Palestinian history is now evolving in two opposing directions. (Activestills) Palestine’s Future in Safe Hands By Ramzy Baroud The commemoration of the Nakba needs to be more than a ritualistic event; the remembrance should be integrated into a clear and comprehensive national project aimed at offsetting the harm wrought to generations of Palestinians. There [...]
A Palestinian, showing solidarity with Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike in Israeli jails, stands chained to a cage during a demonstration in the West Bank city of Ramallah. (Credit: Abbas Monani / Agence France-Presse / Getty Images) ‘Victory’: Palestinians End Hunger Strike After Israel Agrees to Demands Though deal does not end future use of [...]
Image Credit: Luis Vazquez/©Gulf News Buying time in Palestine Neither Obama nor Abbas will be able to hold back the tide of a third intifada by the oppressed people By Abdel Bari Atwan, Special to Gulf News Published: 00:00 April 25, 2012 Be the first to comment Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on emailShare [...]
A protester holds a flag as he stands near the illegal Israeli wall opposite Israeli forces during a protest in Bilin near Ramallah. (Reuters/Ammar Awad, File) BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — President Mahmoud Abbas said Sunday he will ask the UN General Assembly to recognize Palestinian statehood if Israel does not respond to his demands for the [...]
Har Homa settlement (MaanImages/Magnus Johansson, File) BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — The Palestinian presidency on Wednesday condemned Israel’s issuing of tenders for hundreds of new settler homes near Bethlehem. Israel’s Housing Ministry published tenders on Tuesday for 827 new houses in illegal settlement Har Homa, between East Jerusalem and Bethlehem, Israeli daily Haaretz reported. The new settler [...]
Jailed Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti is accompanied by Israeli prison guards after a deliberation at Jerusalem Magistrate’s court, January 25, 2012. From his cell in an Israeli prison, Barghouti called on Monday for a new wave of civil resistance in their decades-long quest for statehood and for severing all ties with Israel. (Reuters/Ammar Awad, File) [...]
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Protesters on Wednesday held a rally in Gaza City against Mahmoud Abbas, accusing the president of neglecting his responsibilities to the Gaza Strip. They carried posters urging the president to resign if he could not fulfill his duties, and reminding Abbas that he presides over all Palestinian people and not just [...]
EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton with President Mahmoud Abbas. (MaanImages/File) BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — The European Union contributed 13 million euros ($17.2 million) to upgrade the sole goods crossing into the Gaza Strip, a press statement said Monday. A further 22 million euros ($29.1 million) of EU funds will be used to build a medium [...]
Israelis survey the damage to shops following a rocket attack in Gaza. Photograph: Uriel Sinai/Getty Images Israel and militant factions in the Gaza Strip have agreed to an Egyptian-brokered truce to end four days of cross-border violence in which 25 Palestinians have been killed, a senior Egyptian security official said. Both sides had “agreed to end the current [...]
Protesters hold pictures of Palestinian prisoner Hana al-Shalabi, on hunger strike for three weeks [EPA] Ramallah, West Bank - It began with Khader Adnan’s sudden and bold declaration: “My dignity is more important than my life.”And with that he refused food for the next 66 days. With each day he persisted, more and more people around [...]
Gazans wait to fill containers with fuel at a petrol station in Khan Younis on March 3, 2012. (Reuters/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa) By Nidal al-Mughrabi GAZA CITY (Reuters) — Hamas faces growing discontent in its Gaza stronghold because of renewed tax hikes and the mismanagement of a power crisis that has led to lengthy blackouts across [...]
(MaanImages/Hatem Omar, File) BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Hamas leader Ahmad Yousef said Tuesday evening that ministers in a new interim government will be named within two weeks, raising hopes that an impasse over the unity cabinet had been broken. Hamas leader: New cabinet will be named in 2 weeks Published today (updated) 07/03/2012 11:43 Fatah [...]
RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — A constitutional court in Ramallah on Tuesday postponed a hearing on the legality of President Mahmoud Abbas‘ appointment as prime minister of a unity government to March 20. Abbas and Hamas chief Khalid Mashaal agreed that the president will lead a unity government in Doha in February. PLO central council member Abdul-Jawwad [...]
Hamas might be reinventing itself. (Via Aljazeera) By Ramzy Baroud Despite all of Hamas’ assurances to the contrary, a defining struggle is taking place within the Palestinian Islamic movement. The outcome of this struggle – which is still confined to polite political disagreements and occasional intellectual tussle – is likely to change Hamas’ outlook, if [...]
Palestinians wave flags during a rally in front of Damascus Gate in Jerusalem’s Old City, in support of President Mahmoud Abbas‘ bid for statehood recognition in the United Nations, Sept. 21, 2011. (Reuters/Ronen Zvulun) BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — PLO official Hanan Ashrawi on Tuesday called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s response to a conference on [...]
(MaanImages/Moamar Awad) JERUSALEM (Reuters) — President Mahmoud Abbas accused Israel on Sunday of trying to erase any Arabic identity from Jerusalem, drawing a strong response from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Abbas, speaking at a conference in Qatar, said that for the past few years Israel has been waging a “final [...]
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Hamas officials on Thursday played down reports that the movement was placing barriers in front of a reconciliation deal it signed with Fatah earlier this month. Party spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said Hamas was moving forward with the deal in line with the terms agreed in Doha by President Mahmoud Abbas and [...]
A protester holds a Palestinian flag next to extreme right wing Jewish settlers during a weekly protest in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem on Dec. 30, 2011. (Reuters/Ammar Awad) BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — PLO meetings with Israeli envoys have not been able to restart negotiations, a Palestinian presidential spokesman said Friday, after Israel said [...]
(MaanImages/file) BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — PLO official Hanan Ashrawi said Wednesday that peace talks with Israel were futile as long as it continues its illegal policies against Palestinians.”With the escalation of settlement activities in and around Jerusalem, the arbitrary arrests of Palestinian representatives and lawmakers, continued annexation of Palestinian land and natural resources, and the eviction [...]
Abbas Confirms: Israel Peace Talks Over No Progress in Latest Round of Negotiations by Jason Ditz, January 25, 2012 | Print This | Share This | Antiwar Forum The latest round of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, kickstarted by [...]
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — The Gaza headquarters of the Central Elections Commission reopened Tuesday and will start work Wednesday, officials said. link to article http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=455108 CEC director Jamil Khalidi received keys for the Gaza City office a day after the commission’s chairman Hanna Nasir lamented its closure. Nasir said Monday that the Hamas-led government had failed [...]
President Mahmoud Abbas shakes hands with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev as they meet at the Gorki presidential residence outside Moscow on Jan. 20, 2012. (REUTERS/Vladimir Rodionov, RIA Novosti/Kremlin) MOSCOW (Ma’an) — President Mahmoud Abbas said Sunday that Israel’s response to a Palestinian proposal on borders and security as requested by Quartet negotiators was “worthless”. Speaking [...]
Senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh speaks during a meeting in front of supporters of the Islamist Ennahda movement party in Tunis January 8, 2012. (Reuters/Zoubeir Souissi) GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh on Friday called on the PLO to suspend talks with Israel until PLC speaker Aziz Dweik is released. “A Palestinian [...]
Demonstrators attend a rally calling for reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah in Bethlehem on March 15, 2011. (MaanImages/Luay Sababa) BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — A senior Hamas official has told Ma’an that ongoing talks to implement the party’s reconciliation agreement with Fatah are undermined by low confidence between the factions.Both parties want to achieve national unity but [...]
RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — Palestinians rallied Saturday against steps toward renewing negotiations with Israel, gathering outside the presidential headquarters in Ramallah. “If you’re against negotiations, honk your car’s horn,” protesters chanted. Sympathetic drivers joined the demonstrators calling for the PLO to cease involvement in bilateral meetings in Jordan. A gathering of young men and women also [...]
