Daily Star 6/7/2005
BEIRUT: Palestinian refugees living in squalid and overcrowded camps dare to hope the legislative elections will directly improve their lives. "I have been monitoring the elections to see if they will bring change," said Mohammad al-Daoud, 21, outside Beirut's Chatilla camp where portraits of candidates jostle those of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Some 400,000 Palestinian refugees live in 12 refugee compounds in South Lebanon, where conditions are often harsh and permanent citizenship is denied to all. Fouad Abed, 36, complained that the candidate he was rooting for lost in the first part of the four-stage elections that took place May 29.

El Salvador group opens park in honor of late Palestinian leader Arafat
Ha'aretz 5/25/2005
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador - A new plaza on Jerusalem Avenue was inaugurated Wednesday in honor of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, despite criticism from the Israeli Embassy in El Salvador. "We are making a monument to the maximum leader of the struggle for the liberation of Palestine," said one of the promoters, businessman John Nasser, as the square with a large bust of Arafat was inaugurated. Migrants from Palestine flowed to El Salvador for decades in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and several families became prominent in business and politics. Both President Tony Saca and his rival in last year's election, Schafik Handal, are sons of families that migrated from the Palestinian city of Bethlehem.

AIPAC Losing this Fight
Electronic Intifada 3/7/2005
Press Release, Council for the National Interest -- AIPAC has been taken aback by new Mideast resolutions. Last month the House and the Senate each passed their own resolutions expressing support for the Palestinian Authority in the wake of their successful presidential elections. The Washington Jewish Week reported that many on the Hill feel the Israel lobby was caught asleep on this one. The problem for the lobby was simple: popular support and optimism after the Palestinian presidential elections took the wind out of any possible grounds for raising opposition to the resolutions.

Arabs warmly welcome Abbas election
Middle East Online 1/10/2005
Analysts, officials hail election of Mahmud Abbas as Palestinian leader, pay tribute to strong voter turnout. -- Arabs gave a warm welcome Monday to the election of Mahmud Abbas as Palestinian leader, admiring a successful exercise in Arab democracy and hoping that a strong voter turnout will bolster his position. Analyst Nabil Abdel Fattah of Cairo's Al Ahram Center of Strategic Studies said the high turnout and the strong result for Mahmud Abbas "gives him the necessary legitimacy for his plans to resolve the conflict" with Israel.

Press Review: 'The hour of truth has arrived'
The Guardian 1/11/2005
Mahmoud Abbas wins but how will events now develop? -- Times, Editorial, January 10 - "After [Sunday's] election ... there was a palpable feeling that something had changed ... Mahmoud Abbas, the pragmatist favoured by Israel and the outside world ... won a triumphant victory ... to succeed the late ... Yasser Arafat as president of the Palestinian Authority ...

Economy..

UN and partners launch their largest ever appeal for emergency aid for Palestinians
ReliefWeb/United Nations News 12/7/2006
The United Nations and its partners today launched their largest ever appeal for emergency aid to the occupied Palestinian territory – more than $453 million to help address a rapidly deteriorating situation after donors cut off funds to the Government when Hamas, which rejects Israel’s right to exist, won elections earlier this year. “Two-thirds of Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip are now living in poverty. Growing numbers of people are unable to cover their daily food needs and agencies report that basic services such as health care and education are deteriorating and set to worsen much further,” UN Humanitarian Coordinator Kevin Kennedy said, noting that children make up about half of the population of some 4 million.

From Bethlehem to Jerusalem: Children of the Holy Land receive improved schools
ReliefWeb/IOCC 12/4/2006
Jerusalem (IOCC) — IOCC’s plan to renovate and upgrade nine private schools in the West Bank was recently approved for funding by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). This initiative follows the redirection of aid for IOCC’s prior rehabilitation of public schools after elections brought new leadership to the Palestinian Authority. It is the first time that U.S. government funding will go towards faith-based schools in the Holy Land. Nora Kort, IOCC’s Head of Office in Jerusalem, talks about how this new program will bring hope and opportunity to all children in the embattled West Bank. N&N: What is the situation in the West Bank today? KORT: I would say that the situation is extremely dire, particularly for tens of thousands of Palestinian Authority employees because their salaries have been frozen since March 2006.