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Thursday, July 28, 2005 Palestinian Terms for Peace The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct 'Palestinian people' to oppose Zionism. -- PLO executive committee member Zahir Muhsein, March 31, 1977 Let us, for the sake...

Backing seen weakening for Abbas By Charles A. Radin and Sa'id Ghazali, Globe Staff and Globe Correspondent | April 5, 2005 RAMALLAH, West Bank -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who is being hailed internationally for his peacemaking efforts with Israel, is failing on virtually every important domestic front and is rapidly losing support in the territory he governs, Palestinian and Israeli officials, activists, and analysts say. Violence has surged in the West Bank. Firing by Al Aqsa Brigades gunmen at Abbas' own headquarters last week was just the most widely publicized of numerous recent incidents in which militants disrupted public...

Declaring Yasser Arafat unable to do the job, Secretary of State Colin Powell urged the Palestinian Authority to empower Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei to take charge in Gaza when Israel withdraws. Qurei must be seen "as somebody who has authority to act in the name of the Palestinian people" and can work with Israel, the United States and Egypt, Powell said Wednesday as he recommitted the Bush administration to a US-backed road map for peacemaking. "It is the only way forward," Powell said at a news conference. He said the United Nations, the European Union and Russia, which joined with...

Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei on Tuesday once again submitted his resignation to President Yasser Arafat after the two had harsh exchanges of words. The London-based Asharq Al Awsat reported Wednesday that Qurei decided to quit over disputes regarding lack of reforms in the Palestinian Authority. Arafat is blamed for repeatedly blocking attempts to reform. The two leaders also clashed on the issue of the next Donor Countries conference, the report added. It was not clear whether Qurei would follow through on his threat to quit. He has made similar threats in the past, and briefly stepped down in July...

Violent protests against corruption and nepotism in Yasser Arafat’s Palestinian Authority, and the threatened resignation of his prime minister, Ahmed Qurei, have forced Mr Arafat to back off from putting a relative in charge of Gaza’s security forces... Arafat is feeling the wrath of his own people, who have become increasingly frustrated at the corruption, nepotism and sheer uselessness of his crumbling regime.... Arafat has for months been resisting pressure from America, Egypt, the United Nations and other powers to merge and revamp the PA’s 12 overlapping, ineffectual and mutually hostile security forces, and to put them under the...

Secretary Colin L. Powell Queen Alia International Airport Amman, Jordan May 15, 2004 www.state.gov/secretary/rm/32500.htm PRIME MINISTER QUREI: We are very pleased to talk to Secretary Powell. We discussed about the situation, about the peace process, how to revive the peace process forward. And I think we had very, very constructive talks this afternoon and I believe that it will reflect itself on the situation on the ground, hopefully very soon. And therefore we are very pleased and we welcome Mr. Powell again. SECRETARY POWELL: Thank you very much Mr. Prime Minister. It was good to be with you again, and...

US Secretary of State Colin Powel is to meet PA prime minister Ahmed Qurei Saturday in Amman, according to the Washington Post. -- snip -- Speaking to a Dansih television channel, Powell reiterated President Bush's support for the Road Map peace plan and said that Israel must be forced to act in accordance with it. Powell added that he would stress upon Qurei that the US expects the PA to implement reforms and begin fighting terror. -- snip --

A Palestinian parliamentary committee is investigating whether a cement company owned by Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei's family has been selling concrete to Jewish settlements in the West Bank, Palestinian officials said Tuesday. Channel 10 TV also reported that the Al-Quds Cement Company - owned by Qurei's family - has been providing the materials to help build a contentious West Bank barrier, allegations Palestinian officials denied. The TV report said Qurei was providing the cement to build the concrete slabs right outside his house in Abu Dis, a town near Jerusalem divided by an 8-meter wall. The Palestinian premier was on...

Dec. 8, 2003 Olmert: Palestinians not ripe for negotiations By JPOST.COM STAFF Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told reporters Monday that the present Palestinian government is not ripe for negotiations. Olmert told Army Radio that the days of Qurei's government may be numbered because of the Cairo failure. The presentation of a full ceasefire was a critical condition for Israel. Speaking after a Likud faction meeting dealing with the stamping of EU-bound Israeli products, Olmert said, "We are approaching the moment of truth, and it is evident that the new Palestinian government is not seriously capable of making the decissions...

Nov. 26, 2003 40 MKs protest Qurei's visit to Ze'evi's assassins By JPOST.COM STAFF Former Tourism Minister Rehavam Ze'evi Photo: Archive Forty MKs (members of Knesset) from ruling coalition factions have signed a petition calling on Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Minister of Defense Shaul Mofaz to deal with the murderers of former Tourism Minister Rehavam Ze'evi as they would "any other ticking bombs." Ze'evi, known by the nickname of Gandhi, was shot dead by Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine gunmen on October 17, 2001, at Jerusalem's Hyatt Hotel. The petition, initiated by the National Union party, comes...

