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Palestine Media Center - PMC [Official arm of the PA] www.palestine-pmc.com/details.asp?cat=1&id=1203 Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmad Qurei said on Wednesday that two top US envoys had "officially asked" him to hold a summit meeting with his Israeli counterpart Ariel Sharon, adding: "We are not opposed to the idea of holding meetings with the Israeli side on condition that they lead to tangible results." Since taking office last October, Qurei has avoided meeting Sharon, accusing him of poor faith in peacemaking. But after talks with US State Department envoys John Wolf and David Satterfield on Wednesday at his offices in the West...

(IsraelNN.com) The PLO representative to the United Nations has renewed efforts to have Israel ousted from the International body. Hoping to capitalize on the anti-Israel momentum following the recent General Assembly decision to have the partition fence matter brought before the International Court in The Hague, the PLO is now seeking to have Israel’s credentials revoked as it has attempted in the past. The PLO maintains that Israel does not have a legal right to represent Yesha (Judea, Samaria & Gaza) areas, only inside pre-1967 Israel and is hoping to enlist enough support to have Israel’s credentials revoked based on...

(IsraelNN.com) Adel al-Jubeir, an advisor to Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah, defended his country's policy of giving money to families of suicide bombers. "We give money to families in need... Are some of those families, families who have had a suicide bomber? Yes. But do we give the money because their son or daughter was a suicide bomber? No. Is that money an incentive for them to commit acts of terrorism? No." Al-Jubeir condemned terrorism, but refused to condemn the terrorist organization Hamas.

I think I’m getting mellower. I used to think that there were only two kinds of people in the world: Jews and anti-Semites. For too long, I overlooked the "good Christians" from the religious right, who truly love Israel. As long as they´re not trying to convert the Jews, I am grateful for their love and concern. We need their support and aid in fighting the ‘cause of the Lord’. Now, I have broadened my assessment. I believe that we just don’t get it. I think that the rest of the word is just so damn naive that for the...

Abdallah el-Ashaal, Assistant to the Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs, wrote an article that appeared last week in Egypt’s al-Ahram Weekly, in which he decries “Washington's obvious determination to attack other Arab nations, beginning with Syria, in fulfillment of Israeli designs....” Such joint “designs”, the Egyptian government representative says, “should be an added impetus to rebuilding an Arab order based on collective security....” To this end, el-Ashaal says, charges that Syria is aiding Iraqi fugitives, PLO-affiliated terrorists, and the Hizbullah is “a source of pride rather than an embarrassment.... [Such accusations...] only increase its standing in the Arab world, where...

The Palestinian Authority has not tried to stop Hamas from carrying out attacks, including suicide bombings, the group's spiritual leader said on Friday. Sheikh Ahmed Yassin said the PA did not actually help the group carry out suicide bombings, but gave tacit approval by doing nothing to stop the attacks. When asked what assistance the PA gave Hamas, Yassin said: "They turn a blind eye or turn their back." Yassin made his comments as representatives of 12 Palestinian factions, including Hamas, began talks in Cairo on an Egyptian plan for a one-year cease-fire. Hamas sent Khaled Mashaal, the head of...

Many senior PA officials have decided that their own children's future looks brighter outside the "homeland." Itim News Agency reports that many PA leaders send their children to study abroad, and even arrange places of work for them in large companies. Hassan Asfour, for instance, sent his two daughters to Alexandria University in Egypt today. Saeb Erekat's two daughters will study next year in Amman, and Hanan Ashrawi's daughters have been studying for a number of years in the United States. Yasser Abed Rabbo's sons study in Paris, and Toufik Tirawi's son will begin work next year in a...

The Palestinian Authority has decided to commemorate the memory of Abdel Baset Odeh, the Hamas terrorist who carried out the suicide bombing in a Netanya hotel last Passover Eve, by naming a soccer tournament after his name. Thirty people were killed and dozens injured in the attack, which triggered Operation Defensive Shield. The Palestinian Authority’s ministries of sports and education have been naming tournaments after the names of Palestinian "martyrs" for some years now. But the decision to honor Odeh has surprised many Palestinians because of his affiliation with Hamas. Seven school teams are participating in the tournament, which is...