Palestinians mark Yasser Arafat's death anniversary

More on Ummid: International l National l Regional l Politics l Sports l Religion l History l Culture l Education




Aligarh Muslim University signs MoU with INHolland University
Cyclonic storm to hit North Maharashtra, Gujarat
National Education Day to be celebrated on Nov 11
HWF felicitates Muslim students from UP for Academic Excellence
Raj Babbar wins Ferozabad parliamentary seat
Hit by global economic crunch, Muslims seek economic unity
Raj-Azmi rivalry goes a long way
Germany celebrates fall of Berlin Wall

	Maulana Azad: The Great Son of India: In the galaxy of the patriots of India's freedom struggle, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad.... Read Full Maulana Azad's efforts in shaping the Education policy in Independent India Maulana Azad as Freedom Fighter
Violent Aligarh protests kill Sir Syed’s mission: When Sir Syed stood up as a harbinger of Muslim Renaissance by contributing his efforts in the ... Read Full Hit by global economic crunch, Muslims seek economic unity


No bar on Haj over swine flu fears: The Kingdom will not bar anyone considered a high risk for swine flu from performing the Haj this year, said Minister of Health Abdullah Al-Rabeeah. Al-Rabeeah ... Read Full	Raj-Azmi rivalry goes a long way: It is not the first time that Raj Thackeray and Samajwadi Party leader Abu Asim Azmi, who was assaulted by Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) .... Read Full
Germany celebrates fall of Berlin Wall: Celebrations marking the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall have got under way in Germany with a prayer service at a former.... Read Full	Drama at Deoband: Last week, tens of thousands of men—this was a strictly all-male gathering—descended on the town of Deoband in Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur district to attend the 30th annual convention .... Read Full

More on ummid
Interest, Inflation and Money Value: The approach of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to use ‘interest rate’ as tool to keep inflation under control should be reviewed because interest has not only helped regulating liquidity, but has considerably accumulated Time ... Read Full	First Muslim lady in the cabinet as new Govt. takes shape in Maharashtra: The new government in Maharashtra headed by Ashok Chavan as Chief Minister has Fauzia Khan, a Muslim lady..... Read Full
Thanks to Bihar Govt., AMU Centre "lands' in row: While the process of land acquisition for four other centers of Aligarh Muslim University has set in motion, in Bihar the whole exercise has got mired in controversy. And the credit for giving birth to this .... Read Full	Sarfaraz does a Tendulkar, wants to fulfill father's dream: Two decades ago Sachin Tendulkar used the Mumbai schools tournament to announce he was good enough to play for India, and now 12-year-old Sarfaraz ..... Read Full


The Man Bent on Exposing the Truth: Son of a Mughal descendent, Shamsuddin Agha in 1962 was teaching English language and Calssical Persian at VS Patel College in...Read Full	A Ten Year Plan For the Total Education of Indian Muslims: Urging the audience that instead of depending on the government or anyone, they should effectively utilize whatever resources they have, Kapdi said, “We are... Read Full
All Hardship for A Durable Peace: Nothing is more important today than a better coordination among the South Asian countries and a durable peace between India and Pakistan. There are many people who are working overnights....Read Full	Sonia, Azad, Chavan admit there exists Pain in Malegaon: After the bureaucracy, on June 30, it was the turn of the top political leaderships, of the country as well as of the state, to acknowledge, the trauma people of Malegaon ....Read Full

Wednesday, November 11, 2009 05:37:19 PM, Al Jazeera

Yasser Arafat

West Bank: Thousands of Palestinians are marking five years since the death of Yasser Arafat, their iconic leader who pushed the struggle for an independent homeland onto the world stage.

Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, was due to address a rally in the West Bank on Wednesday where Palestinians remain divided, pondering Abbas's refusal to stand in forthcoming elections.

Abbas said last week he would not seek re-election because of stalled peace efforts that have failed to bring about an independent Palestinian state.

A crowd waving Palestinian flags and banners of Abbas's political party, Fatah, gathered in the West Bank's political capital of Ramallah to honour Arafat, who led Palestinians for nearly four decades, embracing armed struggle at first and then switching to peace negotiations.

Abbas was to address the crowd amid grim predictions by his aides that he may resign as president.

That would perhaps lead to the collapse of the Palestinian Authority, which was established by Arafat during the Oslo peace process in the 1990s.

'Moment of truth'

Saeb Erakat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, told the AFP news agency: "The moment of truth has come and we have to be frank with the Palestinian people that we have not been able to reach a two-state solution through 18 years of negotiation."

Referring to the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, which Israel captured in the Six Day War, he said: "We have become convinced that Israel doesn't want a Palestinian state on lands it occupied in 1967."

If Abbas were to resign, that would throw the divided Palestinians into new legal and political limbo, analysts say.

According to Palestinian Basic Law, Abbas's resignation has to be approved by two-thirds of the Palestinian parliament in order to become effective.

But the chamber has not convened since 2006 and it is unclear whether it would do so if he quits.

If the resignation is approved, Aziz Dweik, the speaker of parliament of Fatah rival, Hamas, would assume the presidency until new elections are held within 60 days.

Abbas called for elections to be held in January but Hamas, which has urged Palestinians to reject his leadership, called on voters to stage a boycott.

Home | Top of the Page

Comment on this article

Name:
E-mail Address:
Write here...

Ummid Business: Advertise with us | Careers | Link Exchange

Ummid.com is part of Awaz Multimedia & Publications providing World News, News Analysis and Feature Articles on Education, Health. Politics, Technology, Sports, Entertainment, Industry etc. The articles or the views displayed on this website are for public information and in no way describe the editorial views. The users are entitled to use this site subject to the terms and condition mentioned.