Tag Archive for Mahmoud Abbas

| December 17, 2012
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Contrary to Nasrallah’s claims, Syrian VP admits: Assad can’t win this war

After prolonged silence, Syrian VP Farouk Shara speaks to press: Only a historic resolution that includes the establishment of a broad gov’t comprised of all the country’s factions can solve the 21-month long civil war.

 

Syrian Vice President Farouk Shara has admitted that neither the Syrian Army nor the armed militia rebels are capable of achieving the high ground in the country’s civil war.

Syrian Foreign Minister Farouq al-Shara

Syrian Foreign Minister Farouq al-Shara. – Photo by AP

Shara said the only way to solve the 21-month long crisis is to reach a historic solution, in which neighbording countries and the United Nations Security Council take part. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , ,
| December 11, 2012
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‘One-Palestine State’ Art Exhibit at the United Nations

A “One Arab State Solution”  through art, that shows all of Israel as Palestine & mirroring Abbas’ “peace process map” is being hosted at the UN.

By Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu

 

The UN delivers a “One Arab State Solution” through an art exhibit that shows all of Israel as Palestine, mirroring Mahmoud Abbas’ “peace process map.”

Abbas holding model of area he wants for state

Abbas holding model of area he wants for state – palwatch.org

The exhibit is displayed at the public entrance of the United Nations, where the Palestinian Authority chairman two weeks ago delivered a speech before the General Assembly vote that granted the PA Non-Member Observer status. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| December 10, 2012
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EU foreign ministers meet to discuss Israel’s E-1 plans

European Union heads discuss Israel’s construction plans for Ma’aleh Adumim and feel the ‘urgent need’ to restart regional peace process.

Associated Press

 

The European Union will look at ways on Monday to press Israel to ditch a plan to build settlements in a highly sensitive area of the West Bank, but hold off on tough action soon despite international outrage over the decision.

E1 area – Photo: AP

Some officials say that options for robust steps against Israel are limited due to a lack of unanimity in the 27-member EU and diplomatic protection of the Jewish state by its cast-iron superpower ally the United States. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , ,
| December 10, 2012
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Hamas TV: Death to America, Death to the Jews

The new Fatah-Hamas alignment further demonstrates Mahmoud Abbas’ unwillingness to live up to his repeated commitments to cease incitement.

By Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu

 

The new Hamas-Fatah unity further exposes the Palestinian Authority’s failure to live up to pledges to stop incitement.

Abbas’ unity with Hamas now unmasks his image of a “peace partner” by binding him as a partner in Hamas’ stated goal of killing Jews and destroying Israel.

Hamas TV broadcast 10 days ago a speech by a Muslim cleric who preached, “Our mantle is death to the Jews and to America.”

“The prophet said ‘judgment day will not come until you fight the Jews,” the cleric said. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , , ,
| December 9, 2012
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More pre-conditions: Abbas suggests 6 month talks with settlement freeze

In Qatar, Abbas says negotiations should resume, but from where Olmert left them, with all final status issues “on the table.”

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH

 

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday proposed holding negotiations with Israel for six months, during which time the Israeli government would freeze construction in the settlements.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas speaks - Photo: REUTERS/Mohamad Dabbouss

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas speaks – Photo: REUTERS/Mohamad Dabbouss

Abbas said that the negotiations should start from the point where they ended during the era of former prime minister Ehud Olmert.

The negotiations would lead to agreement on the core issues and an Israeli withdrawal to the pre-1967 lines, he said.

Continue Reading »
Category: Mid-East News | Tags: ,
| December 9, 2012
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Arabs States now subsidize the Palestinians with $100M a month

Arab states promise to provide Palestinian Authority with a $100 million each month as ‘financial safety net’ as long as Israel freezes tax payments

By Reuters

 

Arab states agreed to provide the Palestinian Authority with a $100 million monthly “financial safety net” to help President Mahmoud Abbas‘s government cope with an economic crisis after the United Nations granted de facto statehood to Palestine.

Mahmoud Abbas Photo: AFP

Mahmoud Abbas – Photo: AFP

Israel has responded to the Nov. 29 UN vote by ordering 3,000 Jewish settler homes be built in the West Bank and announced it would hold back payments of customs duties it collects on behalf of the Palestinians to pay an outstanding electricity bill. Continue Reading »

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| December 9, 2012
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Abbas mulls ‘new strategy’ in response Israeli tax hold against unpaid bills

Mahmoud Abbas says whenever Israel “is upset with anybody in the world, it withholds Palestinian money”

Arab League ministers meet in Doha and decide to donate hundreds of millions to bail out aid dependent PA.

By JPOST.COM STAFF

 

Abbas on Sunday slammed Israel’s decision to withhold Palestinian tax revenues as the Arab League scrambled to make up for the organization’s budgetary shortfalls.

Palestinians collect money [illustrative] - Photo: REUTERS/Tarmizy Harva

Palestinians collect money [illustrative] – Photo: REUTERS/Tarmizy Harva

Speaking at an Arab League meeting in Doha, Qatar, Abbas said Israel doesn’t have the right to withhold Palestinian money from the Palestinian National Authority, and the move would force them to formulate a “new strategy” in response.The

Continue Reading »
Category: Mid-East News | Tags: ,
| December 9, 2012
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Israeli P.M.: Hamas has no intention of compromising with Israel

Netanyahu echoes Peres in saying Khaled Mashaal’s speech in Gaza demonstrates again  the Islamist movement’s true colors as a terror group that advocates killing.

Israeli leaders slam Abbas for failing to condemn terror group’s calls to destroy Israel.

