By DAVID BEDEIN— On February 5, the reconstituted US House of Representatives Subcommittee on Middle East and North Africa held a subcommittee hearing on the subject of “Fatah-Hamas Reconciliation: Threatening Peace Prospects.” Two senior expert witnesses from The Washington Institute for Near East Policy testified and expressed optimism that US-trained Palestinian Security Forces, affiliated with…
By SHOSHANA BRYEN, inSIGHT— President Obama’s plans in the Middle East include three and a half hours in Ramallah to meet with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas. The president’s hope is to find a mechanism for advancing Israeli-Palestinian “peace.” The appearance of the President of the United States in “Palestine” is calculated to provide Abbas with…
By ITAMAR MARCUS, JPOST— It is hard to imagine a more flawed analysis of Palestinian Authority schoolbooks than the recent report of the Council of Religious Institutions of the Holy Land, led by Sami Adwan of Bethlehem University and Daniel Bar-Tal of Tel Aviv University. The report’s inaccuracies start with its methodology of systematically citing…
By P. DAVID HORNIK, FRONTPAGEMAG— Except for rockets from Gaza—which, meanwhile, have stopped since Israel’s Operation Pillar of Defense in November—you haven’t been hearing much about Palestinian terrorism. But it’s not for lack of trying. Israel’s Shin Bet (domestic security agency) has released its figures for 2012. It says it thwarted 100 “serious” terror attacks…
By ISRAEL HAYOM– Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riad Malki declared Wednesday that the Palestinians would have “no choice” but to complain to the International Criminal Court if Israel proceeded with plans to build housing on land the Palestinians want for a future state. Speaking to reporters after a meeting of the U.N. Security Council on…
By ASSOCIATED PRESS— Weeks ahead of Israeli elections, Palestinian officials are already plotting a series of tough steps against Israel to be taken if, as polls predict, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is re-elected and peace efforts remain stalled. Emboldened by their newly upgraded status at the United Nations, the Palestinians are talking of filing war…
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has a decision to make. Directly negotiate peace with Israel, or make a bad situation worse. Time and time again, President Obama and other world leaders have called him to the negotiating table. Time and time again President Abbas has chosen the futile path. Leadership is needed now. President Abbas must…
By ELLIOTT ABRAMS— While Americans have been focusing on our election, there have been a few developments in the so-called “Middle East Peace Process.” PLO chairman Mahmoud Abbas has said he would drop his precondition for negotiations—a total construction halt in the settlements and in East Jerusalem—and return to the table after the UN General…
By KHALED ABU TOAMEH, GATESTONE— Fatah leaders were quick to declare victory in the October 20 local elections in the West Bank. But the results of the vote for 93 municipal and village councils show that the vote was anything but a victory. True, in some cities and villages, Fatah did win a majority of…
The Palestinian Authority is accused of corruption by many but receives more humanitarian aid per capita from the international community than any other country in the world. The billions of dollars that are meant for schools, hospitals and infrastructure have been spent on luxury villas, casinos and payments to terrorists.