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The Palestinian Refugee Camps in Lebanon Post 1990: Dilemmas of Survival and Return to Palestine
Abstract
This article addresses the issue of the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, their camps, their resistance, and the challenges they have been facing “as refugees” to survive in the deeply divided state of Lebanon and to return to Palestine. Currently there are about 450,000 Palestinian refugees scattered among 12 official and recognized Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon as well as many refugee gatherings; this number is part of the 6 million Palestinian refugees who are scattered in the world as a result of the establishment of the Zionist entity in 1948. However, on December 11, 1948, the United Nations General Assembly issued the UN resolution 194, during its third session, which stipulated that Palestinians have the right of return to their homes in Palestine. The Palestinian right of return is a Right and therefore it is not negotiable and cannot be compromised under any condition and/or circumstance. There have been continual attempts and proposals to terminate this Palestinian right of return to historic Palestine. To stop these toxic proposals from reaching their goals and to achieve their strategic goal, the Palestinian resistance has the legitimate right to use any means necessary, including armed struggle against the occupiers. The Palestinians in Lebanon are part of this process and they have been struggling on all levels to achieve their civil and human rights in order to improve their social and economic conditions in their refugee camps. Furthermore, the Palestinians have the legitimate right to continue their national struggle against Israel, which is the only way for the Palestinians to achieve their national goal for total liberation. However, there have been additional challenges affecting the Palestinians and their refugee camps in Lebanon post 1990; by the end of the Lebanese Civil War, the Palestinian refugee camps witnessed the emergence and growth of takfiri groups. Consequently, the Palestinian refugees have been sandwiched between oppressive Lebanese rules and the rise of the takfiris inside the camps. The article attempts to answer the following questions: What are the challenges affecting the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon? How can the Palestinians protect their identity from erasure and achieve their right of return to Palestine? Which internal and external groups currently control the camps? In what ways has takfiri ideology impacted the Palestinian identity? How can the Palestinian refugees and their camps survive under such conditions?
Content
Author and article information
Notes
Muhammad Ali Khalidi, ed. Palestinian Refugees in Lebanon 2001. Research Assistant: Fadi Bardawil (Beirut, Lebanon: Institute for Palestine Studies, 2001), 1.
David McDowall, Lebanon: A Conflict of Minorities (London: The Minority Rights Group, Report No. 61, Revised edition 1986), 8. It is important to note that before 1976 there had been 15 official Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon (recognized by the UNRWA); however, Nabatiyeh refugee camp was completely destroyed and wiped out by Israel in 1974; Tal al-Zatar and Nab'a Palestinian refugee camps were both located in East Beirut, they were completely destroyed by the right-wing militias in 1976, and their refugee residence (both Palestinian refugees and poor Shi'ites) were displaced again to other areas in West Beirut, especially the Southern suburbs of the capital Beirut.
Salah Salah, Interview with the author in Arabic, Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, December 19, 2017.
Salah Salah, Interview with the author in Arabic, Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, December 19, 2017.
Marwan Abd Al'Al, Interview with the author in Arabic, Mar Elias Refugee Camp, Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, January 30, 2018.
Najah Wakim, Interview with the author in Arabic, Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, December 19, 2017.
Najah Wakim, Interview with the author in Arabic, Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, December 19, 2017.
Sarkis Abu-Zeid, Interview with the author in Arabic, Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, December 13, 2017.
Sheikh Maher Hammoud, Interview with the author in Arabic, Saida, Lebanon, Friday, January 12, 2018.
Abed Raja Serhan, Interview with the author in Arabic, Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, December 21, 2017. See also Ahmad Al-Hout, “Intishar Al-Jayish fi Sayda: Taka'tou Al-Hiwar Al-Sakhin,” 40–49 (Shu'oon Al-Awsat, Middle East Affairs), published by the Institute of Strategic Studies and Research and Documentation, Beirut, Lebanon, Trial Issue No. 3, September 1991.
Abed Raja Serhan, Interview with the author in Arabic, Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, December 21, 2017.
Abed Raja Serhan, Interview with the author in Arabic, Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, December 21, 2017. See also Ahmad Al-Hout, “Intishar Al-Jayish fi Sayda: Taka'tou Al-Hiwar Al-Sakhin,” 40–49 (Shu'oon Al-Awsat, Middle East Affairs), published by the Institute of Strategic Studies and Research and Documentation, Beirut, Lebanon, Trial Issue No. 3, September 1991.
Ahmad Al-Hout, “Intishar Al-Jayish fi Sayda: Taka'tou Al-Hiwar Al-Sakhin,” 40–49 (Shu'oon Al-Awsat, Middle East Affairs), published by the Institute of Strategic Studies and Research and Documentation, Beirut, Lebanon, Trial Issue No. 3, September 1991, 42.
Jihane Sfeir, “Palestinians in Lebanon: The Birth of the ‘Enemy Within,'” 13–33 (Cited in: ed., Muhammad Ali Khalidi, Manifestation of Identity: The Lived Reality of Palestinian Refugees in Lebanon (Beyrouth, Lebanon: Insitute for Palestine Studies (IPS) and Beirut & Institute Francais du Proche-Orient (IFPO), 2010), 28.
Sarkis Abu-Zeid, Interview with the author in Arabic, Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, December 13, 2017.
Sheikh Maher Hammoud, Interview with the author in Arabic, Saida, Lebanon, Friday, January 12, 2018.
Bernard Rougier, Everyday Jihad: The Rise of Militant Islam among Palestinians in Lebanon (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2007), 96.
Sarkis Abu-Zeid, Interview with the author in Arabic, Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, December 13, 2017.
Sarkis Abu-Zeid, Interview with the author in Arabic, Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, December 13, 2017.
Muhammad Ali Khalidi and Diane Riskedahl, “The Road to Nahr al-Barid: Lebanese Political Discourse and Palestinian Civil Rights” (Middle East Report, Issue No. 244, Fall 2007), 28.
Nir Rosen, “Al-Qaeda in Lebanon: The Iraq War Spreads” (Boston Review, January/February, 2008, 1–27), 8.
Muhammad Ali Khalidi and Diane Riskedahl, “The Road to Nahr al-Barid: Lebanese Political Discourse and Palestinian Civil Rights” (Middle East Report, Issue No. 244, Fall 2007), 27.
Muhammad Ali Khalidi and Diane Riskedahl, “The Road to Nahr al-Barid: Lebanese Political Discourse and Palestinian Civil Rights” (Middle East Report, Issue No. 244, Fall 2007), 27.
Hassan U'leik, “Ain El-Helwi: Al-Mokhayyam Al-Matrook Bila Marja'iya Siyasiya Aw Amniya” (Al-Akhbar Newspaper, Issue No. 773, Wednesday, March 18, 2009).
Salah Salah, Interview with the author in Arabic, Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, December 19, 2017.
Salah Salah, Interview with the author in Arabic, Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, December 19, 2017.
Salah Salah, Interview with the author in Arabic, Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, December 19, 2017.
Muhammad Saleh, “Tasfiyat Hisabat fi Al-Meih wa Meih: 8 Qatla wa 10 Jarha” (Assafir Newspaper, Issue No. 12744, Tuesday, April 8, 2014), 7.
Sheikh Maher Hammoud, Interview with the author in Arabic, Saida, Lebanon, Friday, January 12, 2018.
Samir Tannir, “Al-Hayat Al-Iktisadiya fi Al-Moukhayamat Al-Falestiniya fi Lubnan” (Published in Assafir Newspaper, November 28, 2001); Cited in: Al-Moukhayamat Al-Filistiniya. . . Ha'la Insaniya Am Askariya? (Maaloumant: A Monthly Periodical Journal Published by the Arab Documentation Center & Assafir Newspaper, Issue No. 43, June–July 2007, 140–144), 141.
UNRWA Statistics, “Where We Work?” accessed on March 9, 2018, https://www.unrwa.org/where-we-work/lebanon.
Sarkis Abu-Zeid, Interview with the author in Arabic, Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, December 13, 2017.
UNRWA, “Who We Are?” accessed on March 9, 2018, https://www.unrwa.org/who-we-are.
Marwan Abd Al'Al, Interview with the Author in Arabic, Mar Elias Refugee Camp, Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, January 30, 2018.
Abed Raja Serhan, Interview with the author in Arabic, Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, December 21, 2017.
Randa Farah, “Al-UNRWA: Ramz Haq Al-Awda” (Al-Akhbar Newspaper, Issue No. 3384, Wednesday, January 31, 2018), 10–11.
Randa Farah, “Al-UNRWA: Ramz Haq Al-Awda” (Al-Akhbar Newspaper, Issue No. 3384, Wednesday, January 31, 2018), 10–11.
Asm'a Awwad, “Al-Khouta ‘B’ Ba'da Ilgha’ al-Unrwa Jahiza?” (Al-Akhbar Newspaper, Issue No. 3357, Wednesday, December 27, 2017), 14.
Asm'a Awwad, “Al-Khouta ‘B’ Ba'da Ilgha’ al-Unrwa Jahiza?” (Al-Akhbar Newspaper, Issue No. 3357, Wednesday, December 27, 2017), 14.
Hiyam Kousseifi, “Ta'dad al-Falistiniyin wal Souriyin: Samt Siyasi wa Tasaoulat Amniya” (Al-Akhbar Newspaper, Issue No. 3361, Wednesday, January 3, 2018), 3.
Sheikh Maher Hammoud, Interview with the author in Arabic, Saida, Lebanon, Friday, January 12, 2018.
Sheikh Maher Hammoud, Interview with the author in Arabic, Saida, Lebanon, Friday, January 12, 2018.
Sarkis Abu-Zeid, Interview with the author in Arabic, Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, December 13, 2017.
Salah Salah, Interview with the author in Arabic, Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, December 19, 2017.
Salah Salah, Interview with the author in Arabic, Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, December 19, 2017.
Najah Wakim, Interview with the Author in Arabic, Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, December 19, 2017.
Najah Wakim, Interview with the Author in Arabic, Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, December 19, 2017.
Najah Wakim, Interview with the Author in Arabic, Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, December 19, 2017.
Suheir Al-Natour, “Al-Filistiniyoun wa Al-Tataworat fi Lubnan: Nikash Qanouni fo Athar Al-Qarar 1559“ (Baheth Studies, Summer–Autumn, Issue No. 11–12, 2005, 14–33), 24–26.