CAIRO — Reconciliation talks between rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah in Cairo this week yielded an agreement to hold national elections early next year. The two sides, however, remain deadlocked over the proposed terms of a national unity government.
“Talks are at a standstill on the issue of the government,” a member of the Palestinian delegation was quoted as saying Sunday (Mar. 15).
The latest round of talks began late last month in Cairo with preliminary meetings between Fatah and Hamas representatives, although it was later broadened to include 11 additional Palestinian factions. Five committees were devoted to core issues of reconciliation and goodwill, formation of a unity government, national elections, Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) reform and the restructuring of Palestinian security services.
Ever since Hamas won an outright majority in 2006 Palestinian parliamentary elections, the two factions have pursued bitter rivalry that has brought intermittent fighting and tit-for-tat arrests. Mutual hostility reached the boiling point in the summer of 2007, when Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip from the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority (PA) in a pre-emptive coup.
Since then, Hamas has governed the Gaza Strip, while the U.S.-backed PA has continued to control the West Bank from Ramallah under PA President Mahmoud Abbas. Further complicating the situation, Israel and Egypt — with the PA’s blessings — have both closed their borders with the Hamas-run enclave, geographically isolating it from the rest of the world.
The new round of talks has seen some breakthroughs. On Mar. 12, compromise was reportedly reached on the issue of the Palestinian security services. And on Sunday (Mar. 15), officials close to the negotiations announced that factions had agreed to hold Palestinian presidential and legislative elections by Jan. 25, 2010.
“There has been relative progress on a number of issues,” Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum was quoted as saying Tuesday (Mar. 17). “Achievements have been made on essential questions.”
On the terms of a national unity government, however, the two sides have reportedly hit an impasse.
Fatah insists on a government comprised of independent “technocrats,” which will adhere to political conditions laid down by the so-called quartet (the U.S., E.U., Russia and the U.N.). These conditions include recognition of Israel, compliance with past agreements signed by the PLO, and renunciation of violence, that is, armed resistance.
Hamas, for its part, wants a majority share in any new government reflective of its sweeping parliamentary victories in 2006. The Islamist group also wants to appoint the prime minister, but is not insisting he be a Hamas member.
More importantly, Hamas adamantly refuses to recognize the self-proclaimed Jewish state, which it views as illegitimate, and cleaves instead to a policy of armed confrontation. Although described as a “terrorist organization” by the U.S. and Israel, Hamas — and its commitment to resistance — received a robust mandate from the Palestinian public in the last parliamentary election.
Fatah, by contrast, is committed to holding negotiations with Israel in hope of reaching a viable, mutually acceptable Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement. Until now, however, Abbas’s frequent “peace talks” with Israeli counterparts, mandated by the 2007 U.S.-sponsored Annapolis Summit, have failed to yield any gains whatsoever for the Palestinian side.
-IPS
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Mohammad Khatami |
TEHRAN — Iran’s former president has withdrawn from the forthcoming presidential election, saying he does not want to split the pro-reform vote.
Mohammad Khatami announced his decision in a statement on Monday. He served as president between 1997 and 2005, until term-limits prevented him from standing for re-election
“I’m pulling out of the election on the basis of a moral obligation and to avoid scattering the votes so that … change and improvement will be more easily achieved and with less cost,” Khatami’s statement said.
Reformists, who favor improving ties with the West and liberalizing Iran’s conservative government, hope to unseat Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the current president. Khatami withdrew after Mir Hossein Mousavi, a former prime minister, joined the presidential race last week.
He expressed his support for Mousavi, who is now seen as the leading reformist candidate.
Khatami said Mousavi had a better chance than him of siphoning off conservatives’ votes, and has the necessary qualifications to bring change to the country.
“He can potentially win people’s votes and get elected provided we act with wisdom and realism,” Khatami said.
Mousavi managed the country during the 1980-88 war with Iraq.
Hasan Abu Nimah, director of the Royal Institute for Inter-Faith Studies in Amman and former ambassador to the U.N., told Al Jazeera that many reformists had put much hope into Khatami’s candidacy.
“He was a very a familiar face for the international community and for that reason, many people had revived their hopes that coming back to the office, he would provide an opportunity for Iran to sort out its problems with the Western world,” Abu Nimah said.
“We were all surprised that he decided to withdraw, but the other candidate, Mousavi, belongs to the same reformist school and, according to reports, he would be even better in addressing the economic issues which are pressing issues in Iran.”
-Al Jazeera
Anti-Palestinian amendments fail
WASHINGTON — Anti-Palestinian amendments to the Omnibus Appropriations Act in Congress failed last week. High ranking Senate leaders spoke out in opposition to Senator Kyl’s Amendments including the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Sen. John Kerry and the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee Sen. Patrick Leahy.
