Abbas Facing Leadership Crisis -Richard Boudreaux
Hounded by his moderate supporters and militant rivals alike, PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas [pictured] is facing a leadership crisis that will make it harder for the Obama administration to draw him into peace talks with Israel.
He made two concessions that ignited fury at home and across the Arab world: First he joined President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu for a meeting in New York last month to explore prospects for formal talks. Then last week he agreed, under American pressure, to postpone the Palestinians' demand for a UN Security Council debate on a UN report accusing Israel of war crimes in Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has for months offered to resume talks.
(Los Angeles Times)
Abbas Tries to Rally Support -Khaled Abu Toameh
In response to a fierce protest campaign against Mahmoud Abbas over his decision not to press Israel over the Goldstone report on Gaza, the PA has begun organizing demonstrations in support of Abbas in different parts of the West Bank.
PA civil servants and schoolchildren have been ordered to take to the streets and demonstrate in favor of Abbas, eyewitnesses said. They said senior PA officials had threatened that anyone who refused to participate would be dismissed from their job.
About 40 Palestinian organizations have launched a campaign aimed at pressuring Abbas to resign.
(Jerusalem Post)
Palestinian Reconciliation Pact on Hold -Nidal al-Mughrabi
A crowd in Gaza threw shoes at a defaced portrait of Mahmoud
Abbas and called him a traitor.
Hamas, by contrast, is enjoying a wave of popularity for securing the release of 20 female prisoners from Israel last week in return for a video showing that the Israeli soldier it has held captive for three years is alive and well.
(Reuters)
No Breakthrough Expected -Haviv Rettig Gur
According to one senior Israeli official, it is unclear whether PA leader Mahmoud Abbas is politically able to conduct meaningful negotiations.
(Jerusalem Post)
Lieberman: Only Interim Peace Deal Possible
Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman [pictured] said he would tell visiting
U.S. envoy George Mitchell that there was no chance of reaching a comprehensive peace deal with the Palestinians for many years.
"I will tell him clearly, there are many conflicts in the world that haven't reached a comprehensive solution and people learned to live with it," Lieberman told Israel Radio.
"Whoever says that it's possible to reach in the coming years a comprehensive agreement that means the end of conflict, simply doesn't understand the reality," Lieberman said. "He's spreading illusions and in the end brings disappointment and drags us into comprehensive confrontation."
(Reuters-New York Times)
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Hounded by his moderate supporters and militant rivals alike, PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas [pictured] is facing a leadership crisis that will make it harder for the Obama administration to draw him into peace talks with Israel.
He made two concessions that ignited fury at home and across the Arab world: First he joined President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu for a meeting in New York last month to explore prospects for formal talks. Then last week he agreed, under American pressure, to postpone the Palestinians' demand for a UN Security Council debate on a UN report accusing Israel of war crimes in Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has for months offered to resume talks.
(Los Angeles Times)
Abbas Tries to Rally Support -Khaled Abu Toameh
In response to a fierce protest campaign against Mahmoud Abbas over his decision not to press Israel over the Goldstone report on Gaza, the PA has begun organizing demonstrations in support of Abbas in different parts of the West Bank.
PA civil servants and schoolchildren have been ordered to take to the streets and demonstrate in favor of Abbas, eyewitnesses said. They said senior PA officials had threatened that anyone who refused to participate would be dismissed from their job.
About 40 Palestinian organizations have launched a campaign aimed at pressuring Abbas to resign.
(Jerusalem Post)
Palestinian Reconciliation Pact on Hold -Nidal al-Mughrabi
A crowd in Gaza threw shoes at a defaced portrait of Mahmoud
Abbas and called him a traitor.Hamas, by contrast, is enjoying a wave of popularity for securing the release of 20 female prisoners from Israel last week in return for a video showing that the Israeli soldier it has held captive for three years is alive and well.
(Reuters)
No Breakthrough Expected -Haviv Rettig Gur
According to one senior Israeli official, it is unclear whether PA leader Mahmoud Abbas is politically able to conduct meaningful negotiations.
(Jerusalem Post)
Lieberman: Only Interim Peace Deal Possible
Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman [pictured] said he would tell visiting
U.S. envoy George Mitchell that there was no chance of reaching a comprehensive peace deal with the Palestinians for many years."I will tell him clearly, there are many conflicts in the world that haven't reached a comprehensive solution and people learned to live with it," Lieberman told Israel Radio.
"Whoever says that it's possible to reach in the coming years a comprehensive agreement that means the end of conflict, simply doesn't understand the reality," Lieberman said. "He's spreading illusions and in the end brings disappointment and drags us into comprehensive confrontation."
(Reuters-New York Times)
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