Tag Archive for PA

| July 17, 2012
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PA Government Names Summer Camp after Terrorist

The Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority has named a children’s summer camp after the bloodthirsty terrorist who killed 37 civilians in 1978.

By Chana Ya’ar

 

The Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority government has named a summer program for the bloodthirsty terrorist who killed 37 civilians in 1978, Dalal Mughrabi.

Fatah PA TV music video praising Dalal Mughrabi, terrorist

Fatah PA TV music video praising Dalal Mughrabi, terrorist
courtesy of PMW

The “Sisters of Dalal Mughrabi” summer “youth camp” was named to commemorate the most lethal attack in the history of Israel, known as the “coastal road massacre.” The killers led by Mughrabi hijacked a bus on the highway that runs along the Mediterranean coastline. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: ,
| July 10, 2012
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PA announces plan to hold elections, angers Hamas

In blow to Palestinian unity efforts, PA cabinet announces plan to hold local elections in West Bank and Gaza on October 20.

By REUTERS

 

The Palestinian Authority on Tuesday announced it planned to hold local elections in October in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, angering Gaza’s Islamist Hamas rulers.

PA President Abbas and Hamas's Mashaal [file] - Photo: REUTERS/Ho New

PA President Abbas and Hamas’s Mashaal – Photo: REUTERS/Ho New

“The Palestinian cabinet approved during its meeting today … conducting local elections on 20 October 2012 in all local councils in the homeland,” The PA said in a statement.

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri responded: “Hamas regards this unilateral step as undermining reconciliation and a decision of escalation that would further complicate the file of reconciliation and therefore, Hamas holds the Fatah movement responsible for the consequences that may result.”

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Category: Mid-East News | Tags: ,
| July 8, 2012
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EU security organization rejects PA membership

Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe denies request for observers status, J’lem praises rejection.

By JPOST.COM STAFF

 

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe on Saturday rejected a Palestinian application to join the organization as an observer, which one official in Jerusalem said was the result of Israeli diplomatic efforts, ArmyRadio reported Sunday.

European Union flags in Brussels - Photo: Thinkstock/Imagebank

European Union flags in Brussels – Photo: Thinkstock/Imagebank

Twenty-eight countries voted against the Palestinian request and 21 voted in favor of accepting the application, according to the report.

Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon told Army Radio Sunday that Israeli diplomatic efforts played a role in thwarting the Palestinian application.

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Category: Mid-East News | Tags:
| July 3, 2012
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PA seeks role in UN arms trade talks; denied

Ramallah’s wish to take active part in members-only talks blocked by Israel, US and EU

By Yitzhak Benhorin

 

WASHINGTON – Another attempt by the Palestinian Authority to asset statehood in the United Nations was blocked by Israel on Monday, Ynet has learned.

The PA sought to take an active role in a UN conference meant to hammer out the first binding treaty on the regulation of the global weapons market, valued at more than $70 billion a year.

PA observer to the UN Riyad Mansour Photo: AFP

PA observer to the UN Riyad Mansour - Photo: AFP

The conference is meant for the UN’s 193 member-states only. Israel, the United States and the European Union opposed the PA’s move – which was backed by several Arab countries. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: ,
| July 3, 2012
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After Arab Spring, Abbas discovers importance of Palestinian public opinion

A meeting between Palestinian president and Vice PM Shaul Mofaz was cancelled due to pressure from the Palestinian public, not because of Netanyahu.

By Avi Issacharof

 

Several hours after an official from Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud’s Abbas’ office leaked to the media that a planned meeting with Vice Prime Minister Shaul Mofaz would not take place, the latter’s aides claimed that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was behind the move.

This reaction was both immature and condescending, reflecting a characteristic Israeli response to Abbas’ moves – as if the Palestinian leader has no will of his own, no independent interests and especially no public opinion to take into consideration. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: ,
| June 30, 2012
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UNESCO Approves PA ‘Emergency’ Bid for Church of Nativity

UNESCO approves the PA’s bid to place the Church of the Nativity on its list of sites of World Heritage in Danger.

By Elad Benari, Canada 

 

 

UNESCO’s World Heritage committee on Friday approved a Palestinian Authority bid to place the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem on its list of sites of World Heritage in Danger.

A report in The Associated Press quoted PA spokeswoman Hanan Ashrawi as having said the vote was an affirmation of “Palestinian sovereignty” over the site that marks the place where Christians believe Jesus was born.

Church of the Nativity

Church of the Nativity - Reuters

Israel angrily denounced the vote. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| May 15, 2012
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Many winners, few losers in deal to end Palestinian prisoners’ hunger strike

Israel, Hamas and the Palestinian Authority are each playing their cards to preserve the relative silence in Gaza and the West Bank.

The agreement that brought the Palestinian prisoners’ hunger strike to an end on Monday, alongside a decision to return 100 bodies of Palestinian terrorists buried in Israel, as a gesture to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, were less about possible progress in peace attempts as much as they were about an Israeli effort to preserve the relative silence in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Palestinians celebrate the signing of a deal to end the Palestinian prisoners hunger strike

Palestinians wave flags as they celebrate the signing of a deal to end the Palestinian prisoners hunger strike, in the West Bank city of Ramallah - Photo by Reuters

 

Despite the fact that peace negotiations aren’t likely to restart, the Palestinian Authority, Hamas and Israel are all interested in getting rid of anything that could threat stability in the region. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News, Mid-East News | Tags: , , ,
| May 13, 2012
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‘Fatah prisoners held by Hamas in Gaza go on hunger strike’

Sources say prisoners initiate hunger strike to protest their incarceration, show solidarity with Palestinian prisoners in Israel; Hamas denies Fatah claim that prisoners being held without trial.

