First pro-Hamas Palestinian newspaper launched in Gaza Strip

Source: Reuters, 3-5-2007
Palestinian supporters of Hamas launched their first newspaper on Thursday, opening a new front in the battle for political dominance with the rival Fatah faction.
"Palestine" is the pro-Islamist answer to the three largest Palestinian newspapers which have longstanding ties to Fatah, the secular faction of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.
It is also the first Palestinian newspaper to be printed in the Gaza Strip. The other newspapers are produced in the West Bank, which is dominated by Fatah.
"Palestine" will initially print an estimated 10,000 copies, published separately in the West Bank and Gaza to avoid any possible "Israeli" restriction on its distribution.
Editor-in-chief Mustafa Assawaf said the paper`s owners were close to Hamas, which heads a unity government with Fatah.
But Assawaf said the paper would not be a mouthpiece for the Islamist group, whose charter calls for "Israel's" destruction.
"We say that the newspaper will be for all Palestinians and we will leave judgment to the readers," he told Reuters. "It will not be a newspaper of one faction. It will be as its name suggests, `Palestine` for all Palestinians."
First editions of the paper went on sale in Gaza on Thursday, published in tabloid format, with a news section as well as culture and sports supplements.
Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas attended a ceremony to mark the newspaper`s launch on Wednesday.