Palestinian Maher Salamah: "We want borders, an airport; we want a state, we want freedom."

USA TODAY

Oren Dorell reporting from McLean, Va., and Michele Chabin reporting from Ramallah

"...Other analysts say peace will come not by grand bargains shepherded by the White House but by mutual acts of cooperation between the Palestinian Authority and Israeli government, ongoing for years, which has been improving security and quality of life for Palestinians.

Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayad have already begun the groundwork for that approach in the West Bank, which has been so calm recently that no Israeli lives were lost to acts of terror there in more than a year, says Hussein Ibish, an analyst at the American Task Force on Palestine, a think tank in Washington. Improved security prompted Israel to permit economic development aid and reduce military security roadblocks in the West Bank.

Palestinian security forces have worked with Israel to establish law and order, which has been followed by increased foreign investments from Europe, the USA and Arab states. Department stores, cinemas and malls are growing, Ibish says.

Palestinian leaders in the West Bank wanted to show Israel and world that they could be trusted to establish order if given independence, Ibish says. But the Palestinian Authority, and Abbas, run a risk of being seen by Palestinians as "enforcing the occupation," Ibish says.

"We were on tenterhooks about whether the West Bank would erupt," Ibish says. "Hamas' challenge to the PLO is entirely derived from there being some cachet to their argument that negotiations will in fact not yield independence."

In downtown Ramallah, Maher Salamah, 50, gazes out the window of his women's clothing store at well-dressed passersby in the West Bank's financial and administrative hub. Salamah said he has little hope that President Obama will be able to help.

"It looks quiet enough, but underneath things are simmering," he said, alluding to disquiet over the lack of a state and the poor economy. "We want borders, an airport; we want a state, we want freedom."

 http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/03/18/hamas-israel-no-peace/1997317/

As Hamas rises, peace prospects sink, observers say

The Palestinian terror group Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, has gained prominence since the Arab Spring uprisings that swept anti-Israeli and anti-Western Islamist movements into power.

Hamas militants patrol along the northern border with Israel on Monday.(Photo: Hatem Moussa, AP)