Australia giving $90 million to Palestinian refugees
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
May 30, 2012 - 12:00am


Australia is donating $90 million over five years to aid the health and education of Palestinian refugees. Foreign Minister Bob Carr announced the aid package earlier this week, saying he is "very proud" that since 2007 Australia has helped 470,000 Palestinian children attend school.


Australia giving $90 million to Palestinian refugees
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
May 30, 2012 - 12:00am


Australia is donating $90 million over five years to aid the health and education of Palestinian refugees. Foreign Minister Bob Carr announced the aid package earlier this week, saying he is "very proud" that since 2007 Australia has helped 470,000 Palestinian children attend school.


U.N.'s Much-Reviled But Helpful Agency
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by Nathan J. Brown - (Opinion) May 28, 2012 - 12:00am


On a recent Sunday morning, I paid a visit to a women’s community center in Zeitun, an outlying neighborhood in Gaza City that is run by United Nations Relief and Works Agency. It was packed. Behind one curtain, several middle school girls were getting an English lesson to supplement their formal instruction. In another room, women in their 20s were learning how to write a résumé and cover letter. Behind another door was a group of mothers getting assistance on how to help their children with homework.


Israel plans for quake aid to Palestinians
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Dan Williams - May 15, 2012 - 12:00am


TEL AVIV, May 15 (Reuters) - Israel said on Tuesday it had set up a mechanism to get aid to the Palestinians in the event of a major earthquake. A 5.5-magnitude quake rattled Israel and the occupied West Bank on Friday, reminding residents of their vulnerability to the Syria-African Rift, a northern extension of Africa's Rift Valley. "The working assumption is that they (Palestinians) do not have the means to deal with such a disaster on their own," said Alon Rozen, director-general of Israel's Civil Defence Ministry.


EU Palestinian aid projects destroyed by Israel: NGOs
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP)
May 14, 2012 - 12:00am


JERUSALEM — Israel demolished dozens of Palestinian homes, water cisterns and farm buildings built with European funds in 2011, and over 100 such structures are at risk, aid groups said in a report on Monday. The figures, compiled by a group of local and international NGOs chaired by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), were published just ahead of a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels.


US c'tee moves to control Egypt, PA money
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Hilary Leila Krieger - May 10, 2012 - 12:00am


WASHINGTON – A congressional subcommittee approved a foreign aid budget tightening control over money to Egypt and the Palestinians Wednesday following some members’ concern over developments in the region. The House foreign operations appropriations subcommittee passed by voice vote the $40.1 billion foreign operations budget for 2013, which includes fully funding the $3.1b. US commitment to Israeli military assistance as part of the 10-year Memorandum of Understanding between the two countries.


ATFP Praises Release of US Aid to the PA, Welcomes New Quartet Statement
Press Release - April 12, 2012 - 12:00am

Washington DC, April 12 -- The American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) today welcomed the announcement by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton that the United States would be releasing a $147 million package in aid to the Palestinian people. The move overrides some remaining congressional holds on the US aid package to the Palestinians for fiscal year 2011 economic support.


Clinton Overrules Republican Lawmaker's Hold on Palestinian Aid
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from National Journal
by Sara Sorcher - April 11, 2012 - 12:00am


Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is allowing U.S. funds to flow to the West Bank and Gaza despite a hold by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., a rare display of executive-branch authority that angered the key lawmaker concerned about protecting her congressional oversight role.


World Bank earmarks $55 million for Palestinians
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
April 7, 2012 - 12:00am


The World Bank says they've earmarked $55 million for Palestinian development this year. Mariam Sherman, country director for the West Bank and Gaza, said Saturday the money will be used to assist businesses, help graduates and support Palestinian government institutions. But Sherman says for real growth to happen, Israel's system of restrictions on movement of Palestinian people and goods needs to be eased. The World Bank says Israel should also share tax information and make other changes.


It could happen
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Yossi Alpher - (Opinion) March 27, 2012 - 12:00am


Two primary actors that are not candidates for dismantling the PA are Israel and the United States. True, Israel knowingly endangers the PA when it withholds monthly tax and excise transfers--as it did several months ago and as several Israeli government ministers are threatening once again. But most Israeli officials understand they need the PA nearly as much as Palestinians do.



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