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Out of Ideas, Palestinian Authority Censors Critics
(Christian Science Monitor) Dan Murphy - The Palestinian Authority's democratic mandate expired two years ago, when scheduled elections were cancelled because of the five-year rift between Abbas' Fatah Party, which is dominant in the West Bank, and Hamas, the Islamist movement that now runs Gaza as a separate Palestinian enclave. Amid on-again, off-again reconciliation efforts, the PA under Fatah's guidance has shown increasing signs of authoritarianism and thuggish control of free speech. Last week the PA blocked eight websites tied to a Fatah rival of Abbas, which had been heavily critical of the president. In March, Palestinian reporter Yousef al-Shayeb was arrested after a report alleging corruption at the Foreign Ministry. Two bloggers who criticized Abbas online were also recently arrested.