President Mahmoud Abbas is on an official visit in South Africa. (MaanImages/HO) JOHANNESBURG (Ma’an) — PA Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki accused Israeli leaders of trying to undermine the two state solution, in a speech delivered on behalf of President Mahmoud Abbas in South Africa on Saturday evening. South Africa’s bitter experience of Apartheid, oppression and [...]
Fatah delegation leader Azzam Al-Ahmad with Damascus-based Hamas official Mousa Abu Marzouq at reconciliation talks in Cairo in August, 2011. (MaanImages/HO) GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — A reconciliation committee has agreed that all political detainees will be released on Jan. 15, Hamas committee member Khalid Al-Batsh told Ma’an. The public freedoms committee, one of the cross-party [...]
Quartet of Middle East mediators including Middle East envoy Tony Blair (3rd L), senior US envoy to the peace process in the Middle East David Hill (4th L) and PLO official Saeb Erekat (5th L) attend a meeting in Amman Jan. 3. (Reuters/Jordan News Agency/Petra/HO) WASHINGTON (Reuters) — Israeli and Palestinian peace negotiators [...]
Turkey’s Prime Minister Erdogan and Hamas‘ Gaza leader Haniyeh greet members of parliament from Erdogan’s ruling AK Party during a meeting at the Turkish parliament on January 3, 2012. (REUTERS/Stringer) ANKARA: Gaza’s Hamas prime minister Ismail Haniya received a warm welcome on Tuesday from lawmakers of Turkey’s ruling party during a visit [...]
A Palestinian protester holds a Palestinian flag in front of extreme right wing Jewish settler’s house during a weekly protest in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem on Dec. 30, 2011. (REUTERS/Ammar Awad) By Jalal Abukhater My letter might be late, but late is better than never. This subject is critical and cannot be [...]
(MaanImages/File) GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Fatah central committee member Nabil Shaath met with Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahhar in Gaza City on Tuesday afternoon to progress the reconciliation deal between their parties. In a press statement, Shaath said they discussed the political detentions in Gaza and the West Bank and ways to implement the agreement, despite [...]
President Mahmoud Abbas waves after attending an opening ceremony for the courts and research studies center in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Jan. 3, 2012. Israeli and Palestinian negotiators meet in Jordan on Tuesday alongside international mediators trying to revive their stalled peace talks, but neither side is raising hopes they can end [...]
Palestinian and left-wing Israeli demonstrators face tear gas fired by Israeli forces during clashes at a protest against a nearby settlement, in Nabi Saleh village, near Ramallah, on Dec. 16, 2011. (Reuters/Darren Whiteside) BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahhar has cast doubt his party will take up peaceful resistance against Israel as advocated by [...]
Khalid Mashaal, leader of Hamas, gestures during a press conference. (MaanImages/file) BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Hamas chief in exile Khalid Mashaal said Monday that a unity government must be formed to end the division between the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Speaking to Palestine TV, Mashaal said that Palestinian factions had agreed to a political program [...]
Senior Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahhar attends a Hamas rally in the Jabaliya refugee camp, northern Gaza Strip.(MaanImages/Wissam Nassar) Hamas has already won an election once in a democratic fashion and was never allowed to govern. Imagine a second victory and the effect on the constant barrage of lies used to support the Zionist claims about [...]
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a Likud party meeting at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem Nov. 21, 2011. (Reuters/Baz Ratner) TEL AVIV, Israel (Ma’an) — Israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that he will not negotiate with any Palestinian government that includes Hamas.”If Hamas joins the Palestinian government we will [...]
Thoughts from a psychopath. Note the use of the words”turmoil in the Middle East” seems it’s everyone’s fault but Israel’s George Ikners ikners.com gikners@gmail.com Avigdor Lieberman, Israeli‘s foreign minister, has accused the Palestinians of attempting to avoid negotiations, saying that Israeli-Palestinian peace is currently unachievable. Addressing a meeting of Israeli diplomats in occupied Jerusalem on Sunday, Lieberman [...]
