Refugees | The American Task Force on Palestine

13 wounded in clashes in north Lebanon camp
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
June 18, 2012 - 12:00am

Lebanese security officials say three soldiers and 10 Palestinians have been wounded in clashes inside a refugee camp in the country's north. The clashes broke out Monday in the Nahr el-Bared camp during the funeral of a Palestinian who was killed in a confrontation Friday. There are tensions between Palestinian in Nahr el-Bared and Lebanese soldiers left over from three months of clashes in 2007 between the army and an al-Qaida-inspired Islamic extremist group. The battles killed more than 170 soldiers, as well as dozens of militants and Palestinian civilians.

Israel arrests ex-soldier living in Bethlehem
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
June 15, 2012 - 12:00am

A former Israeli soldier was arrested recently by Palestinian Authority forces after living in a Bethlehem refugee camp for the past three weeks, Israeli daily Haaretz reported. "I wanted to prove that it’s possible to live with Palestinians, as long as you are not coming off as an enemy," Andrey Pshenichnikov, 24, was quoted as saying by Haaretz. Pshenichnikov moved to Bethlehem three months ago and was working as a waiter and construction worker.

Why the world shouldn't support UNRWA
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Israel Harel - (Opinion) June 14, 2012 - 12:00am

Five million Palestinians define themselves as refugees. They insist on festering away in camps, at the international community's expense, while holding fast to their main dream: returning to the towns and villages from which their ancestors fled or were expelled. Their ambition to realize this dream - which is a major stumbling block to ever ending the conflict - is made possible by the unending aid they have received for more than 60 years now from the UN Relief and Works Agency.

The Case for Deportation
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast
by Micah Stein - (Opinion) June 13, 2012 - 12:00am

On Monday, Israeli police began rounding up illegal African immigrants as the first step in a campaign of mass arrests and deportations around the country. Earlier this year, the Knesset passed an “anti-infiltration” bill, which allows police to detain illegal immigrants for years without a trial and punishes Israelis who employ, house, or transport illegal immigrants.

Britain gives $155 million to Palestinian refugees
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP)
June 12, 2012 - 12:00am

Britain on Tuesday announced a 100 million pound ($155 million) aid package to support Palestinian refugees in the Middle East for the next three years. The British embassy in Amman said International Development Minister Alan Duncan made the announcement after a visit to the Baqaa Palestinian refugee camp near the Jordanian capital.

Optimism reigns in most notorious refugee camp
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
by Mirella Hodeib, Mohammed Zaatari - June 4, 2012 - 12:00am

A peculiar, indiscernible smell reigns in the Middle East’s most notorious Palestinian refugee camp: the odor of deep sorrow mixed with devastating poverty. But the residents of Ain al-Hilweh are known for a rare kind of optimism and a smile that never abandons their faces. Wearing the typical Palestinian outfit, a linen abaya and the legendary keffiyeh on the head, Hajj Abu Mahmoud laments the camp’s deplorable situation, which he blames on the dominant factions. “The situation in Lebanon now is no better,” he adds.

Defining a Palestinian refugee a US complication
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Donna Cassata - May 31, 2012 - 12:00am

WASHINGTON—A simple congressional request for the United States to distinguish between Palestinians displaced by the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict and millions of their descendants poses a high-stakes diplomatic and political challenge for President Barack Obama.

Eli Yishai: Israeli women afraid to report rape by African migrants due to AIDS stigma
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
May 31, 2012 - 12:00am

In further remarks on migrant workers from Africa, Interior Minister Eli Yishai said Thursday that many Israeli women have been raped by migrant workers “but do not complain out of fear of being stigmatized as having contracted AIDS.” In an interview with Israeli newspaper Maariv, Yishai stated that the solution to the current problem is “more prisons and migrant detention camps," and that Israel must “prepare more military bases where we can jail all of them without exception.”

Defining a Palestinian refugee a US complication
Media Mention of Hussein Ibish In Associated Press - May 31, 2012 - 12:00am

WASHINGTON—A simple congressional request for the United States to distinguish between Palestinians displaced by the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict and millions of their descendants poses a high-stakes diplomatic and political challenge for President Barack Obama.

Senate distinguishes between Palestinian refugees and descendants
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
May 25, 2012 - 12:00am

WASHINGTON (JTA) -- The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee approved language that would distinguish between Palestinian refugees alive in 1948 and their descendants.

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