Abbas inaugurates Palestinian Embassy in Beirut
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
by Van Meguerditchian - August 18, 2011 - 12:00am

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas raised his country’s flag for the first time at an official embassy in Beirut Wednesday, as hundreds of Palestinians looked on and cheered the historic event. For decades, official ties have been carried out by the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Lebanese government. But in a government decision in 2008, Lebanon decided to establish formal diplomatic ties with Palestinians.

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Hamas official: Party not moving headquarters to Cairo
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
August 17, 2011 - 12:00am

A senior Hamas leader said Wednesday that the party has no intention of moving its headquarters in exile from Damascus to Cairo. Salah Bardaweil rubbished reports that the recent visit to Egypt by exiled Hamas leader Khalid Mashaal was to discuss moving the party's offices to Cairo. “Hamas has not discussed moving its office from Syria, neither was this the goal of Mashaal’s visit to Cairo,” Bardaweil told Ma'an. The Cairo trip was not a surprise visit, he added, and had been previously scheduled.

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PA to soften UN statehood bid?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Attila Somfalvi - August 17, 2011 - 12:00am

The Palestinian Authority has spent the past few days trying to advance a move to soften its bid for recognition at the UN in order to gain wider support among European nations, Ynet has learned. Europe's major powers have yet to decide whether to support the Palestinians' membership bid, to which the US is opposed. Palestinian sources close to negotiations with Europe told Ynet that the PA is conducting secret talks with the European Union and the Arab League aimed at revising their proposed resolution ahead of the General Assembly meeting in September.

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Assad puts Hamas in corner over Syrian assault
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
August 17, 2011 - 12:00am

Syria's crackdown on government opponents has deeply embarrassed the Palestinian group Hamas, which is anxious not to anger its backers in Damascus while at the same time hoping not to alienate its supporters at home. President Bashar Assad's five-month purge of protesters has gathered pace since the start of August, causing thousands of Palestinians to flee a refugee camp in the city of Latakia this week as Syrian security forces attacked the area.

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Palestinian Factions Reconsider Relations with Assad
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line
by David Miller - August 17, 2011 - 12:00am

A fierce attack by the Syrians on a Palestinian refugee camp has led Palestinian factions, both Islamist and staunchly secular, to reexamine their traditionally close ties with Damascus. Headquartered in the Syrian capital as the Bashar Al-Assad regime falters, Palestinians were cautious not to badmouth the Syrian president personally as they condemned Sunday’s naval bombardment of the Raml Palestinian refugee camp.

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Hamas disperses anti-Assad protest in Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Avi Issacharoff - August 17, 2011 - 12:00am

Protest was meant to show solidarity with Palestinian refugees who have fled their homes due to Syrian government's violent crackdown on demonstrators. Hamas police forces in the Gaza Strip dispersed a protest on Tuesday night against the Syrian government's deadly crackdown on protesters. The protest was meant to demonstrate solidarity with Palestinian refugees who have fled the city of Latakia, which has been under attack by Syrian military forces in recent days.

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To Save From the Sea, and the Siege
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Inter Press Service (IPS)
by Eva Bartlett - (Opinion) August 17, 2011 - 12:00am

It's a sunny Gaza morning and although a work day, the beach along Sheik Rajleen has enough people on it to keep Gaza's small number of lifeguards busy and alert. From a simple, raised wooden hut, a team of three monitor the sea, periodically calling out to swimmers below to move to calmer waters. "I've known how to swim since I knew how to walk," says Ahmed el Basha, 42, one of Sheik Rajleen's lifeguards.

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PA takes satirical TV series off air
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
August 17, 2011 - 12:00am

A Ramadan TV series that became notorious for its criticism of Palestinian Authority officials has been discontinued on the PA-run Palestine TV, Attorney General Ahmad Al-Mughni said Tuesday evening. Al-Mughni told Ma'an that the decision had been made to stop broadcasts of Watan Ala Watar [Homeland on a Thread] after Tuesday's episode because "it is full of mistakes, is meaningless and is a waste of time for people to watch."

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Palestinian leadership studies where to go for UN vote
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
August 17, 2011 - 12:00am

The Palestinian leadership has not yet decided to which body of the United Nations it should submit a request to recognize the Palestinian as an independent state, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Al-Maliki said Wednesday. "The decision to go to the Security Council first or the General Assembly would be made soon," Al-Maliki told the Voice of Palestine radio, adding discussions with the Arab states are needed before making the decision.

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Sleiman tells Abbas Lebanon will back Palestinian statehood
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
August 17, 2011 - 12:00am

President Michel Sleiman promised Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Tuesday that Lebanon will back their bid for U.N. recognition of a Palestinian state. Abbas, meanwhile, declared that the Palestinians in Lebanon’s 12 refugee camps do not need arms to defend themselves because the Lebanese people and government can protect them. Abbas’ remarks amounted to lifting legitimacy over arms in and outside the Palestinian refugee camps throughout the country.

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