ATFP Condemns Reported Attacks on Syrian and Palestinian Civilians in Latakia

Mideast Quartet alarmed by Israel settlement plans
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Alertnet
by Louis Charbonneau - August 16, 2011 - 12:00am

The so-called Middle East Quartet which has been attempting to revive peace talks between the Palesinians and Israel said on Tuesday they were alarmed by Israel's latest announcements about new settlement plans. Israel announced on Monday approval for building 277 homes in a West Bank settlement, despite U.S. and international pressure to curb expansion on occupied land and as Palestinians prepare for a statehood bid at the United Nations.

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

Why Australia should back creation of a Palestinian state
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Age
(Opinion) August 15, 2011 - 12:00am

Many leading Israelis support calls for the recognition of Palestine. Next month, the Palestinian delegation to the United Nations is expected to ask the General Assembly to recognise a Palestinian state. We believe Australia should support such a move.

Israel's West Bank dilemma
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The San Francisco Chronicle
by Joel Brinkley - (Opinion) August 14, 2011 - 12:00am

Shaul Goldstein knows that most everyone on Earth dislikes him and his kind. For some, it's visceral hatred. For others, he represents the largest obstacle to solving a problem everyone everywhere wants resolved. "We are the enemy of the world," he volunteered without any prompting. "We have to hide behind a curtain."

For Refugees, a Frustrating Feeling of Permanence
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Rana F. Sweis - July 20, 2011 - 12:00am

AMMAN — When Iraqi militias threatened Ghasswan Al Taee, 36, in 2006, he fled to Jordan. Five years later and with three children born here, his state of limbo has become a constant. Since 2003 an estimated four million Iraqis have fled their homes, the largest exodus since Israel’s creation in 1948. Deepening violence and sectarian strife have led to the internal displacement of many Iraqis and have driven others out of the country, largely to Syria and Jordan, but also to Lebanon, Egypt, Turkey and the Gulf.

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.

UNRWA: Name has not changed
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
July 7, 2011 - 12:00am

An UNRWA spokesperson said Thursday that the Palestinian refugee agency has not changed its name, after reports of a new title sparked protests in Gaza on Tuesday. Adnan Abu Hasnah said the only change was a logo update which actually added the term UNRWA, in English and Arabic, to the image. The organization's 60th anniversary, Hasnah said, and attracting donors and other partners was behind the update. But the no word in the title had been changed, he said.

Study: Nonregistered Palestinian refugees are impoverished, marginalized and vulnerable
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
by Simona Sikimic - July 6, 2011 - 12:00am

U.N. service provision to the 17,000 estimated nonregistered Palestinian refugees in Lebanon has improved in recent years but too many of the “most vulnerable of the already vulnerable” continue to suffer from poor and patchy service provision, according to a report released Tuesday. The Danish Refugee Council study, “Incomplete Entitlement,” reveals that despite 80 percent of non-registered refugees reporting access to at least one U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) service, the average adult lives on $2.7 a day.

In Balata, the future is scarier than September
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Avi Issacharoff - July 1, 2011 - 12:00am

BALATA REFUGEE CAMP, NABLUS - Several days before the first intifada broke out, a few hundred people in the Balata refugee camp marched toward the drawn guns of raiding Israeli soldiers. The soldiers withdrew at the order of then-GOC Central Command Amram Mitzna, who wanted to avoid bloodshed, and Balata became a symbol of the struggle against the Israeli occupation that broke out on December 9, 1987.

The Palestinian right to remain and return
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Ahram
by Samah Sabawi - (Opinion) June 30, 2011 - 12:00am

I was 12 years old when for the first time in my life I became a citizen of a country -- Australia. Before that, I was a stateless Palestinian refugee. There were two laments my parents always repeated whenever they spoke of their place of origin, Palestine: if only we could have stayed and if only we could return.

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