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The article focuses on issues concerning Palestinian infighting between Fatah and Hamas militants. Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas' September 2006 visit to the U.S. only served to undermine the Palestinian public's optimism over national approval of the prisoners' document and advancement in talks for a national unity government.

The article focuses on the stand taken by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on the Palestinian National Accord Document drawn up by members of five separate Palestinian factions imprisoned in Israel. President Abbas launched a national dialogue in Ramallah on May 11, 2006 to work out the differences between his party and other Palestinian factions. He unilaterally decided on a deadline for an agreement of settlement with Israel and pledged to call a referendum if no settlement was reached within ten days. The accord document demanded an unity government.

The article reports that the newly appointed Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh finally formed a cabinet comprising 24 Hamas activists and experts. On March 19, 2006 he presented his cabinet to Mahmoud Abbas, who is Palestinian Authority president and chairman of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO). Since its founding in 1964, the PLO has served as an international umbrella group, representing important Palestinian political factions. The U.S. and Israel refused to recognize the PLO until it denounced its principles and amended its charter.

The article author presents his views on the Sharm el-Sheikh summit between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israel Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on February 8. Following the meet, the media were full of congratulations and fantasies of peace. The bitter reality, however, is that nothing has changed in the lives of most Palestinians. Israel offers "disengagement" from Gaza with the left hand, while its right hand grabs more West Bank land, continues to imprison Palestinians behind its apartheid wall, advances its political access to and normalization of relations with other Arab nations, and reaches a formal and internationally accepted agreement with the Palestinian Authority. Unlike the principled stand of the New Zealand government, Palestine's Arab neighbors are eager to send their ambassadors back to Israel, and are using the "success" of Sharm el-Sheikh as a pretext to do so.