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BBC Monitoring Headlines, Quotes From Palestinian Press 23 Mar 06

Posted on: Thursday, 23 March 2006, 06:00 CST

The following is a selection of headlines and quotes taken from the Palestinian press published on 23 Mar:

Headlines

Al-Quds: Executive Committee urges Hamas to amend its political programme - President Mahmud Abbas said: "No one can reject or accept the PLO because the PA was created by it.. There won't be any constitutional crisis and everyone feels the responsibility ... [Hamas Politburo Chief Khalid] Mish'al !Israel cannot conjoin peace and occupation, I told Arab leaders we need 1.75b dollars annually to run our affairs - He said: "Arab promises for aid will be translated into numbers during Arab summit in Khartoum"... Islamic Jihad denies receiving money from Iran to stage bombing attacks - It stressed that it supports Hamas's political programme.

Al-Hayat al-Jadidah: Israeli test results show presence of avian flu in Gaza but there are no cases of human sicknesses - The virus that was discovered is of the lethal strain.. Israeli and Palestinian officials met to coordinate efforts. It was agreed that Israel will present emergency aid to Palestinians to eradicate the disease ... Petrol Council denies there is gas crisis in Gaza - It said that gas it provides is still flowing to markets uninterrupted.

Al-Hayat al-Jadidah: Hamas turns down Executive Committee's request to amend its government's programme and president allows presenting it to Legislative Council to get its confidence next Monday [27 March] - Executive Committee doesn't want to undermine Hamas government and doesn't want to be accused of this. So it didn't announce its rejection of Hamas government line-up ... PFLP will give its confidence to Hamas government - Palestinian Front for the Liberation of Palestine announced that it will support the government in parliament despite presence of discord over number of points in government's programme ... Gaza: One citizen killed and three injured during clashes with police - Clash erupted when masked gunmen entered school to force students out on anniversary of [Hamas founder] Shaykh Yasin's assassination

Quotes

Al-Quds: [From editorial] "The current political scene in Israel might look to the Israelis as an elections campaign that is becoming more intense with the approaching elections day in five days. However, for the Palestinians this is a military/political auction whose items are national Palestinian rights and the constraining of the Palestinians\Ever since the elections day was set before [Israeli Prime Minister Ariel] Sharon fell sick, the best way for the ruling party [Kadima] to elevate its public support is the launching of raids and incursion, artillery shelling and using guided missiles to eliminate Palestinian activists and citizens passing by. Palestinian blood has become the fuel for the Israeli elections campaign."

[From commentary by Naji Sharab] "Israel is rushing to shape the Palestinian state in a manner that won't contradict its vision of its role in this Arab surrounding. Unilateral steps are its way to achieve this objective based on the allegation that there is no Palestinian partner and using Hamas's victory as an excuse. It is accelerating the drawing of the new borders so that only 10-12 per cent of [historical] Palestine will remain [for the Palestinians]."

Al-Hayat al-Jadidah: [From commentary by Ahmad Dahbur] "The battle of Karamah [that took place in Jordan in 1968 between Palestinian PLO fighters and Israeli forces] says on its anniversary that its heroes were only able, six years after it, to consecrate the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people before the Arabs and then the whole world. However, dear comrades and brothers are stingy these days in frankly recognizing the PLO's role. Does history progress forwards or backwards?"

Al-Ayyam: [From commentary by Abdallah Awwad] "If there were failed attempts to progress from the reception [of international aid] to initiative, Hamas's political programme has come to close the doors on these attempts. The US-Israeli - and to an extent the international - escalation has put the Palestinians in a state of impossible defence when everyone [of us] is busy with the grandeur of power. So what will happen?... The Palestinians could become a begging people living on what others give it, while Israel will go ahead with its project to turn the West Bank into a Jewish [entity] and separate it from Gaza that will turn into a ghetto attached to Egypt!"

[From commentary by Muhammad Yaghi] "Does the PLO remain the sole representative of the Palestinian people after all the mistakes? Yes, it does because this is a Palestinian interest. Without the PLO, the Palestinian cause will be transferred to the Arab states so they could speak for us. However, this doesn't contradict the need to rebuild the PLO on real democratic foundations. Its objection to the Hamas government is not institutional and doesn't nullify our right to know who the members of the Executive Committee are."

[From commentary by Jawad al-Bashiti] "We don't deny Hamas its right to transcend its political programme over the PLO's. However, it should do this by dominating the PLO and not via its domination over the Legislative Council and the government. This legitimate domination should start with its recognition of the PLO as the sole representative of the Palestinian people."

Sources: as listed

Source: BBC Monitoring Newsfile

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