No Palestinian elections until Palestinians are reunited, says Abbas

Date: 04 / 09 / 2007 Time: 14:30

Bethlehem – Ma'an –

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas stated on Tuesday that presidential and legislative elections will not be held before the Palestinian people are reunited.

Speaking at a press conference in Ramallah, after a meeting with Austrian Chancellor, Alfred Gusenbauer, Abbas said, "We have not announced the date for elections but we have announced some amendments to the law on elections."

The amendments mean Palestinians will vote for party lists under the system of proportional representation rather than voting by district. Hamas, who stand to lose out in elections held under the new system, has questioned the legality of the amendments. Commenting on the announcement by Palestinian security services that they recently uncovered a Hamas plot to stage a coup against the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, Abbas confirmed that the security services had received such information and were endeavoring to keep law and order. He added that nobody can blame the Palestinian Authority for being cautious about security and order.

Abbas also said it was imperative that all sides in the peace process participate in the US-sponsored international peace summit which will be held next Autumn.

"In order for the conference to be a success, there should be preparations. We had stated the conditions as accurate timing, and attendance. We insist that the conference be comprehensive and comprise all sides including those who are directly and indirectly relevant. I mean those whose lands are occupied in the region, and the supporters of the peace process, namely, Syria and Lebanon," he said.

Commenting on the Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert's declaration that no agreements will be achieved before the conference, Abbas said, "We do our best to go to the conference completely ready, as going there and being ambiguous words or ill-prepared will be a fiasco, which we do not want."

Abbas also condemned launching home-made projectiles at Israeli towns bordering the Gaza Strip. "We condemn launching missiles from Gaza and other areas because that harms the peace process," he said.

PM Haniya of Gaza proposes a five-point solution to current political turmoil

Tuesday September 04, 2007 17:45 by Rami Almeghari - IMEMC & Agencies rami at imemc dot org

Palestinian Prime Minister of Hamas in Gaza, Ismail Haniya, proposed on Tuesday, during a regular weekly meeting of his cabinet, five-point solution out of current Palestinian political turmoil.

Among Haniya’s points were, a solution lies in dialogue, respect of the contiguity of the Palestinian territories, commitment to unity of the political system, no state in or without Gaza, respect of institution and law.

The Hamas-dominated cabinet’s head welcomed any Arab, Islamic or international mediation efforts to fill in the gap among the Palestinians and restore the Palestinian people’s unity in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem, as well as accelerating lifting of the ongoing siege.

Haniya warned of attempts to sideline Hamas, saying that such moves would not bring stability or security to the region.

Javier Solana, EU’s chief for external affairs, stated during underway visit to the region that the EU does not plan to meet with Hamas’s government officials in Gaza.

The Palestinian premier voiced utter rejection to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s recent decree to amend the Palestinian elections law, considering the decision as a ‘violation of the Palestinian legislative council’s authorities’.

Haniya also rejected the latest decision by the Ramallah-based appointed government to close down 103 Palestinian charities, maintaining that the move would impact the Palestinian people’s steadfastness in the face of the siege.

He also stressed on the need to reopen the commercial and travel crossings, particularly the Rafah terminal crossing, which is the sole outlet to the outside world for 1.4 million Palestinians in Gaza.

The Hamas-dominated government has been outlawed by Palestinian President of Fatah, Mahmoud Abbas, in the wake of the Hamas takeover of the costal region in June. Abbas has appointed a new administration in the West Bank, headed by moderate PM Salam Fayyad.

The international community and Israel have been imposing a crippling boycott on the Islamist group, when the latter won the last January’s elections, provided that Hamas renounce violence, recognize Israel and accept past signed agreements.

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Note to Translators:

The Arabic definite article, Al (or its variant, El) should be written with a hyphen separating it from the noun it is associated with, for example Al-Aqsa. If a hyphen is not used, as in Al Aqsa, it confuses non-Arabic readers. They may think that it is an abbreviation of the name Albert, as many Americans do.

The Arabic definite article Al (or El) should be written as such, whether it is Shamsiyah or Qamariyah in pronunciation, simply because we are dealing with the written form of the language, not the spoken one. Using the Shamsiyah so many forms in writing is inaccurate and confusing to non-Arabic readers, to say the least.

Only standard (fasih) pronunciation of Arabic names should be used. Non-standard ('ammi) should be avoided avoided. Example: Names like Abu Sunainah, Abu Rudainah, and Abu Shebak are written by some translators in the non-standard forms of Abu Snainah, Abu Rdainah, and Abu Shbak.

The standard pronunciation of the vowel at the end of names is (a), not (e), particularly if it is followed by (h), like in the cases of Haniyah and Rudainah, not Haniyeh and Rudaineh.

The standard pronunciation of vowels in the following names is (ai), not (ei) as written by some translators: Hussain, not Hussein and Hassanain, not Hassanein. This is the same long vowel pronounced in the English words "rain" and "brain."

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