Al-Wafd opposition newspaper yesterday invited Palestinian writer Faisal Abu-Khadra to air his grievances over the power-struggle between the Palestinian Authority led by President Mahmoud Abbas on the one hand and the Islamist movement of Hamas on the other. The frustrated Palestinian appeared to be appalled that in their quest for seizing power in the Gaza Strip, “the Palestinian rivals have relegated the collective interests of the Palestinian people, who are enduring the unendurable”. “Abbas was dragged into such a scandalous power struggle when he took advice from unqualified and inefficient advisers to compel Hamas leaders to hand over Gaza to the Palestinian Authority and to apologise for the coup they launched [about three years ago],” the Palestinian writer said

Now that the new Israeli government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has stepped up plans to declare Israel a Jewish state, there will come a time when Palestinian and Arab Israelis (Muslims and Christians) and their families will have to leave for refusing to convert to Judaism. Likewise, Egyptians married to Israeli women will be in limbo. They have been stripped of their Egyptian nationality by a ruling issued by the Higher Administrative Court in Cairo and, together with their Israeli spouses, they will be expelled from Israel and have to find somewhere else to live unless they seek refuge in the impossible - converting to Judaism to be entitled to Jewish nationality

Do you expect an Israeli and US attack on Iran before the American presidential elections in November?

Yes

No

I don't know

       Previous poll results

Do you think bio-fuels are to blame for the soaring food prices?

Yes               85          per cent

No                10          per cent

I don't know   5        per cent