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Mahmoud ("Abu Mazen") Abbas


Self Description

Third-Party Descriptions

November 2012: 'President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority, speaking to the assembly’s member nations, said, “The General Assembly is called upon today to issue a birth certificate of the reality of the state of Palestine,” and he condemned what he called Israeli racism and colonialism. His remarks seemed aimed in part at Israel and in part at Hamas. But both quickly attacked him for the parts they found offensive.'

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/30/world/middleeast/Palestinian-Authority-United-Nations-Israel.html

June 2008: "Perhaps greatest of all is the cost for any hope of a peaceful settlement: the barriers and checkpoints have undermined Palestinian moderates like President Mahmoud Abbas and have empowered Hamas. Polls show that two-thirds of Palestinians now approve of terror attacks against civilians in Israel, up from 40 percent in 2005."

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/22/opinion/22kristof.html

February 2008: "Jerusalem is the main reason we hear Olmert and Abbas talking about an agreement of principles rather than an agreement. This is the question on which no weak leader—and both are weak politically—can compromise. Olmert is under constant threat that Shas, the right-wing religious party, will leave the ruling coalition if Jerusalem is so much as discussed in the peace negotiations. Abbas, like every Arab leader, is under the more severe threat that he will become a target of violence by Muslim radicals if he decides to make compromises and accept an offer similar to the one Arafat rejected."

http://www.slate.com/id/2185355/

June 2006: The militant faction Hamas announced its intent on Sunday to block a July 26 referendum called for by Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian leader, after failing to reach an agreement in talks with him....The vote would decide whether to support a Palestinian state within the pre-1967 boundaries, presumably existing alongside Israel — whose right to exist Hamas has refused to recognize.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/12/world/middleeast/12mideast.html

May 2006: Marc Otte, the E.U. envoy to the Quartet, said in an interview that the E.U. does not envision paying salaries directly. But he said money would channeled through an intermediary, perhaps the office of President Mahmoud Abbas, who supports peace talks with Israel. A steering committee of donors would direct the intermediary to use the money in specific areas, such as health care or essential commodities, and then the intermediary would be free to decide exactly how to allocate that money in those categories, including paying salaries.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/09/AR2006050900905.html
August 2003: Palestinan leader. http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,1013115,00.html

Relationships

RoleNameTypeLast Updated
Cooperation (past or present) Opponent (past or present) Hamas Organization Jun 12, 2006
Organization Head/Leader (past or present) Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Organization Aug 21, 2006

Articles and Resources

Date Fairness.com Resource Read it at:
Nov 29, 2012 U.N. Assembly, in Blow to U.S., Elevates Status of Palestine

QUOTE: More than 130 countries voted on Thursday to upgrade Palestine to a nonmember observer state of the United Nations....The new status will give the Palestinians more tools to challenge Israel in international legal forums for its occupation activities in the West Bank, including settlement-building...

 New York Times
Jul 15, 2009 Why Palestinian leaders have banned Al Jazeera

QUOTE: The Palestinian Authority (PA) on Wednesday banned Al Jazeera television from operating in its territory and threatened to take legal action against the Qatar-based Arabic satellite channel because of allegations it made against President Mahmoud Abbas.

 Christian Science Monitor
Dec 20, 2008 Truce in Gaza Ends, but May Be Revived by Necessity

QUOTE: Israel and Hamas accuse each other of bad faith and of violations of the Egyptian-mediated accord, and each side has a point. Rockets from Gaza never stopped entirely during the truce, and Israel never allowed a major renewed flow of goods into Gaza, crippling its economy. This is at least partly because the agreement had no mutually agreed text or enforcement mechanism; neither side wanted to grant the legitimacy to the other that such a document would imply.

 New York Times
Jun 22, 2008 The Two Israels

QUOTE: In short, there are many Israels. When American presidential candidates compete this year to be “pro-Israeli,” let’s hope that they clarify that the one they support is not the oppressor that lets settlers steal land and club women but the one that is a paragon of justice, decency, fairness — and peace.