By JPOST.COM STAFF


 

Hamas has no intention of compromising with Israel, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Sunday at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting. Echoing comments made by President Shimon Peres earlier in the day, Netanyahu said Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal’s comments in Gaza over the weekend exposed “our enemies’ true face” once again.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu - Photo: Pool/Haim Zach

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu – Photo: Pool/Haim Zach

“They have no intention of compromising with us; they want to destroy the state.

Continue Reading »
Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| December 1, 2012
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Abbas proclaims Palestine is now an ‘occupied’ state

Palestinian Authority president says UN recognition will now require int’l community to hold Israel accountable for infractions.

Abbas calls for renewed talks with Israel

Elior Levy

 

As the Palestinians celebrated the United Nations General Assembly’s decision to upgrade the Palestinian Authority’s status, President Mahmoud Abbas said that the resolution will require the world hold Israel accountable for the infractions it has committed since 1967.

Abbas at UN Photo: AP

Apartheid proponent Abbas at UN – Photo: AP

The Palestinian leader told reporters in New York on Friday evening that the General Assembly’s decision has turned “Palestine into a state under an occupation, and most of the world’s countries think so as well, voiding the Israeli claim that this is a disputed territory.” Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| November 30, 2012
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Abbas to visit Gaza to end Hamas-Fatah rift

PA President Abbas’ visit is to be the 1st of its kind since Hamas seized control of Gaza in bloody coup d’état in 2007, PLO says move aimed at ending Hamas-Fatah rift.

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH

 

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is planning to visit the Gaza Strip after the UN General Assembly vote in favor of upgrading the status of the Palestinians to non-member observer state, a senior PLO official announced Thursday.

Mahmoud Abbas - Photo: Marc Israël Sellem

Mahmoud Abbas – Photo: Marc Israël Sellem

The announcement came shortly before Abbas was asked the GA in New York to vote in favor of the statehood bid.

Continue Reading »
Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| November 27, 2012
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UK News Reports: Britain could support Palestinian bid at UN as support for PA

Financial Times says Britain wants to bolster Abbas’ PA as Hamas became strengthened following Israel’s military offensive in Gaza

London’s support comes conditional on peace talks without preconditions & no cases being brought against Israeli officials at (ICC) The Hague.

 

 

Britain is considering a change in in its position on the Palestinian bid at the United Nations in an attempt to bolster Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ stance, U.K. newspaper Financial Times reported late Monday.  London’s support is conditioned on continued peace talks with Israel and the  PA refraining from bringing cases against Israeli officials to the International Criminal Court, the newspaper said. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , , ,
| November 26, 2012
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Hamas unexpectedly supports Abbas’s UN statehood bid

Hamas political chief Khaled Mashaal calls PA president to back bid in unexpected change of heart Hamas spokesman Abu Zuhri says group backs any political gain Abbas can achieve at UN that is not “causing harm to the national Palestinian rights.”

By REUTERS

 

The Islamist group Hamas said on Monday it was backing Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s attempt to win more clout for Palestinians at the United Nations, the latest sign of a rapprochement between the political rivals.

The Palestinians are registered as an observer entity at the UN and Abbas wants to see them upgraded to a “non-member state” in a UN General Assembly vote on November 29, giving him access to other international organizations.

Continue Reading »
Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , ,
| November 22, 2012
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Senators Threaten Abbas to Cut PA Aid Over His UN Statehood Bid

PA Chairman Abbas was warned by a bipartisan group of Senators that he would be risking American aid if he goes forward with U.N. move.

By Rachel Hirshfeld

A bipartisan group of U.S. Senators warned Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday that he would be putting millions of dollars of American aid at risk if he goes forward with his planned statehood bid at the United Nations next week.

PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas

PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas – AFP photo

Sens. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine), co-authors of a Senate resolution denouncing the statehood bid, wrote to the Palestinian Authority president on Wednesday warning him that “any such efforts may cause consequences in regards to U.S. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: ,
| November 15, 2012
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UN Secretary General to visit Israel as part of cease-fire efforts

Ban to meet Netanyahu, Barak & Abbas in hopes of restoring ceasefire between Israel & Hamas.

France says President Hollande in talks with Israeli PM Netanyahu

Lieberman to counterparts: We won’t accept a ‘fragile truce’

By Itamar Eichner

 

Efforts to end Israel’s Operation Pillar of Defense in Gaza are underway: UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is scheduled to visit the region on Tuesday in order to advance a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

Ban Ki-moon Photo: AFP

Ban Ki-moon – Photo: AFP

Ban is expected to visit Jerusalem and Ramallah, but he will apparently not visit Gaza. The UN chief is scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , , , ,
| November 14, 2012
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Israel Opting to Declare Oslo Dead & Buried

Israel’s Foreign Ministry notes that Abbas has basically destroyed the Oslo Accords in his unilateral decision to appeal to the UN General Assembly, and as such the FM may officially declare them canceled.

By Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu

 

The Foreign Ministry has told its ambassadors to explain that the Palestinian Authority’s plan to ask for United Nations recognition is a violation of the Oslo Accords and may cause Israel to officially announce that it is “canceling them partially or completely.”  The agreement commits the PA to negotiate with Israel for the establishment of an independent PA entity.

Oslo Accords: Rabin, Clinton and Arafat

Oslo Accords: Rabin, Clinton and Arafat
Official White House photo

“You are asked immediately at the beginning of the work week to contact the foreign ministry, prime minister’s office, national security adviser or president’s office and request to do all possible to halt the Palestinian initiative because of its far-reaching consequences,” the ambassadors were instructed in a cable from Aharon Leshno-Yaar, director of the Foreign Ministry’s department for international organizations. Continue Reading »

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