In a passionate speech on the floor of the Senate opposing S. AMNDT. 629, which would have prevented Palestinians from Gaza from seeking refuge in the United States, Senator Leahy said “I have to think back — I read about my family 150 years or so [ago] when they came to Vermont, on my father’s side, the Irish. I’m sure if we had a law like this in place; it is questionable whether they could have come in. The Irish were fighting to keep their land. If they were fighting to keep their rights, fighting for the ability to vote, and they live[d] in what is now the republic of Ireland, they were considered terrorists.”
S. AMNDT 629, the most egregious of Senator Kyl’s amendment’s, was withdrawn from consideration. Further, S. AMNDT 631 which would create further restrictions on the disbursement of reconstruction aid to Gaza failed by a vote of 39-56 with 4 not voting.
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Rushdi Siddiqui |
NEW YORK — Thomson Reuters this week announced that it has appointed Rushdi Siddiqui to lead its Islamic Finance business. Thomson Reuters, which has been active in the Middle East, Africa and South East Asia since 1865, has Islamic Finance assets covering leading content, news, analytics and trading capabilities. In this newly created role, Mr. Siddiqui will be utilizing these assets and working closely with Islamic finance and banking professionals including fund managers, treasury, financial hubs, regulators, stock exchanges, central banks, Takafol (insurance) entities, Halal industry, intra-OIC (57 Muslim countries), trade, investment, as well as others to strengthen and grow this business.
Basil Moftah, managing director for Thomson Reuters in the Middle East and Africa, commented: “Rushdi’s appointment demonstrates our commitment to Islamic Finance and follows years of investment in specialized regional content, news and data across the Middle East and Africa.”
Siddiqui added: “Thomson Reuters has deep roots and strong assets in the existing and emerging hubs of Islamic finance which I found very attractive. Its platform also addresses several of the bottlenecks hindering the growth of Islamic Finance including the reduction of information search costs, connectivity to the global Islamic finance community, and executing transactions. I am looking forward to this new challenge and aim to support the growth of all aspects of Islamic finance and building bridges to its brethren — the social-ethical and sustainability industry players and funds.”
Siddiqui joined Thomson Reuters from Dow Jones, where he was global director for their Islamic Market Indices. Over 10 years there, he led Dow Jones Indexes entry and its global expansion into Islamic finance. His contribution has resulted in numerous awards from leading finance organizations and media outlets alike. Siddiqui has considerable experience in the financial markets having worked at a Wall Street investment bank and commercial bank in the 1990s.
Activists confront AIPAC donors with checkpoint outside fundraiser
LOS ANGELES — Dozens of Los Angeles-area Jews, Palestinians and other allies erected a mock checkpoint at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s (AIPAC) annual Valley Fundraiser in protest of AIPAC’s attempt to steer U.S. policy makers to ignore recent Israeli war crimes in Gaza and the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestinian land. Cars were confronted by people dressed as Israeli soldiers and those attending the event were “allowed to pass through” after receiving a new program for the event that exposes AIPAC support for Israeli policies which contravene international law. A boisterous crowd also chanted “Angelenos choose a side, human rights or apartheid!” at AIPAC donors as they approached the hotel entrance.
“At a time when President Obama’s administration seeks to restart peace talks with Palestinians and Israelis, AIPAC advocates a one-sided U.S. policy of supporting Israel at any cost,” said Julie Hey, a graduate student. “As a Jewish American, I am particularly appalled that my tax dollars are funding Israel’s apartheid policies.”
AIPAC is self-described as “America’s leading pro-Israel lobby,” and as such has supported Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land, including the use of military checkpoints and the erection of a 450-mile-long wall that has encircled entire communities, leaving Palestinians prisoners in their own land. The South African apartheid regime broke the country into 10 noncontiguous Bantustans made of 13 percent of the total land —”homelands” for the black population. Israel’s “separation wall” and settlements have broken the Palestinian territories into 12 noncontiguous cantons representing only 12 percent of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem.
“Tonight we are exposing AIPAC’s support of Israel’s apartheid system and are letting the high-donors and political leaders of Los Angeles know that is it unacceptable to support Israel’s separate and unequal treatment of Palestinians,” said Lisa Adler, an LA-based community organizer and Jewish leader. “Just as the movement for ending South African apartheid required boycott, divestment and sanctions, people of conscience around the world are increasingly supporting the Palestinian struggle for freedom and self-determination by boycotting all things Israeli.”
