Franklin Lamb
Al-Manar
Palestinian women, who had been living at Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp in Syria, wait outside the Lebanese immigration authority to have their papers stamped at the Lebanese-Syrian border, in al-Masnaa 18 December 2012. (Photo: Reuters) |
Perhaps the next time this observer responds to a request from a graduate student somewhere who writes to him seeking help with research for a Masters or Doctoral thesis on the subject of Palestinian refugees In Lebanon and Syria and the effects of the current crisis in Syria on their lives, I will propose the following:
Go to some store like Sears, Target or Sports Authority (I started to write Wal-Mart—but realized that my friend and eminent authority on Zionism and the Question of Palestine, Jeff Blankfort would shout at me via email as he did when I mentioned a couple of years ago something about wanting him to send me a really cheap camera from that slave labor–union busting outfit) and purchase a small decent quality tent on sale. Then buy three pair of full body thermal underwear and come right away to Lebanon.
The sociological-political data base here is full and ripe for documentation and analysis and the friendly but often bored border guys will cooperate. And currently, the students can advise their university administrations and thesis advisors, the Maznaa border crossing is safe and the snakes and scorpions have, for the most part, slithered down deep.
While Syria and Lebanon have a longstanding agreement that allows their citizens to cross the border without a visa, it is not being applied, as before, to Palestinians. Some families, especially larger ones, face a real cash outlay burden.
On 1/2/13 this observer met three Palestinian women who with their young children actually walked across the border at Maznaa from Yarmouk camp, about 40 kilometers away. Among them, they had 12 children-two babies and ten who were approximately between the ages of 4-9. Their total “tax bill” was LL 300,000 ($200) and that unexpected sum left them essentially penniless. Moreover, assurances on the Syrian side of the border to the contrary notwithstanding, there is currently no UN relief agencies or NGO’s on the Lebanese side to help the desperate arrivals.
A researcher might conclude that what is needed also at Maznaa is for someone to set up a soup kitchen because many refugees are arriving very hungry. Some of the relatively few cars heading into Syria these days, including the one this observer was riding in, are partially filled with cheap Lebanese bread that returning Palestinians or Syrians have purchased in Lebanon for their families inside Syria where bread is getting rather expensive and on some days even hard to come by due to the shortage of flour and destruction of some bakeries. Some of the drivers, queued and awaiting vehicle inspection, will hand out a plastic bag of bread or two for those arriving in need.
When this observer bought five manouche (a kind of cheese pizza), from the only nearby shop, for five little ones at the Maznaa crossing—and began to distribute them—suddenly around ten more refugee youngsters appeared from among the border chaos and ravished the manouches– bizarrely reminding one of piranhas attacking a fat chicken fed to them in the Amazon.
To this latter end, Al Nusra types are currently “cleansing” areas of Yarmouk under their control and attempting to spread into adjoining areas of the camp. As of 1/4/13 there is not much resistance to their activities as the pro-government armed popular committees such as the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command have not returned in significant numbers after fleeing nearly two weeks ago.
Some of the camp inhabitants expect that the Syrian army will enter Yarmouk with massive force in an attempt to expel al Nusra Front and their allies but others are saying that the army is very reluctant to do so because it would be accused of destroying a Palestinian refugee camp.
Still others say that it’s a waiting game until the current crisis is resolved and that they will simply avoid the growing jihadist areas of the camp as best they can until the end of the crisis. This observer detected among several he spoke with, that there is exists a certain amount of optimism that the crisis will soon be resolved and they are watching these months scheduled US-Russia meeting for signs.
Talking with some of the Syrian soldiers at the entrance to Yarmouk, and asking for their assessments, the query often elicits a terse response to the effect that they are “preparing to secure the area and awaiting orders.”
He is the author of The Price We Pay: A Quarter-Century of Israel’s Use of American Weapons Against Civilians in Lebanon.
He contribute to Uprooted Palestinians Blog
Please Sign http://www.petitiononline.com/ssfpcrc/petition.html
Beirut Mobile: +961-70-497-804
Office: +961-01-352-127
River to Sea
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this Blog!
No comments:
Post a Comment