Palestinian sources report that PA Prime Minister Qurei met Popular Front Chariman Ahmed Sadat in the Jericho Monday evening. The two reportedly discussed the proposed cease fire and other regional developments. Sadat is currently serving sentence in a Palestinian jail for his involvement in the murder of MK Rehavam Ze/evi. Meanwhile, Palestinians fired at IDF forces east of Jenin. Earlier, an IDF post near Netzer Hazani in the Gaza Strip was fired upon. No casualties or damage were reported in either incident.

Nov. 19, 2003 PA setting up road blocks to find tunnel road shooter By LAMIA LAHOUD PA police set up check-points in Bethlehem on Wednesday to look for the Palestinian who carried out Tuesday's shooting attack in the city in which two soldiers were killed, a source close to PA Chairman Yasser Arafat said. He added that this was a result of the decision by the PA's security council to implement law and order. He did not know how and if the PA would punish the shooter if they apprehend him. The source close to Arafat said the Palestinian leader...

Nov. 16, 2003 Qurei: Time to end anarchy By JPOST.COM STAFF Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei announced his intention to make changes in the Palestinian security forces. In his upcoming meeting with Egyptian intelligence chief Gen. Omar Sulieman, the two are scheduled to discuss ways to "end the anarchy that reigns in the territories," he said Sunday at the end of a meeting of the Palestinian National Security Council in Ramallah. Qurei has proposed re-establishing and making personnel changes at the Palestinian security organization, and founding local and municipal councils, trade organizations, and civilian organizations. Following his meeting with Suleiman,...

Nov. 4, 2003 Inner power struggle delays announcement of PA cabinet IMG SRC="http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?ssbinary=true&cachecontrol=*%3A0%2C30%3A10+*%2F*%2F*&blobtable=JPImage&blobcol=urlimage&blobwhere=1067920690476&blobkey=id&blobheader=image/jpeg"> An ongoing power struggle between Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat and Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei on Tuesday spoiled plans to announce a new PA cabinet. Hours before the 30-day mandate of the emergency cabinet was due to expire on Tuesday midnight, Arafat summoned Qurei and asked him to remain at the head of a caretaker cabinet until the two resolve their dispute over the appointment of an interior minister responsible for the PA police and security forces. "Arafat asked Ahmed Qurei to continue his job as the...

Last Update: 03/11/2003 23:14 Sharon: PA leadership that objects to terror will soon arise By Aluf Benn, Haaretz Correspondent, and Haaretz Service Russian President Vladimir Putin greeting Prime Minister Ariel Sharon ahead of their meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow on Monday. (AP) MOSCOW - Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who is on a visit to Russia, said Monday he believes that "very soon a Palestinian leadership that objects to the path of terror, violence and incitement of [PA Chairman] Yasser Arafat will arise, and will be prepared to act with us to honestly implement the road map. When that happens,...

Nov. 3, 2003 Arafat holding up Qurei govt. over interior minister By ASSOCIATED PRESS PA Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei Photo: AP Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei and Yasser Arafat made no apparent progress Monday toward resolving their dispute over the choice of security chief, the main hurdle to forming a new government. Qureia said after a two-hour meeting with the veteran Palestinian leader that the issue is "still under study." Qurei's formal deadline for forming a Cabinet is midnight Tuesday, though an Arafat aide later said he could ask for more time. Renewed political wrangling over the composition of the...

Oct. 30, 2003 Sharon: We are holding talks with low-level PA officials By JPOST.COM STAFF Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Thursday night that Israel was holding talks with Palestinian officials that are not on the political level of Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei. "We are in contact with Palestinians, however not of the level of prime ministers," Sharon said. "The reason we don't have prime ministerial level contacts stems from the fact that Palestinians have requested time to allow the designated Palestinian prime minister to establish himself," Sharon said. "We are ready to enter negotiations at any time," the prime minister...

<p>Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei speaks this month outside his office in Ramallah, West Bank.</p> <p>RAMALLAH, West Bank (CNN) -- Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei said Wednesday that Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups have told him they are willing to discuss a new cease-fire with Israel.</p>

Oct. 28, 2003 Hamas accepts Qurei invitation to ceasefire meeting By LAMIA LAHOUD Palestinian official said Tuesday that Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei asked Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and other senior officials for a meeting to discuss a ceasefire and said Yassin had accepted the invitation. A Palestinian legislator predicted that not much would come out of these talks, since Hamas was making a ceasefire once again dependent on Israeli promises to end military incursions and targeted killings of Hamas leaders and militants. Israel, he said would not agree to these terms. He said Hamas has agreed to the talks since...

Oct. 13, 2003 Report: US seeking Arafat ouster with 'ill health' as reason By JPOST.COM STAFF The US is hoping for removal of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat by a "non-violent" coup presaged by a report suggesting Arafat is so ill he cannot carry out his duties, according to a report in the Saudi newspaper Al Watan. US officials are already trying to organize a joint Palestinian leadership that would rule until elections are held in the Palestinian Authority, the Saudi paper reported Monday. A translation of the report appeared on the Jordanian website albawaba.com The Saudi daily said recent reports...