BULLETIN No.62

Let Hamas Sink or Swim on Its Own By Thomas L. Friedman Link to full text in primary source. - Friedman urges the US and Israel not to seek to drive Hamas from power, as recent news reports have claimed. He advocates letting Hamas succeed or fail in bringing good governance and security to Palestinians on its own, as any perception of coercion would only generate greater support for Hamas among Palestinians. In the short term, the US and Israel should expect Hamas to adhere to the cease fire, not announce its recognition of Israel as some have advocated.
Washington Post Palestinians Face Funds Cutoff Israel readies to deprive Palestinian Authority of revenue as Hamas joins government.
Washington Post Don't Punish the Palestinians By Jimmy Carter, Collusion between Israel and the U.S. to undermine the elected Hamas government is likely to incite violence, alienate innocent Palestinians and increase the international esteem of Hamas.
BBC Hamas dismisses Israeli sanctions The newly named Palestinian PM plays down the effects of Israeli financial restrictions and drops in Western aid.
Will Hamas recognise Israel?
Daily Telegraph Sanctions on Hamas Israel held back from imposing an all-out embargo on the incoming Hamas-led Palestinian administration but has announced sanctions that are still likely to cripple the authority.
The Region: Hamas is in for the long run By BARRY RUBIN Palestinian Islamists are ahead of schedule, so they can afford to be patient.
Time How Will Hamas Rule? As the world threatens to cut off aid, Palestinians are bracing for life under a faith-based regime
Editorial Confused on Hamas Though they are pretty sure they disagree with the French, neither the Bush administration nor the Israeli government is clear about many of the other questions Hamas's ascendance has raised.
BBC Forced dealings Hamas is quietly doing business with mutual enemy Israel Israel postpones Hamas decision
Jerusalem Post Fatah-Hamas power struggle looms
Daily Star Israel faces a tough decision that will affect the lives of many in the region
Israel threatens to wage economic war as Hamas takes over
The happiness gap By Rosa Brooks
IT'S BEEN A rough couple of weeks. Hamas won the Palestinian elections; protests over cartoons representing the prophet Muhammad raged around the world; more Americans and Iraqis were killed by suicide bombers; new Abu Ghraib photos were released; and, here at home, the vice president got violent.
WSJ Friends of Hamas Democracy must be respected, but that doesn't make the terror group respectable.
With Hamas Europe Reaps What It Sowed Hamas's victory should not have come as a shock. By CHARLES TANNOCK
Jerusalem Post EXCLUSIVE: Hamas working on 'new charter'
UPI Walker's World: Hamas on the diplomatic offensive
Ha’aretz – Rice warns Iran not to finance Hamas-led PA
Hamas politburo chief says group is misunderstood by West
What does the Hamas victory mean for nearby Jordan? By Omar Karmi
A Lesson From Hamas: Read the Voting Law's Fine Print Sometimes the framers of an election law can wildly miscalculate, allowing one faction to game the system and gain power far out of proportion to its share of the vote.
Milliyet Yasemin CONGAR ABD'nin gözünde Hamas ziyareti
Muqtada al-Sadr on Aljazeera "Ready to attack the Americans if they Attack Iran or Syria" "In a Democratic Iraq, Kurds will not need Own Region"
US to Finance Syrian Opposition
Syria slams US fundingSyria has condemned America for funding opposition groups, just as Condoleezza Rice begins a Middle East tour to push efforts to spread democracy and counter Iran's increasingly aggressive uranium enrichment policy.
Washington Post A Bomb-Builder, 'Out of the Shadows' Syrian Linked to Al Qaeda Plots Describes Plan to Attack Cruise Ship in Turkey
Syria Comment
Syrian Political Attitudes Poll by George Ajjan
SyriaComment.com: Syrian Political Attitudes Poll by George Ajjan
Why Invest in Syria? A Debate between Idaf and Ehsani
Los Angeles Times Who's Winning in Iraq? Iran Because of the war, the Islamic state is at the height of power in the region and bold in its nuclear dreams.
Asia Times Ahmadinejad on the warpath In consolidating his power around a hard core of "second-generation" revolutionaries, Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad has placed himself in opposition to both the conservative clerical establishment and the liberal and reformist camp. Neither of these groups wants Iran to be dragged into a war with the US - unlike Ahmadinejad, who sees conflict as an opportunity. - Mahan Abedin
Michael Ledeen: How does Iran perceive the West?
Iran: Why Return To Revolutionary Values Is Temporary
Al Watan - Bush to attack Iran nuclear targets before 2007?
Editorial Aid to Iran . . . IS IT A SIGN OF increased wisdom -- or is it a sign of increased desperation? If the Bush administration had announced its intention to spend $75 million on promoting democracy, student exchanges and independent media in Iran several years ago, as part of a wider policy of promoting democracy in...
UPI Report: Iran wants 20 nuclear power plants...
Newsday - US missed an opportunity with Iran Iran said to have notified State Department in ‘03 of willingness to negotiate over WMDs, but ex-officials say Bush team didn’t want to deal
Iran's Defensive Strategy - John Quirk, RealClearPolitics
Irreconcilable Differences With Iran - Salena Zito, Pittsburgh Trib-Review
Newsweek Russia: Making Moves in the Middle East