WAFA Celebrates 40 Years since its Founding
By Malak Hassan and Reem Qadan
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=20009

RAMALLAH, June 9, 2012 (WAFA) – Palestine News Agency WAFA Saturday
celebrated 40 years since its founding in the presence of a large audience
of Palestinian officials as well as local and international guests.

WAFA was established in Beirut in 1972 by the Executive Committee of the
Palestine Liberation Organization to be the mouthpiece of the Palestinian
resistance movement and its struggle for liberation and freedom.

Speaking at the ceremony, presidential secretary Tayyeb Abdul Rahim praised
WAFA’s operations over the years and said that WAFA has moved from a small
agency with a handful of people working with limited facilities and skills
to become a full-fledged news agency capable of delivering the Palestinian
people’s message to the world.

WAFA chairman of board Riyad al-Hassan spoke about the Palestinian agency’s
long journey relocating from one country to the other, starting in Beirut in
1972, where its staff worked under fire, and then moving to Tunisia after
the PLO’s withdrawal from Lebanon. WAFA ended up in the Gaza Strip following
the signing of the Oslo accords with Israel in 1994. However, it was forced
to re-settle to Ramallah in the West Bank after the Hamas takeover of the
Gaza Strip in June 2007.

“There has recently been noticeable quantitative and qualitative change in
WAFA’s work, in addition to the richness and diversity of the agency’s
activities,” said Hassan.

He said that the new law regarding WAFA President Mahmoud Abbas had signed
in May of 2011 gives WAFA the right to establish its own administrative and
financial systems and would free it from Palestinian Authority regulations
regarding employment and operations. It will turn the agency from a
state-run into a public news service.

Speaking on behalf of the Federation of Arab News Agencies (FANA), Faisal
Shboul, FANA’s deputy secretary general who is also head of Jordan’s Petra
News Agency, said the media has grown stronger with the advent of
information technology.

He urged WAFA and the Arab agencies to cooperate among them in order to take
advantage of the opportunities that exist to reach the Arab reader and close
the gap with the developed world.

George Penintaex, secretary general of the Alliance of Mediterranean News
Agency (AMAN) told the audience that WAFA is the synonym of the Palestinian
people and their struggle for freedom and justice.

He noted the hardships, destructions and persecution WAFA went through in
history on its way to constitute a major source of information on the
current events in the Middle East.

Daniela Viglione, President and CEO of the Italian news agency AGI, told
WAFA that the agency plays an important role in conveying the Palestinian
voice “as a serious and important news agency equipped with first-class
journalists.”

WAFA and AGI signed an agreement of cooperation in late 2010, said Viglione,
adding that the agreement aimed to help WAFA achieve most advanced
technological infrastructure and capacity, in addition to exchanging news
and facilitating the information flow between Palestine and Italy.

Director-General of Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) Maxim Minchev extended his
congratulations to WAFA on the 40th anniversary of its founding, and sent
his best wishes to the Palestinian state and people.

The Jerusalem-based correspondent of the Turkish Anadolu Agency, Taner Aydi,
stressed WAFA’s prime position as the official news agency in the
Palestinian territory with efficient and quick news service.

M.H./R.Q./M.S.