 New York Times
May 03, 2008 Palestinians Seek Support on Borders

QUOTE: increasingly bleak assessments by Palestinian officials about the progress being made in peace negotiations with Israel, including over borders....The letter [from Ariel Sharon to Pres. Bush--Ed.] stated that “in light of new realities on the ground, including already existing major Israeli population centers, it is unrealistic to expect that the outcome of final status negotiations will be a full and complete return to the armistice lines of 1949,” referring to the boundary that existed until the 1967 war.

 New York Times
May 03, 2008 Israel’s Tactics Thwart Attacks, With Trade-Off

QUOTE: the very steps they are taking to thwart bombers appear to collide head-on with the government’s agenda of achieving peace with the Palestinians. It is a classic military-political dilemma.

 New York Times
Apr 21, 2008 Hamas: No plan to recognize Israel

QUOTE: Carter's series of meetings with top Hamas officials this past week have drawn condemnation from the U.S. and Israeli governments for engaging in diplomacy with a group they consider a terrorist organization.

 CNN (Cable News Network)
Feb 28, 2008 Whose Jerusalem Is It, Anyway? Should diaspora Jews have a say in the political negotiations about Jerusalem?

QUOTE: The more extreme advocates for diaspora input say [Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert] does not have the right to compromise on Jerusalem without broader Jewish consent. More moderate voices concede that the final decision will be taken by Israel, but they demand to be consulted, whatever that means.

 Slate
Aug 08, 2007 Restrictions on Palestinians Decried

QUOTE: An Israeli human rights group charged Tuesday that Israel has used concrete barricades, fences, checkpoints and other measures to impose restrictions on Palestinian movement in the West Bank that are "unprecedented in scope and duration."

 Washington Post
Jun 12, 2006 Hamas Vows to Block Vote on Proposed State

QUOTE: The militant faction Hamas announced its intent on Sunday to block a July 26 referendum called for by Mahmoud Abbas....The vote would decide whether to support a Palestinian state within the pre-1967 boundaries, presumably existing alongside Israel — whose right to exist Hamas has refused to recognize.

 New York Times
May 10, 2006 Plan Would Provide Aid to Palestinians: Direct Pipeline Suggested to Avoid Hamas

QUOTE: With the Palestinian economy collapsing, the United States yesterday tentatively agreed to consider supporting a vague international plan that would temporarily provide direct aid to critical areas but bypass the Hamas-led government.

 Washington Post
Jan 22, 2006 U.S. Funds Enter Fray In Palestinian Elections: Bush Administration Uses USAID as Invisible Conduit

QUOTE: The Bush administration is spending foreign aid money to increase the popularity of the Palestinian Authority on the eve of crucial elections in which the governing party faces a serious challenge from the radical Islamic group Hamas. The approximately $2 million program is being led by a division of the U.S. Agency for International Development.

 Washington Post
Jan 04, 2006 Palestinians Kick Off Campaign Amid Signs of 2nd Postponement

QUOTE: The leading Palestinian political parties kicked off campaigns for parliament on Tuesday, but there was a growing possibility that balloting would be postponed as two prominent candidates had confrontations with Israeli authorities in East Jerusalem, where Israel has prohibited election activities.

 Washington Post
Nov 26, 2005 Israelis Hand Off Gaza Crossing: Palestinians Take Control of Rafah

QUOTE: Palestinians celebrated a step toward independence from Israel on Friday with a jubilant ceremony opening the Rafah border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, their first self-governed passage to the outside world. The event marked a milestone in the long Palestinian-Israeli conflict by giving a Palestinian government control over an international border crossing for the first time.

 Washington Post
Nov 11, 2004 Mystery Lingers: Whereabouts of His Hidden Fortune

QUOTE: As Yasir Arafat lay dying in Paris, the battle over his legacy involved an unstated but widely acknowledged concern: He personally controlled several billion dollars, and no one else knew where it all was.

 New York Times
Aug 06, 2003 Israel's fence draws threat of US sanctions

QUOTE: "Where the president has a problem is when the fence is no longer just on your land but because of the way it's being designed or built, it starts to infringe and take over Palestinian land,"...

 Guardian Unlimited