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Many Palestinian intellectuals and political analysts find themselves in the unenviable position of having to declare a stance on whether they support or reject upcoming Palestinian elections, which are scheduled for May 22 and Jul 31. But there are no easy answers. The long-awaited decree by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas last January to hold legislative and presidential elections in the coming months was widely welcomed, not as a triumph for democracy, but as the first tangible positive outcome of dialogue between rival Palestinian factions, mainly Abbas' Fatah party and Hamas. Here, Baroud examines whether democracy is possible under military occupation.

Many in the United States and Israel believe that Hamas is nothing but a terrorist organization, and that its social sector serves merely to recruit new supporters for its violent agenda. Based on Sara Roy's extensive fieldwork in the Gaza Strip and West Bank during the critical period of the Oslo peace process, Hamas and Civil Society in Gaza shows how the social service activities sponsored by the Islamist group emphasized not political violence but rather community development and civic restoration.

Al-Mughni said that some of the cases were very old and had been presented to PA courts in the Gaza Strip before the Hamas takeover of the area in 2007. He said that the cases have since been suspended because the offenses had taken place in the Gaza Strip, where the courts and prosecutors had been dealing with them. [Mohammed Dahlan] has been accused by the PA leadership of plotting to stage a coup against PA President Mahmoud Abbas. The Fatah Central Committee has suspended him, and many of his supporters and aides have been detained by PA security forces in the West Bank for questioning.

GENEVA -- The political split between Gaza and the West Bank is an opportunity for the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, a former Palestinian national-security adviser said Saturday. Mohammed Dahlan, Fatah's strongman in Gaza until the takeover of the coastal strip by Hamas, said at a security conference in Geneva that he was confident Palestinians across the political spectrum would support a negotiated settlement with Israel if asked in a referendum.