Word: palestinians
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Voter sentiment was the same from the crowded cities of the Gaza strip to hillside towns in the West Bank: It's time to teach the ruling Fatah party a lesson. As Palestinians lined up to vote Wednesday in their first legislative elections in ten years, many said that their government needed a shakeup. Fatah, founded by Yasser Arafat and led today by Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas, is widely viewed as corrupt and incompetent. According to polls, around a third of all Palestinian voters now support Hamas, a radical Islamist group committed to destroying Israel but also widely...
...City of Jerusalem, holy to Christians, Jews and Muslims alike, voter turnout Wednesday morning was low. Election observers and Palestinian party officials said that many voters were intimidated by the presence of Israeli security forces, and feared that by voting in Palestinian elections they may be forced to give up the right to live in Jerusalem - an idea Israel says is unfounded. Two hours after the start of polling just 17 people had voted at the small Jaffa Gate post office. The most exciting action came when Israeli settlers and right-wing politicians turned up to protest the fact that...
...Israel, killed hundreds of Israelis in suicide bombings and rocket attacks and is listed as a terrorist group by the U.S. But Hamas has also emerged as a major a political force, positioning itself as the chief rival to Fatah, the party of former president Yasser Arafat and current Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas. In local elections last year, Hamas won control of towns and cities across the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. The group is set to increase its power in parliamentary elections this week, which would make it a crucial player in any future negotiations with Israel...
...towns like al-Bireh, Hamas has built popular support by providing a disciplined alternative to Fatah, which is seen by many Palestinians as corrupt, inefficient and unable to run a garbage collection service, let alone negotiate with Israel. Hamas has long run its own medical clinics, schools and soup kitchens for the poor-mostly in the Gaza Strip, its stronghold. In last year's local elections, Palestinian voters gravitated toward Hamas because of its reputation for having "members with a clean record," as Mayor Hamayel puts it, in a reference to Fatah's many corruption-tainted officials. Residents of towns...
...Israeli officials warn that Hamas' political moves shouldn't be mistaken for moderation. Israeli lawmakers said last week it won't deal with any Palestinian government that includes Hamas in leadership positions until the group disarms. The party has mostly stuck to a year-old self-imposed cease-fire, though an Israeli security official told TIME that rockets fired from Gaza into Israel are still made by Hamas operatives who pass them on to other radical groups. And while most Palestinians say they want peace-a poll cited in a report for the Washington-based U.S. Institute of Peace last...