2007-03-21 04:00:00 PDT Ramallah, West Bank — A new Palestinian movement being launched today is aimed at the moderate middle of Muslim politics.
Wasatia — Arabic for “moderation” — is the first Islamic religious party to advocate a peaceful, negotiated settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and a tolerant, democratic society at home.
The new party is the brainchild of political science Professor Mohammed Dajani, director of the American Studies Institute at Al-Quds University in East Jerusalem.
Dajani hopes to build Wasatia into a movement with a social and political wing that will eventually compete with Hamas for the votes of what he calls.