Today's News
- PA Chair Abbas Chooses Salam Fayyad as new PM
Finance Minister Salam Fayyad, an independent, has been chosen as the new Palestinian prime minister, an aide to Palestinian Chairman Mahmoud Abbas told an Arab TV satellite station Friday…
Minutes before Abbas’ decision was reported, Haniyeh called for unity among Palestinians and urged people to remain calm Friday as fighters from his movement consolidated their hold in Gaza.
- Posted on: 06/15/07
- Poor Leadership Cited in Fatah’s Failure
Fatah’s old demons — lack of leadership, petty quarreling, corruption — are being blamed for its dismal showing in the fight against Hamas in Gaza.
While the disciplined Hamas systematically built and hoarded weapons, Palestinian observers pointed out, Fatah failed to prepare in time for the inevitable showdown with the Islamic militants. In this week’s fighting, disorganized Fatah fighters were outgunned and overrun by the smaller Hamas.
- Posted on: 06/15/07
- As Gaza Unravels, Palestinians Flee
By the time the Islamic militant group Hamas declared victory in Gaza Thursday, thousands of Palestinians had already fled the coastal strip.
Recent figures collected by European monitors at Rafah, the crossing into Egypt, show that some 14,000 Palestinians have left Gaza in the past year, driven by a combination of political insecurity and economic strain.
Now, the violence between the two main Palestinian factions, which began to escalate Saturday and turned into brutal street warfare early this week, is driving even more Gazans to find a way out.
- Posted on: 06/15/07
- Arab Nations Fear Fighting May Spread to West Bank
Arab countries are eyeing the chaos in Gaza with alarm, fearing that the Palestinian fighting could spread to the West Bank and further destabilize the region. The Arab League chief called yesterday for a cease-fire, warning of disaster otherwise.
- Posted on: 06/15/07
Setting the Record Straight
The Value of Engagement
“More harm and no good at all has come from the Middle East interventions of Secretary of State Condi Rice. She has been promoting an Israeli-Palestinian "political horizon"-the latest euphemism for a comprehensive agreement. It sounds fine, but it has no relationship to the realities on the ground; in fact, it merely perpetuates a harmful illusion. The best advice for the moment is that once given to the overly peripatetic Secretary of State John Foster Dulles: Don’t just do something-stand there!”
–Mortimer Zuckerman, U.S. News and World Report, May 20, 2007
VS.
“Talking is in our interest. We should work on this political horizon because without it the Palestinians have no hope for their political future, and it is within this hopeless context that Hamas and other terrorist organizations thrive.”
–Israeli Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh, June 14, 2007
Today's Feature
Averting a Deeper Crisis
by Mara Rudman and Brian Katulis, Senior Fellows, Center for American Progress
The violence in Gaza this week has created new facts on the ground and generated new laments about increasingly limited options. For all those concerned about security, stability and the values we hold dear, what happened in Gaza is a harsh wakeup call, one that should spark action going forward, not just words of regret for what brought us here.
We can’t say we weren’t warned. Last fall on the ABC News program “This Week,” King Abdullah
"We cannot allow the political horizon – two states, Israel and a future Palestinian state that includes both West Bank and Gaza, with sustainable viable borders – fade from view in light of this dangerous setback in Gaza."
Middle East Analysis
- What to Do Now
For Washington and Jerusalem to exert constructive influence in this dangerous situation, they urgently need to adopt a new and wiser approach to Palestinian politics. That means doing more to help Mr. Abbas in the only currency that really counts, easing the lives of ordinary Palestinians.
That should include a total freeze on settlement building and expansion, a prompt easing of the onerous, humiliating and economically strangulating blockades on Palestinian movements within the West Bank, and the swift release to Mr.
- Posted on: 06/15/07
Background Basics
- Regional Engagement
Governments in the region have made repeated attempts at securing stability between competing Palestinian factions since the founding of the Palestinian Authority.
Egypt has played a prominent role in these efforts as seen through its hosting of talks to ease tensions between Hamas and the PLO in 1995. The head of Egypt’s General Intelligence Service, Omar Suleiman, has been active in advocating for a Hamas-Israel ceasefire, as well as mediating between leaders of Hamas
- Posted on: 06/15/07
Heard on the Street
- International Community Needed
Salam Fayyad, Finance Minister in the Palestinian unity government and Chairman Abbas’ Prime Ministerial designate wrote of the need for international support for the Palestinians in an LA Times commentary on March 31, 2007:
“The U.S. has long acknowledged — as has the entire world community — that the formation of a viable, independent Palestinian state on the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip is the way out of this nearly 60-year-old conflict. But until the international
- Posted on: 06/15/07
Upcoming Events
- Bridge Over the Wadi
A film about a primary school, where Jewish and Arab children are educated together. The school’s purpose is to create meaningful interactions among the residents of its mixed Arab-Israeli town, foster dialogue and mutual understanding.
Where: AFI Silver Theatre, 8633 Colesville Road, Silver Spring, MD
When: Saturday, June 16, 3:15 p.m.
Who: Directed by Tomer Heymann and Barak HeymannPart of the SilverDocs Film Festival
- Posted on: 06/13/07
- Middle East Progress
- 1333 H St. NW, Floor 10
- Washington, DC 20005
- info@middleeastprogress.org
