IMEU : Analysis

Abbas move seen as gamble with US (Omar Karmi, The National)

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 12:54:42 PST

If nothing else, Mahmoud Abbas spurred a flurry of reaction and speculation about the future of the struggle for Palestinian statehood after he stated his desire in a speech on Thursday not to run again for the presidency of the Palestinian Authority. Fatah supporters rallied across the West Bank on Friday to urge him to reconsider, while Palestinian leaders from both within and outside his own party closed ranks around him. Further afield, Arab, European and Turkish officials have expressed their hope that Mr Abbas might yet be persuaded otherwise.

Palestinians who see nonviolence as their weapon (Richard Boudreaux, The Los Angeles TImes)

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 02:33:32 PST

Every Friday, Mohammed Khatib's forces assemble for battle with the Israeli army and gather their weapons: a bullhorn, banners - and a fierce belief that peaceful protest can bring about a Palestinian state. "Nonviolence is our most powerful weapon," says the media-savvy secretary of the Bilin village council. "If they cannot accuse us of terrorism, they cannot stop us. The world will support us."

Abbas 'not to seek re-election' (Al Jazeera)

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 09:29:42 PST

Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, has said he will not seek re-election when elections are held in January, Palestinian officials have said. "The president insists on not running in the upcoming election," an official from the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) executive committee said on Thursday. Another PLO official said Abbas, who heads the Fatah faction in the West Bank, will give a speech later on Thursday explaining his decision not to run.

Settlement by stealth belies promises of restraint (Donald Macintyre, The Independent)

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 02:00:54 PST

Maysaa Al-Kurd has lived all her life in the home her family moved into in 1956. The pomegranate tree standing in the garden was planted by her father when she was still an infant nearly half a century ago. But that hardly reassured her yesterday when she heard the Jewish settlers break into the next-door extension building her brother Nabil built to house his family in 2001.

Salam Fayyad and the Palestinian dream (Ilene R. Prusher, The Christian Science Monitor)

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 02:00:29 PST

Palestinian elections are scheduled to be held in less than three months, but the prime minister of the Palestinian Authority (PA), Salam Fayyad, isn't concerned about running for office. Rather, he's set his sights on a longer-term platform: establishing a Palestinian state by 2011 - a goal he outlined recently in a clear, well-organized booklet titled "Palestine: Ending the Occupation, Establishing the State."

Gaza: the forgotten story (Aditya Ganapathiraju, The Palestine Chronicle)

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 02:00:29 PST

The situation on the ground in Gaza has continued to deteriorate since January. One of the most densely populated areas in the world, this small coastal strip is home to a million and a half Palestinians, many of them refugees for over 60 years. It is now the worst condition it's been in since 1967 when the Israeli army took military control of the land. As numerous scholars and observers have concluded, the Israeli plan for Gaza seems to be to turn it into a depoliticized humanitarian catastrophe.

Palestinians accuse Clinton of hurting peace talks (Amy Tiebel, The Associated Press)

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 02:00:23 PST

The Palestinians on Sunday accused Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton of undermining progress toward Mideast peace talks after she praised Israel for offering to curb some Jewish settlement construction. After meeting Israeli and Palestinian leaders during a visit Saturday, Clinton called for an unconditional resumption of peace talks and welcomed Israel's offer for a slowdown in settlement activity. But Palestinians rejected the idea of resuming talks, reiterating their demand that Israel must first freeze all construction of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem - lands they claim for a future state.

Harvesting in death zone, with a song (Eva Bartlett, Inter Press Service)

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 02:07:51 PST

On a quiet October morning, Fida Zaneen, 19, sings a traditional love song as she pulls olives from trees in Beit Hanoun's border region during the annual olive harvest. "My grandmother taught me the folk songs. They were popular all over Palestine many decades ago." Saber Zaneen, 44, and Khalil Nassir, 45, alternately belt out traditional harvest songs as they, too, strip the limbs of the green and black fruit in the northern Gaza region.

Unity is the Palestinian interest (Ghassan Khatib, Bitterlemons.org)

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 02:24:28 PST

As much as internal Palestinian political fragmentation is an outcome of Israeli positions and behaviors, it also serves Israeli interests. By that token, any possible success in reconciliation efforts, e.g., the resumption of a unity government, goes against Israeli interests. Israel doesn't want Palestinian unity, because that would shift the political balance of power more in favor of the Palestinians.

It will take more than a wall to silence us (Jamal Juma, The Huffington Post)

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 02:31:01 PST

My friend and fellow organizer Mohammad Othman, a 34-year-old Palestinian human rights advocate, was detained by Israel on September 22 while returning home from meetings with Norwegian government officials. I suspect he was not surprised. A few months earlier, Israeli soldiers at a checkpoint within the West Bank had taken him aside and threatened him with arrest. "We're going to arrest you," one said, "but it's difficult with you because all you do is talk."