 

Fatah prisoners held in Hamas jails in the Gaza Strip have gone on hunger strike in protest against their incarceration, Palestinian sources reported Sunday.

The hunger strike is also in solidarity with hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons who have also been refusing food for the past few weeks, the sources said.

Palestinians in Gaza rally to free hunger strikers - Photo: REUTERS/Mohammed Salem

Palestinians in Gaza rally to free hunger strikers - Photo: REUTERS/Mohammed Salem

The Fatah-affiliated Palestine Press News Agency published a letter from the striking prisoners in the Gaza Strip in which they hold Hamas responsible for their continued imprisonment.

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Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , ,
| May 3, 2012
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Abbas, Hamas seek Arafat archive

Documents currently in Tunisia reportedly include information on planned terror attacks against Israel, terror groups’ funding sources

 

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has demanded that the archive of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat be handed over to his care, the Yedioth Ahronoth daily reported Thursday.

Yasser and Suha Arafat (archives) Photo: AP

Yasser and Suha Arafat - archives Photo by AP

The documents, which are currently in Tunisia, reportedly contains fascinating information on planned terror attacks against Israeli targets, the funding sources of terror organizations and negotiations with Israeli officials from the political and security establishments

The London-based Al-Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper reported this week that the archive has been a point of contention ever since Arafat’s death in 2004 and the Hamas-Fatah split. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: ,
| April 28, 2012
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Backlash after PA silences Critics

A top Palestinian official has resigned after the government of Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas moved to silence Internet sites carrying opposition voices.

Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas

Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas

Communications minister Mashour Abu Daqa said he was stepping down Thursday night after Abbas’ attorney general ordered several websites critical of the government shut down. Government forces also arrested four journalists and an anti-corruption activist who have censured Abbas and other Palestinian officials on Facebook.

Daqa said the Internet censorship was “bad for the image of the Palestinian Authority in the modern world.”

The websites reportedly supported Abbas rival and former PA official Mahmoud Dahlan, who was a top security official in Abbas’ cabinet until 2007, when Iran-backed Hamas seized control of Gaza. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: ,
| April 14, 2012
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PA Governor Blocks Import of Israeli Produce to Shechem

The Palestinian Authority has blocked the import of Israeli produce to Shechem (Nablus).

 

According to a report published by the Bethlehem-based Ma’annews agency, the governor of the PA-controlled city stopped potatoes from entering the local market on Wednesday. The news outlet often serves as a semi-official mouthpiece for the Palestinian Authority.

The move, which prevents Israeli farmers from selling their produce to PA vendors, also prevents PA business people from doing business with Israel – a direct violation of the Oslo Accords and numerous foreign aid initiatives.

The decision was issued in line with a decision made by the PA Agriculture Ministry, according to the report. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags:
| April 7, 2012
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World Bank to donate $55 m. to West Bank, Gaza

Money transfer will “continue to focus on strengthening the institutions of a future Palestinian state,” organization says.

 

The World Bank will donate $55 million to the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, the international organization announced Friday.

“The Bank’s support will continue to focus on strengthening the institutions of a future Palestinian state,” the organizations stated.

World Bank building entrance

World Bank building entrance- By Wikimedia Commons

The $55 million will be transferred to the Trust Fund for Gaza and the West Bank, pending approval from the Board of Governors. It will be invested in promoting private-sector growth and strengthening public institutions, in line with the Palestinian National Development Plan for 2011-2013, the Bank stated.

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Category: Mid-East News | Tags: ,
| April 4, 2012
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PA, Hamas reach deal to end power crisis in Gaza

Israeli firm to supply Gaza with fuel; Palestinian Authority to act as middleman for Hamas’ bill payments

The Gaza Strip’s Hamas government and the rival Palestinian Authority (PA) agreed to an Egyptian-brokered deal on Tuesday to end a fuel crisis that has caused daily power cuts in the territory, officials said.

PA President Mahmoud Abbas Photo: EPA

PA President Mahmoud Abbas - Photo: EPA

Under the agreement, an Israeli company will supply industrial diesel for the Gaza Strip’s only power plant and a temporary mechanism will be put in place whereby Hamas can pay the bill without dealing directly with its enemy, Israel.

“The Hamas authorities in Gaza will pay the money … to the PA and the PA will take care of the payment to the Israeli side,” said the official, who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the deal. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News, Mid-East News | Tags: , , ,
| March 25, 2012
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Hamas: PA using Gaza fuel crisis to incite

PA denies charges that West Bank leadership had asked the Egyptians to cut off fuel supplies to the Gaza Strip.

 

The Palestinian Authority is exploiting the severe fuel crisis in the Gaza Strip to incite Palestinians against Hamas, the Islamist movement charged Saturday.

The allegation is a sign of renewed tensions between the two Palestinian parties in light of their failure to implement the recent Qatari-brokered reconciliation agreement that was signed between PA President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal.

The fuel crisis has forced the only power plant in the Gaza Strip to cut off electricity for several hours every day. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| March 20, 2012
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The devastating truth about water and Palestinian statehood

This article was first published by The Jerusalem Post on August 28th 2011 http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Columnists/Article.aspx?id=235772

On June 15th 2011 the Jerusalem Post published an article about the Palestinian water crisis, written by the head of the Palestinian Water Authority, Dr Shaddad Atilli.

In his article Atilli wrote that Israel’s ‘discriminatory policies’ are to blame for the lack of water in the Palestinian society. He claimed that Israel used the Joint Israeli Palestinian Water Committee (JWC) to veto and to delay Palestinian water projects. He also wrote that Israel illegally exploits 90% of the shared water sources, allocating only 10% for Palestinian use. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News, Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
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