RAMALLAH, West Bank (IPS) Israeli-Palestinian peace talks appear to have hit a dead end, while efforts to bridge the yawning chasm which divides Hamas and Fatah politically and ideologically appear to be going nowhere. The two main streams of Palestinian politics are already locking horns over when the next legislative and presidential elections will be held, and whether Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, or Abu Mazen as he is better known, is legally entitled to stay in power beyond January 2009. Read more about Palestinian politics on the road to nowhere
WASHINGTON (IPS) - With less than two months before the November elections, Arab American voters in the United States are poised to vote heavily Democratic, according to a poll released here today by the Arab American Institute. The poll, which was conducted by Zogby International for AAI, a Washington-based lobby and public education group, found that the Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Barack Obama, currently leads his Republican rival, Sen. John McCain, by some 20 percentage points among Arab American voters — 54 percent to 33 percent — in a two-man race. Read more about Poll shows Arab Americans favor Obama by wide margin
JERUSALEM (IRIN) - Economic progress ha s been insufficient to stimulate growth in the Occupied Palestinian Territories because of the restrictions on movement, while dependency on aid was increasing, the World Bank said on 17 September. In a report released ahead of a donors’ meeting on 22 September, the bank praised the reform efforts of the Palestinian Authority, saying appointed Prime Minister Salam Fayyad had managed to significantly reduce expenditure, cut down on government employment and begin reforming the security forces. Read more about World Bank: Growth weak, aid dependency rising
GAZACITY (IPS) - A strike call has trapped thousands of teachers between Fatah unions and a Hamas government. The strike in Gaza called by the Palestine Teachers’ Union — a non-elected body supported by the government of Palestine Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank — continues into its third week. Of the Palestinian territories, Gaza strip is ruled by the Hamas government and the West Bank by the Fatah Party led by Abbas. Read more about Gaza teachers trapped between Fatah and Hamas
RAMALLAH/STOCKHOLM (IRIN) - The Occupied Palestinian Territories continues to suffer from drought, but the head of the Palestinian Water Authority told IRIN there was a limit to what he could do to help. “Crisis management is the only strategy that I am able to apply,” Shaddad Attili, the head of the Water Authority, told IRIN while attending World Water Week in Stockholm (13-23 August). Read more about Palestinian water strategies subject to Israeli veto
Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani26 August 2008
CAIRO (IPS) - Following renewed fighting between rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas, Egypt has stepped up calls for dialogue and reconciliation. But critics say Cairo’s partiality to Fatah — which is backed, like the Egyptian regime itself, by the US — prevents it from mediating fairly in the crisis. Read more about Egyptian kinship with Fatah hampers mediation
Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani25 August 2008
CAIRO (IPS) - Recent weeks have seen the worst fighting between rival Palestinian movements Fatah and Hamas since the latter’s takeover of the Gaza Strip last summer. Hamas accuses the “treasonous faction” within Fatah — which worked with US military intelligence in last year’s failed bid to destroy the resistance group — of instigating the violence. Read more about A civil war in the making
RAMALLAH (IRIN) - A newly formed Ramallah-based “Palestinian community foundation” said it is looking to change the way aid is given, so that more sections of society benefit from international donations and less money goes to waste. “We don’t want to get rid of foreign aid; we want to reform it, so it is in line with the Palestinians’ priorities,” said Nora Lester Murad from the Dalia Association. Read more about Palestinian group seeks to change aid dynamics
RAMALLAH, West Bank (IPS) - Over a hundred Fatah fighters loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah movement fled to the West Bank from Gaza last week, fearing for their lives at the hands of Hamas, the Islamic movement which took over the Gaza Strip in June 2007 after it routed Fatah forces. Read more about Gaza and West Bank in muddied separation
Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani13 August 2008
CAIRO (IPS) - With Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s recent resignation announcement, the self-proclaimed Jewish state is headed for new leadership. Egyptian commentators, though, entertain few hopes that Olmert’s successor — whoever he or she may be — will temper Israel’s hard-line approach to the peace process. Read more about "Israeli policy won't change with a new PM"
