Outrage after Palestinian camp attacked in Syria
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
August 16, 2011 - 12:00am

Syrian forces killed three people on Monday a day after gunboats pounded Latakia, forcing thousands of Palestinians to flee a refugee camp in the port city, activists and a UN agency said. The Palestinians condemned Syria over the violence as the UN Relief and Works Agency reported that more than 5,000 refugees had fled Ramel camp in southern Latakia under fire and demanded immediate access to the site.

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PLO official accuses Syria of crimes against humanity
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Alertnet
August 16, 2011 - 12:00am

An assault by Syrian security forces on a Palestinian refugee camp in the coastal city of Latakia amounts to a crime against humanity, a senior official in the Palestine Liberation Organisation said. "The shelling is taking place using gunships and tanks on houses built from tin, on people who have no place to run to or even a shelter to hide in," Yasser Abed Rabbo, the PLO secretary general, told Reuters. "This is a crime against humanity."

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ATFP Condemns Reported Attacks on Syrian and Palestinian Civilians in Latakia
Press Release - Contact Information: Ghaith al-Omari - August 15, 2011 - 12:00am




Palestinians gather to call for Assad departure
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
August 15, 2011 - 12:00am

Hundreds of Palestinians streamed into the streets of Ramallah on Sunday evening to demand Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad stand down. The mass demonstration in support of the Syrian people came hours after news broke of Syrian military shelling the port city of Latakia, killing 26. Human rights groups said Palestinians living in a refugee camp in the district of Ramel were among the dead.

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Heavy gunfire as Syrian tanks enter Homs
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP)
August 14, 2011 - 12:00am

DAMASCUS — Syrian troops backed by tanks clamped down Monday on the flashpoint province of Homs, a day after gunboats joined an assault that killed more than 20 people in Latakia city, activists said. As the country's anti-regime uprising turned five months old, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said snipers shot dead an old man in the provincial town of Hula and reported another killing in Latakia. "The community of Hula is under siege ... The army is carrying out raids and arrests under the cover of heavy gunfire" in Homs province, said the Britain-based rights group.

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UNRWA: Clear link between settlements and demolitions
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
August 2, 2011 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM (Ma'an) -- The link between Israel's settlement expansion in the West Bank and the displacement of Palestinians from their homes is now "abundantly clear," UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunness said Tuesday. "Many displacements are taking place where settlements are expanding and with it we are seeing an upturn in vicious attacks by Jewish settlers. Palestinians are being thrown off their ancestral lands to make way for settlers," Gunness told Ma'an.

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UNRWA responds to Gaza protests
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
July 25, 2011 - 12:00am

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- The UN agency for Palestinian refugees was forced to close its offices in Gaza City last week as protesters blockaded its entrances, angry at the slashing of UNRWA's emergency programs. Demonstrators physically blocked the entrances of the agency's offices with large vehicles after UNRWA removed tens of thousands of Palestinian refugees from its food distribution list. UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunness has said the lack of donor funds to the agency -- and anti-UN protests on the doorstep of Israel -- directly affect the stability of the region.

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New Gaza mall opens despite Israeli blockade
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
by Fares Akram - July 20, 2011 - 12:00am

GAZA, July 20 (Xinhua) -- Dozens of people entered the Al- Andalusya mall in Gaza City after the automatic sliding door opened, looking up at the ceiling where cool air came from and then down at their feet trying carefully to stand on the escalator. The people fanned out across the supermarket and the clothes store in the first and second floors of the shopping center. The third story is designated to have a restaurant, cafe shop, children cinema and a video games corner, but it is not yet ready.

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UNRWA facing shortages due to Israel blockade
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
July 15, 2011 - 12:00am

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Figures released by UNRWA on Thursday reveal that the organization is facing severe shortages in construction materials needed for ongoing projects in the Gaza Strip. "We been allowed to take in to Gaza a tiny fraction of the construction materials needed," UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunness said. Around 3,291 trucks have been allowed into the Gaza Strip, accounting for under four percent of the overall $660 million UNRWA construction plan to take place over the next three years.

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UNRWA changes spark fear refugees will be abandoned
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Khaled Abu Toameh - July 9, 2011 - 12:00am

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees has officially changed its logo and name, omitting the words “relief” and “works.” Palestinians fear the decision is an indication the UN agency is planning to stop providing refugees with many services. A spokesman for the agency denied the change had any significance, and it was just updating its website on the occasion of its 60th anniversary. Changing the agency’s mandate can be done only through a UN resolution, the spokesman explained.

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