Palestinian Authority

Palestinian leaders are embarking on a risky statehood strategy that will seek to isolate Israel's hawkish government in the international community and rely less on U.S. backing, a move that reflects growing disappointment here with the Obama administration. The campaign will include U.N. resolutions such as one proposed last month on Israeli settlement building, boycotts against Israeli products, complaints in international courts and attempts to win formal recognition from as many countries as possible, Palestinian officials say. They hope the effort will culminate this September in an internationally backed proposal for membership in the United Nations or a resolution recognizing a Palestinian state, even if it means invoking an obscure rule to circumvent the threat of a U.S. veto at the U.N. Security Council.

Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said Monday he wants to include leaders of the rival Hamas movement in his next government as part of an effort to end the nearly 4-year-old fracture in Palestinian leadership. Though details have not been worked out and Fayyad does not appear to have formally unveiled the initiative to Hamas officials in the Gaza Strip, the prime minister said his plan would permit Hamas to retain security control of the seaside enclave while receiving certain posts in a reformed Cabinet.

In a second shakeup in three days, Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said Monday that he would disband his Cabinet and form a new one within three weeks. The announcement came as a surprise because the Palestine Liberation Organization, which created the authority, announced Saturday that it would hold long-delayed presidential and legislative elections by September, potentially replacing the government. Palestinian officials presented the Cabinet reshuffling as a move to address growing calls for democratic reform, which elsewhere in the Arab world have led to leaders being ousted in Egypt and Tunisia.

It's been a first for many Palestinians. Usually they are the ones fighting on the streets, throwing rocks and choking on tear gas as the rest of the Arab world watches from afar. But now they find themselves transfixed by television images of Arab brethren in Egypt, Jordan and Yemen demanding their rights. The role reversal has left many Palestinians with a sense of solidarity, unease over how events will affect their own bid for statehood and perhaps a little feeling of vindication.

For the mainstream Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and its archrival the Islamist Hamas, which has ruled the Gaza Strip since June 2007, the turmoil in Egypt is a source of concern. In the West Bank, the pro-West Palestinian Authority refused to give permission for Palestinians wishing to hold protests in support of the Egyptian uprising. In Gaza, Hamas authorities broke up with force a sit-in by few people attempting to show solidarity with Egyptians calling for President Hosni Mubarak to step down.

Somebody up there must really hate the Arab-Israeli peace process. Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse, that the odds against serious negotiations couldn't get any longer and the hope for a two-state solution couldn't be more forlorn, we now have the Palestinian version of WikiLeaks. The documents obtained and released this week by Al Jazeera ? assuming their authenticity ? don't mean the end of the peace process (that never ends). But the revelations are deeply embarrassing to the Palestinian Authority and will put a chill on pragmatism and creativity for a while.

A peacemaker? Re "Palestinian leader an enigma to all," Jan. 21 As Israeli President Shimon Peres said, Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad might be ? referring to Israel's founding father ? his people's "first Ben-Gurionist. " Just as President Obama received a Nobel Peace Prize to stimulate future accomplishments, the Norwegian Nobel Committee should consider doing the same for Fayyad and other key peacemakers. That was tried before, and the time is right to try it again.

Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad acknowledged that significant obstacles lay ahead on the road to statehood, but insisted his government will be ready by this summer. Fayyad spoke to the Los Angeles Times about what work still needs to be done, whether he'd like to be Palestinian Authority president one day and why he continues to "confound" Israelis. With U.S. peace talks collapsed, is it time for Palestinians to shift strategies? Should your state-building program, targeted for completion in August, become the primary focus?

Israeli soldiers seeking to arrest a Hamas militant in the southern West Bank city of Hebron early Friday mistakenly shot and killed a 65-year-old Palestinian man, prompting charges that the troops used excessive force. Units of the Israeli army simultaneously raided several homes in Hebron to arrest five members of Hamas, an Islamic movement opposed to Israel. The Palestinian Authority had released the men from its own prison only the day before on order of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

The recent groundbreaking for a new Palestinian Authority presidential headquarters here in Ramallah underscored an unprecedented building and investment boom in the West Bank city. Land prices have tripled. International hotel chains are arriving. And master-planned housing projects are underway around town to accommodate a fast-rising population. But not everyone is thrilled with Ramallah's growth. Some worry the city is becoming the Palestinians' de facto capital, overshadowing East Jerusalem, which most Palestinians hope to one day make the center of a new Palestinian state.