Govt-run Palestine broadcaster opens office in Damascus

By Qais Abu Samra

RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) – The Palestinian Radio and Television Corporation (PBC) on Monday opened an office in Damascus in a ceremony attended by Palestinian and Syrian regime officials.

The ceremony was attended by PBC General Supervisor Ahmad Assaf; members of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s Executive Committee; members of the Fatah movement’s Central Committee; leaders of other Palestinian political factions; and Palestinian diplomats.

From the Syrian side, the ceremony was attended by representatives of the Syrian Information Ministry and a number of Syrian performers and artists.

Speaking at the ceremony, Assaf voiced hope that the new media office might “serve as a bridge for enhancing Syrian-Palestinian relations”.

“Syria has always supported the Palestinian people and cause; it has never forsaken them,” he said.

The PBC, he added, had already opened offices in several other Arab capitals with a view to “bringing Palestine to the world and bringing the world to Palestine”.

“We want to convey what is happening in the Syrian arena and provide news about our Palestinian brethren in Syria,” he said.

Unlike most other Arab capitals, Palestine never severed ties with Damascus throughout the course of Syria’s almost eight-year-long conflict.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has repeatedly voiced his desire for a peaceful solution to the conflict.

In recent years, Abbas has sent a number of envoys to Damascus to discuss the precarious situation of Palestinian refugees in the war-weary country.