AIPAC also supported Israel’s recent offensive in Gaza, which killed more than 1,300 Palestinians and wounded more than 5,000, the vast majority civilians. “We found strong evidence that Israel committed war crimes during its 22-day offensive,” said human rights attorney Radhika Sainath, who recently returned from a fact-finding mission to the Gaza Strip. “Israeli forces repeatedly violated international law by targeting civilians, blocking medical access to the wounded, and using weapons that cause needless suffering.”
AIPAC wants Obama to agree to almost $3 billion in new military aid to Israel. U.S. law forbids assistance to governments that engage in a consistent pattern of gross violations of internationally recognized human rights.
Many of the same participants in this week’s demonstration also were part of an ad-hoc group of Los Angeles Jews that shut down the Israeli consulate for three hours on 14 January 2008 during Israel’s invasion of Gaza.
-Electronic Intifada
Israel seizes 10 Hamas members in West Bank
RAMALLAH — Israeli security forces have seized 10 senior leaders of the democratically elected Hamas in the West Bank, an Israeli military spokeswoman said on Thursday.
“Among the wanted men were four Hamas legislative council members.”
The men were arrested in a joint military and internal security operation, the spokeswoman said.
“These men have been the leaders of the ongoing effort to restore the administrative branch” of Hamas in the region, “while attempting to strengthen the power and influence of Hamas,” she added.
More than 40 Hamas members from the West Bank are already in Israeli jails.
The democratically elected movement won 74 of the Palestinian legislative assembly’s 132 seats in the January 2006 election, trouncing the Fatah party.
Hamas said that among those arrested in the northern West Bank city of Nablus were Nasseredin Al-Shaer, who was vice premier in the first government formed by Hamas after the election, as well as senior leaders Adnan Asfur and Issal Al-Ashqar.
Three others, including a lawmaker and a mayor, were arrested in Ramallah, the political capital of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, while legislator Ayman Daraghmeh was arrested in the northern Jenin area, Hamas said.
The arrests follow the failure of Egyptian-mediated negotiations between Hamas and Israel for a prisoner swap that would entail the release of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians held in Israel.
Shalit was seized by Palestinian resistance in a deadly cross-border raid in June 2006.
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Canadian Trade Minister Stockwell Day |
OTTAWA — Canada’s Trade Minister Stockwell Day on Wednesday signed a trade, cooperation and investment pact with the United Arab Emirates, his office said.
“The United Arab Emirates is Canada’s most important export market in the Middle East,” Day said in a statement.
“There is no doubt that a closer economic relationship with the United Arab Emirates will help Canadian businesses thrive in this market and benefit Canadian consumers and workers back home,” he said.
Two-way trade totaled 1.8 billion dollars in 2008. Canadian exports to the Emirates increased 28.8 percent over the previous year.
-MEI
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Archaeologists believe the 4th dynasty founder Pharaoh Sneferu’s burial chamber lies undiscovered inside the pyramid. |
CAIRO — Travelers to Egypt will soon be able to explore the inner chambers of the 4,500-year-old “bent” pyramid, known for its oddly shaped profile, and other nearby ancient tombs, Egypt’s antiquities chief announced Monday.
The increased access to the pyramids south of Cairo is part of a new sustainable development campaign that Egypt hopes will attract more visitors but also to avoid some of the problems of the urban sprawl that have plagued the famed pyramids of Giza.
Egypt’s chief archaeologist, Zahi Hawass, said the chambers of the 330-foot-pyramid outside the village of Dahshur, 50 miles south of Cairo, will be opened for the first time to tourists within the next “month or two.” “This is going to be an adventure,” he told reporters.
Dahshur’s bent pyramid is famous for its irregular profile. The massive tomb’s sides rise at a steep angle but then abruptly tapers off at a more shallow approach to the pyramid’s apex.
Archaeologists believe the pyramid-builders changed their minds while constructing it out of fear the whole structure might collapse because the sides were too steep.
The pyramid is entered through a cramped 80 meter-long tunnel that opens into an immense vaulted chamber. From there, passageways lead to other rooms including one that has cedar wood beams believed to have been imported from ancient Lebanon.
Hawass said archaeologists believe the 4th dynasty founder Pharaoh Sneferu’s burial chamber lies undiscovered inside the pyramid.
The inner chambers of the nearby Red pyramid, also built by Sneferu, are already accessible to visitors. Hawass said several other nearby pyramids, including one with an underground labyrinth from the Middle Kingdom, would also be opened in the next year.
“It is amazing because of a maze of corridors underneath this pyramid — the visit will be unique,” said Hawass, about the pyramid of Amenhemhat III, who ruled during Egypt’s 12th dynasty from 1859-1813 BC.
“Twenty-five years ago, I went to enter this pyramid, and I was afraid I would never come back, and I had to ask the workmen to tie ropes around my leg so I wouldn’t lose my way,” he recalled.
-MEI
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