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del.icio.us Digg It!  new Fatah's Hamas alternative By Avi Issacharoff When U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrives, Israel will surely boast of the steps it has taken to strengthen Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. But in fact, Israel seems to have adopted an "ostrich" policy on this issue, to quote Public Security Minister Avi Dichter. As one of its "gestures," for instance, Israel allowed 300 Palestinian policemen into Nablus on Friday. But the terms of the deal have aroused ridicule among Nablus residents and are liable to make Abbas a laughingstock among his own people. Advertisement It turns out that the PA police will be allowed to operate only from 6 A.M. to midnight. During the remaining hours, the Israel Defense Forces will be able to continue conducting arrests at will. So not only will any firefight during these hours cause residents to complain that the occupation of the city continues, but they will be able to charge that it is continuing with the PA's consent - which will weaken Abbas and strengthen Hamas. Moreover, while Defense Minister Ehud Barak recently told Rice that Israel had removed 24 West Bank roadblocks, figures released by the United Nations show that there are currently 561 roadblocks in the West Bank. True, 80 have been removed since April, but 115 have been added. And had Abbas been pinning his hopes on the diplomatic negotiations with Israel, these too are stuck. That is clear from the mutual recriminations leaked to the media over the weekend by aides to both Ahmed Qureia and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, who head the Palestinian and Israeli negotiating teams. On Friday, Israeli sources told Haaretz that Qureia is taking a much harder line than Abbas did in his earlier talks with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, thereby torpedoing all the Olmert-Abbas understandings. Yesterday, Palestinian sources told Al-Ayyam that Livni is taking a much harder line than Olmert did, so she is torpedoing the Olmert-Abbas understandings. Palestinian sources said they do not think that even Rice's visit can save the talks, as thus far there has been no agreement on so much as a single point. And discussion of the core issues has not even begun, they added. Abbas, aware of the situation, has begun preparing for "the day after" the Annapolis summit's failure. On Friday, he met with senior Hamas officials in the West Bank for a joint prayer session. He thereby informed Israel that he has an alternative to talking with it, kept a line open to Hamas, and perhaps most importantly, demonstrated that Hamas itself is split: While the movement's radicals are calling for a violent takeover of the West Bank, its senior leaders prefer an agreement with Abbas. Bookmark to del.icio.us Academic freedom The High Court has challenged strict IDF criteria for the entry of Palestinian students. Rapping rabbi British Jewish rapper MC Rebbe is a finalist in the world's largest blog competition.

Today Online Court challenges criteria for Palestinian student entry to Israel Responses: 115 Turkey seeks right to build monument in Jerusalem's Old City Responses: 142 IAF strikes kill four Palestinians after Qassams hit Negev Responses: 236 Leftists scuffle with supporters of Rabin's assassin outside jail Responses: 118 Olmert: Core issues are on the agenda for Annapolis summit Responses: 202 More Headlines 23:51 Olmert: Core issues are on the Annapolis agenda 20:12 Three East J'lem men arrested for planning attacks in Israel 18:47 IDF strikes kill 4 Gazans as Qassam volleys hit Negev 01:37 Beitar J'lem soccer fans boo Rabin before draw with Maccabi Haifa 20:49 Gov't okays payments for overlooked Holocaust survivors 17:51 Protesters scuffle with supporters of Rabin's assassin outside jail 20:39 Palestinian factions DFLP, PFLP attempt to mediate between Hamas, Fatah 19:35 'Rapping rabbi' makes finals in world's largest blog competition 19:11 PA awards former Mideast envoys Wolfensohn, Hansen prize for excellence 16:57 Egypt unveils King Tut's mummy to the public for the first time Previous Editions Select Day 04 nov 02 nov 01 nov 31 oct 30 oct 29 oct 28 oct 26 oct 25 oct 24 oct 23 oct 22 oct

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