Word: palestinians
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...earthquake shook Israelis just as hard as it did Palestinians. Coming so soon after Prime Minister Ariel Sharon slipped into a coma and in the middle of Israel's own election campaign, the Hamas victory "has people sweating," a senior Israeli security official told TIME. "We had a plan for every eventuality in the Middle East except for this one." Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said he would not negotiate with a Palestinian government "if even part of it is an armed terrorist organization calling for Israel's destruction." The leader of the right-wing Likud Party, Benjamin Netanyahu...
...many Hamas officials, however, dealing with Israel isn't so critical as focusing on domestic issues like fighting graft and getting a grip on the many Palestinian security organizations. "The international community wants to know what Hamas thinks about Israel and the U.S., but Hamas wants to work to its own timetable," says Abdul Sattar Kasim, a political scientist at An-Najah National University in Nablus. "They want to build a new Palestinian society. They're not going to talk about the road map. They're going to talk about the rights of Palestinian refugees. They're not going...
...will use an iron fist against those who misuse their weapons." The situation is even more volatile because Fatah members blame Abbas for the party's poor election showing. Thousands of angry Fatah supporters demonstrated late last week to call for his resignation, and Fatah gunmen stormed the Palestinian parliament. Isolated and weak, the President could probably do little to stop internecine violence if it broke out. "He's trying to pretend he can walk on water," says an aide to Abbas. "But he has problems everywhere he looks...
...thorniest problem may be Hamas' legacy as a terrorist organization. Israeli officials estimate that Hamas has been responsible for scores of suicide bombings that have killed hundreds of people. That complicates how Israel and the West may interact with a new Palestinian government. Under the Oslo accords, Israel has sent regular payments to the Palestinian Authority for the taxes and customs it collects on Palestinian goods. That money, as much as $50 million a month, helps pay Palestinian teachers, nurses and other government workers. But under Israeli law, it's illegal to give money to a terrorist organization. Once...
...similarly, could face legal problems if it continues to give money to the Palestinian Authority. U.S. laws bar giving aid to supporters of terrorism. Even if Hamas were to renounce terrorism, it could take months, if not years, to meet the laws' requirements that it show it has truly changed its ways. In the short term, the flow of U.S. humanitarian aid to Palestinians will probably be disrupted. "We're going to have to review all aspects of our aid program," says Sean McCormack, spokesman for Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice...