Palestinians seem to see no hope of a better future anywhere

By Ayman Qenawi, IOL Staff

BEIRUT, March 19 (IslamOnline.net) - The suffering of the hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, far exceed the feeling of homesickness with daily hardships and humiliation in almost all aspects of life, if theirs is to be called one.

“We have no drinking water, no electricity and no means to make ends meet,” said Um Rashid, a 69-year-old woman living in the Palestinian refugee camp of Shatila.

Located south of the Lebanese capital, the camp is absolutely out of context with the clean streets, fancy cars, luxurious restaurants and sky-high prices of Beirut.

Painted with the colors of the Palestinian flag and decorated with the pictures of Palestinian martyrs, the corridors inside the camp are so narrow it would be difficult for two people to walk side by side.

The U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has registered at least 394.532 Palestinian refugees living in Lebanon, in addition to other thousands who have not been registered.

Lebanese laws ban Palestinian refugees from applying for health care services, social insurance, employment in more than 73 syndicated professions and even property ownership.

While some Lebanese blame the Palestinians for their long-running civil war, others argue that the settlements of Palestinians, most Sunnis, would disrupt Lebanon's sectarian-based political balance.

“Nothing here encourages us to settle,” said Nehad Hamad, the head of Association Najdeh vocational training center in the camp.

Established in 1978, Najdeh is an independent NGO working in and around the 12 Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon to help make the lives of the Palestinian bearable.

“With watertight Lebanese restrictions on Palestinians, we teach women hairdressing, clothing and other skills that might help them support their families,” Hamad said.

Palestinian children stand no chance of enrolling in Lebanese public schools

She added that they are also providing literacy classes to Palestinian children who stand no chance of enrolling in Lebanese public schools and can not afford private ones.

Hamad complained that while there are still donations from European NGOs, funds from the American civil society have almost dried out in the wake of the 9/11 attacks.

Mohammad Said Al-Khansa, Chief of the Ghobeiri Municipality where the camp is located, criticized the “legal injustice” of the Lebanese law regarding Palestinian refugees.

“By the power of law, Palestinians are banned from building inside the camp,” he said, asserting that with population growth the situation was posing a humanitarian and environmental threat to public security.

“While foreigners are entitled to own property in Lebanon, the Palestinians are the only exception,” Al-Khansa said, recalling that when Hizbollah proposed a bill to rectify this it fell on deaf ears inside the Chamber of Deputies.

He underlined that out of sympathy with their conditions, municipal officials turn a blind eye to the fact that many Palestinian refugees are working as sellers and traders and charge them nothing.

Hope Of Return

“Yes, I hope to return to Palestine one day,” said Mohammad, a nine-year-old Palestinian receiving a reading and writing course in one of Najdeh’s centers in the camp.

“My grandmother tells me about our homes in Palestine and how they were driven out. One day, we will return.”

In one of the few nurseries in the camp, children were divided into three groups according to their ages.

But kids as young as three were able to tell from which part of Palestine their families hail.

“We are from Haifa,” said four-year-old Rasha.

“We are teaching the kids the history of their country and hope one day they will be back,” said their teacher Mariam, a young Palestinian woman.

Growing Needs

Kids as young as three are able to tell from which part of Palestine their families hail

Hoda El-Turk, in charge of the UNRWA Public Information Office in Beirut, said the agency was facing hard times keeping a pace with the growing needs of the Palestinian refugees.

She asserted that while donors, particularly the US and EU, are still committed to UNRWA operations, the population growth of Palestinian refugees makes it hard to meet their huge needs.

El-Turk said that at least 43.000 of the Palestinian refugees registered in Lebanon are classified as “special hardship cases.”

“They are the poorest of the poor,” she said, adding this entitled them to receive a cash assistance of $10 per person addition to a food ratio every three months.

They are also given priority over others in other receiving UNRWA such as medical care, education and relief services, added the official.

Palestinian refugees reside in 12 camps through out Lebanon, the biggest being Ein el-Hilweh refugee camp in Saida. All camps are overcrowded and lack the basic infrastructure.

The Shatila refugee camp has witnessed one of the most horrible massacres in the decades-long Arab-Israeli conflict.

Though no definite figures are available, around 2,000 Palestinians were massacred inside Sabra and Shatila camps in 1982 by the Christian Phalangist militia under the watchful eyes of their Israeli alley.