DUBAI (Ma’an) – Hamas chief Khalid Mashaal on Saturday tried to put an end to speculation about Hamas leaving the Syrian capital Damascus, saying they had no such intentions. Speaking to Al-Arabiya, Mashaal highlighted that some individual Hamas members have left Syria “for social reasons” which have nothing to do with what is going on [...]
Netanyahu Office Condemns Palestinians for Efforts at PLO Unity Says Abbas ‘Walking Away From Peace’ by Jason Ditz, December 22, 2011 | Print This | Share This | Antiwar Forum Reports that Hamas and several other factions are planning to join [...]
President Barack Obama talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during a meeting in New York, Wednesday, Sept., 21, 2011. Photo by: AP Palestinian officials: U.S. isolated over support of Israel settlements PLO delegation to the United States welcomes UN Security Council censure of West Bank construction, urges U.S. to join the [...]
CAIRO (Ma’an) — Hamas has agreed to join the Palestine Liberation Organization in a move intended to bolster Palestinian reconciliation, The Associated Press reported Thursday. The report comes as President Mahmoud Abbas met Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal in Cairo to put “final touches” on an agreement to reconcile the leaders’ rival factions. Fatah leader in [...]
Hamas‘ conundrum may prove too difficult to solve. (Aljazeera) By Ramzy BaroudEver since Hamas emerged victorious in the 2006 Palestinian legislative elections, myriad public opinion polls revealed that its popularity in the Occupied Territories was on a steady decline. However, there are actually few indications that Hamas as a popular movement will be departing [...]
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — A member of the Hamas political bureau said Tuesday that attendees at a meeting to discuss reconciliation postponed the decisive issue of PLO membership until later in the week. Izzat al-Risheq said “elections dates were discussed and agreed on forming a central elections committee. The committee is formed from one delegate [...]
Palestinians take part in a protest against disagreement between Hamas and Fatah in Gaza. (MaanImages/Stringer) GAZA CITY (Ma’an) – Two delegations representing Hamas and Fatah are scheduled to meet in Cairo on Sunday to evaluate what has been achieved on the ground since the heads of both parties met a month ago. Fatah leader president [...]
Iceland‘s Foreign Minister Ossur Skarphedinsson speaks as Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki looks on during a ceremony in which Iceland became the first Western European country to recognise Palestine as an independent state in Reykjavik on Dec. 15, 2011. (REUTERS/Ingolfur Juliusson) REYKJAVIK (Reuters) — Iceland on Thursday became the first west European country to formally [...]
Abbas waves Palestine’s application for statehood in an address to the UN. RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — President Mahmoud Abbas said Wednesday a key component of peace and stability in the Middle East was an agreement between the Israelis and Palestinians. Such a scenario requires a deal between the two sides, and after that ties between Israel [...]
UNESCO Director Bokova, left, was joined by Palestinian President Abbas at Tuesday’s flag raising in Paris [Reuters] Palestinians have raised their flag at the headquarters of the UN cultural agency in Paris in a historic move and symbolic boost for their push for an independent state. Cheers rose alongside the red, black, white and green flag during [...]
Hamas leader Khalid Mashaal (front L) and President Mahmoud Abbas (front R) shake hands after their meeting in Cairo Nov. 24, 2011. (Reuters/Mohamed Al Hams/HO) GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Committees working on the terms of a reconciliation deal between Fatah and Hamas have made little progress, and increasing political detentions may threaten the accord, Hamas [...]
It was interested to see the Australian arrested for spying for Hamas. Israel has declared Hamas to be a terrorist organisation. However, it was the elected government much to the dimasy of the US and Israel and was nwvwe allowed to govern The Palestine Authority just continues on as an unelected governmet for [...]
Gaza residents gathered for the funeral of two fighters killed on Thursday [Reuters] A Palestinian has been killed and at least 13 injured in an Israeli air raid in the Gaza Strip, medics say, a day after another strike killed two fighters. http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=443485 http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2011/12/201112934825392889.html The Israeli air strike early on Friday hit a training centre of Hamas‘ armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam [...]
