Union: No date set for payment of PA salaries
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
February 15, 2013 - 1:00am

The Palestinian Authority will pay government salaries for January in a week, but has yet to specify a date, the public sector workers union said Thursday. Union chief Bassam Zakarneh insisted the PA must set a date to pay January wages, after a meeting with ministers in Ramallah. Zakarneh said in a statement that the union informed a ministerial committee that government staff were struggling to buy basic necessities and could not afford transport to work. Zakarneh called on civil servants not to strike unless further action is announced.

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Saudi Arabia opens housing project in Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
February 5, 2013 - 1:00am

A Saudi delegation on Monday opened the biggest housing project in the Gaza Strip and pledged further funding to support Palestinian refugees. Saudi Arabia financed the 752-home neighborhood in Rafah for families whose homes were destroyed by the Israeli army. It features four schools, a market, a mosque, a clinic and a community center.

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East Asian nations to meet Fayyad in Japan on Palestinian aid
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP)
February 4, 2013 - 1:00am

Japan is to host a meeting of Asian countries next week to discuss financial assistance for the Palestinian Authority. Ministers from Japan, South Korea and several member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, such as Thailand and Indonesia, will get together on February 13 and 14, Kyodo News agency reported today. The Palestinian prime minister, Salam Fayyad, is expected to attend the meeting aimed at helping pave the way for resuming direct talks between the Palestinian Authority and Israel, the agency quoted government officials as saying.

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Palestinians face growing food crisis
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
January 30, 2013 - 1:00am

Fluctuating prices, poverty and border restrictions mean growing numbers of Palestinians are facing food insecurity this year -- one of the key priorities in the humanitarian community’s annual appeal for the occupied Palestinian territory. This year’s Consolidated Appeal Process is for $401.6 million, a slight decrease on last year’s $416.7 million, only 68 percent of which was financed. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, which helped coordinate the CAP, estimates that 1.3 million Palestinians do not have enough food.

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Senior diplomatic source: Qatar is a bitter enemy
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Herb Keinon - November 28, 2012 - 1:00am

Reflecting intense anger and frustration at Qatar for its diplomatic and financial support of Hamas, a senior diplomatic source on Wednesday characterized the Persian Gulf state as a “bitter enemy of Israel.”

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PA says to pay partial salaries Sunday
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
November 11, 2012 - 1:00am

RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- The Palestinian Authority finance ministry announced Sunday that it would pay part of salaries owed to public sector employees by the end of the day. The salaries of prisoners families will be paid completely while public sector employees will receive 52 percent of their salaries, the ministry said in a statement. The aid-dependent Palestinian economy in the West Bank faces a financial crisis due to a drop in aid from Western backers and wealthy Gulf states, as well as Israeli restrictions on trade.

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As Israeli elections near, Palestinians feel nothing but despair
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - (Analysis) October 15, 2012 - 12:00am

RAMALLAH - On Monday, Yossi Beilin sat alongside Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas  in a convention hall in Mukataa, and waxed nostalgic. “We used to work without the Americans,” he said. “Clinton heard about Oslo two weeks before the White House ceremony." Abbas, a bitter smile on his face, corrected him. “A week before,” he said.

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West Bank cash crisis as donors fail to pay
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent
by Matthew Kalman - October 10, 2012 - 12:00am

The Palestinian Authority, facing a major cash crisis, has warned 150,000 employees it does not know when they will receive their September salaries.

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Qatar invites bids to reconstruct Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
October 3, 2012 - 12:00am

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- The Qatari government on Tuesday invited tenders for four construction projects, in the first stage of a $254 million project to rebuild the war-torn Gaza Strip. Qatar's ambassador to Gaza Muhammad al-Imadi is heading a committee overseeing the work. Consultants have been invited to submit designs for a city to be named after Sheikh Hamad Ben Khalifa al-Thani.

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Ayalon calls on donor states to cut off Palestinian Authority funding
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Times of Israel
by Gabe Fisher - September 23, 2012 - 12:00am

Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon called for international donors to halt funding to the Palestinian Authority, alleging that much of the money is ultimately used to support terrorism.

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