Activists: Regime shelling kills 2 in Damascus Palestinian camp
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
February 4, 2013 - 1:00am

Two men were killed and more than 20 injured when Syrian government forces shelled a Palestinian refugee neighborhood in Damascus, activists said. A group based in the al-Yarmouk camp, the Yarmouk committees -- Syrian revolution, said regime troops fired mortars at Al-Waseem mosque, causing the casualties. The shelling took place after hundreds of people returned to the camp, having fled in late 2012 as fighting intensified in the area, the group said.

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Islamic summit to recommend Palestine 'safety net'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
February 4, 2013 - 1:00am

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation summit in Cairo this week will recommend its members donate to a financial "safety net" for Palestine, according to a draft statement ahead of the conference. At a preparatory meeting of senior officials on Sunday, a statement was prepared calling on Islamic nations to donate to Palestine under the OIC banner. The funds will go towards Palestine's strategic plan to develop the city of Jerusalem, which was approved by the group in August 2012, according to the statement published on PA news site Wafa.

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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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In Israel raid, Syria options severely constrained
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Zeina Karam - February 4, 2013 - 1:00am

Syria's defense minister signaled Monday that his country won't hit back at Israel over an airstrike inside Syria, claiming the Israeli raid was actually in retaliation for his regime's offensive against rebels he called "tools" of the Jewish state.

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NGOs Face Challenges in Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Monitor
by Hazem Balousha - (Opinion) February 3, 2013 - 1:00am

For decades, Palestinian society has suffered from instability in the provision of basic needs, volatile political conditions and constantly changing authorities, while its civil institutions remain relatively stable. But the relationship between Palestine’s vast non-governmental network and authorities has often been fraught with tension.

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Palestinian farmer, activist, filmmaker — and Oscar nominee
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Edmund Sanders - February 2, 2013 - 1:00am

  Like many Palestinians, West Bank farmer Emad Burnat punctuates his life story with events from the Israeli occupation of his village. His first son was born amid the optimism that followed the 1993 Oslo peace accords, and another came just as the 2000 Palestinian uprising erupted.

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Learn from Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Talal Salman - (Opinion) February 1, 2013 - 1:00am

I assume many people throughout the Arab world were glued to their television sets as the results of the Israeli elections were being reported and analyzed the "democratic process" that unfolded. In my opinion, the event underscored the dismal situation of the Arab nations compared to the "Jewish ethnic groups" that gathered from all over the world to establish a Jewish state on Palestinian land.

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Neither Syria nor Israel benefits in broader conflict
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
(Editorial) February 1, 2013 - 1:00am

The exact details are still sketchy, but the series of deliberate leaks are enough to confirm the Israeli air strike inside Syrian borders on Wednesday. Syrian regime officials insist that it was only a weapons-research facility that was hit, while US officials are saying that an arms convoy headed for Lebanon (and perhaps for Hizbollah) was also targeted.

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A bounty of empty threats
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
(Editorial) February 1, 2013 - 1:00am

Israel has no shame when it comes to attacking whatever it claims is a threat to its security, whether these targets are civilians or military in nature, wherever it wants around the Middle East. Syria, meanwhile, has no shame in claiming in the wake of every such attack that it will choose the “time and place” of its response to violations of its national sovereignty.

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Egypt holds Black Bloc member over 'Israeli sabotage plan'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP)
February 1, 2013 - 1:00am

Egyptian authorities on Thursday detained a member of the Black Bloc group suspected of planning to carry out an Israeli-directed sabotage plan, the official MENA news agency said. One person "belonging to the Black Bloc organisation was arrested inside a building overlooking Tahrir Square carrying Israeli plans to target petrol companies and vital installations, maps of these places and instructions on setting fire to some places," MENA reported. Israel firmly rejected the notion of its involvement in any such plot.

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