abbas

Palestinian protesters waive the Palestinian flag, during a Great Return March demonstration near the Gaza-Israel fence, Gaza Strip, September 7, 2018. (Mohammed Zaanoun/Activestills.org)

The Palestinian struggle is shifting to a civil rights movement, and Gaza is leading the way

The Great Return March signals a shift for the Palestinian people, says scholar Tareq Baconi. Palestinians are no longer fighting for a state, and are increasingly demanding their full rights — primarily the right of return. The leaders of the Great Return March surprised the world when they organized the first demonstration along the Israel-Gaza fence…

By Rami Younis January 11, 2019

A protester holding a poster with Nelson Mandela's portrait, during a demonstration in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh, December 7, 2013. The demonstration marked four years to the Popular Struggle in Nabi Saleh, while commemorating the killing of Mustafa Tamimi and Rushdi Tamimi by Israeli army forces, and twenty six years since the first Intifada.

Will there be peace if Palestinians lay down their arms?

The world expects millions of people in Gaza and the West Bank to happily and quietly live under occupation. While laying down arms is a positive step towards peace, it is not enough to end this conflict. Written with Dr. Marc Gopin In the past few weeks the pro-Israel pundits have been recycling an argument…

By Aziz Abu Sarah July 30, 2014

President Barack Obama watches as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (right) shake hands at a trilateral meeting at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York, N.Y, Sept. 22, 2009. (Official White House photo by Pete Souza)

How Netanyahu can match Abbas’s commitment to peace

While the Palestinian president is renouncing the Palestinian right of return on Israeli television, Israel’s prime minister is announcing new settlement construction. Instead of playing to his own political base, Netanyahu could have his Sadat moment. By Aaron Magid Meeting with a delegation of Knesset members on Thursday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announced that in a…

By +972 Magazine August 28, 2013

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Netanyahu, Abbas and Clinton, September 2010. (photo: Wikimedia Commons)

In response to Palestinian statehood bid, government issues empty threats

Foreign Minister Lieberman may offer the Palestinians a ‘temporary state’ with no borders, which actually translates to no state at all. The Israeli government is so threatened by the Palestinian Authority’s bid to go to the UN in order to achieve non-member observer state status, that it has gone through a series of moves in…

By Mairav Zonszein November 14, 2012

Protest against the rising cost of living, Bethlehem (Photo: Activistills/08.09.2012)

Palestinians take to streets in call for Fayyad to step down

In the past few days, protesters have filled the Palestinian streets. This time, their protest is not against Israel, but rather against the Palestinian Authority and specifically Prime Minister Salam Fayyad. The Palestinians are coming out to protest the rising prices in the West Bank, which have increased at a time when the Palestinian Authority…

By Aziz Abu Sarah September 8, 2012

Fayyad and Abbas: A showdown or minor disagreement?

Last week, news surfaced in the Palestinian media about a conflict between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad. According to Alquds Al-Arabi, Abbas has not been answering Fayyad’s phone calls after his refusal to deliver a letter about the need for Israel to halt settlement construction to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Ma’an…

By Aziz Abu Sarah April 24, 2012

Solidarity with Prisoner Khader Adnan, Tel Aviv, Israel, 12.2.2012 (photo: Oren Ziv Activestills/flickr)

Today, I join Khader Adnan’s hunger strike – will you?

As Khader Adnan enters his 65th day of hunger strike, he is receiving increasing and substantial support among the Palestinian communities in Palestine and abroad. The Palestinian factions have called for a general strike in solidarity with Adnan on Tuesday. Despite initial frustrations of the delayed attention where rallies on Adnan’s behalf a few weeks…

By Aziz Abu Sarah February 19, 2012

Reports of Israeli readiness to negotiate an insult

Ever so often, when it seems like too much time has passed since someone has addressed the “peace process,” there is suddenly a meeting followed by reports that nothing has actually changed but that there is sober optimism that Israelis and Palestinians are ready to negotiate. The latest news — following meetings in Jordan where…

By Mairav Zonszein January 17, 2012

Fayyad to speak at US Palestinian lobby gala despite rift

In just few hours, the Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad is slated to give the keynote address at the annual gala dinner of the American Task Force on Palestine, or ATFP. A few days ago, it was unclear Fayyad would be allowed to attend, much less speak, after the Palestinian Authority severed ties with the…

By Roee Ruttenberg October 19, 2011

Palestinians take to the streets for Abbas’s speech

Palestinians poured into the streets of West Bank cities to watch and celebrate Mahmoud Abbas’s speech before the United Nations General Assembly. Earlier in the day, clashes erupted at the Qalandia checkpoint and the Israeli shot dead a Palestinian man in the northern West Bank village of Qasra Ramallah – Carrying Palestinian flags and portraits…

By Joseph Dana September 24, 2011

Are Palestinians walking into a trap at the UN?

When the South African government tried to build non-sovereign states for its blacks they were soundly rejected by the world community. But now the Palestinians appear to be the ones seeking to legitimise their own Bantustan. Virginia Tilley has a very important post up on Electronic Intifada, discussing the possibility the Palestinian bid at the…

By Dimi Reider August 30, 2011

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas interviewed by Roee Ruttenberg for CCTV (photo: CCTV)

Interview: Abbas on Hamas, refugees and independence

On Tuesday, I had a unique opportunity to sit down with the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during his visit to Amman, Jordan. We discussed the peace process (or lack thereof), refugees, prisoners, Gilad Shalit, incitement and diplomacy. The interview aired on CCTV News (China Central Television English language). Roee Ruttenberg: Mr. President, thank you for…

By Roee Ruttenberg April 9, 2011

Between the lines (3 October): beyond the settlement freeze

Headlines: >The top story in most outlets is the Israeli response to pressures to renew the settlement freeze, which lapsed last week. Ha’aretz and Yisrael Hayom [Heb] present Netanyahu’s position as uncompromising: he will only agree to limit construction. The two other dailies, on the other hand, claim that Netanyahu is still considering Obama’s offer…

By Roi Maor October 3, 2010