Abstract
Two refugees living inside Palestinian refugee camps talk about how their life stories get told by others, and the reality
Outsiders think we are terrorists and uneducated
People have different views of Palestinian camps and people’s lives inside them.
Outsiders often think people who live in camps have a low level of education, or they think camps are unsafe places because they are outside the control of the Lebanese government. Some imagine that life in camps is miserable. They believe people still live in tents and ancient houses.
The first thing people should know is that a large number of our young people are highly educated. They are doctors, engineers and teachers. They insist on improving themselves. They want to demonstrate that they are not lesser beings than those who live in cities and are part of the more established classes. On the contrary, they are people who are successful in their own field, but often cannot get local government jobs. So, they continue to study despite an uncertain future.
People outside the camps think that we live in tents, but this is also not correct. Some of us live in houses with all the necessary and basic needs for living. However at the same time, there are many thousands of people who live inside the camps who live in hard circumstances and need others’ support.
Many people from outside the camps are scared to enter, thinking that camps are places for terrorism. We do not deny that there are plenty of troubles, often taking place because of the living conditions, but these incidents are only between individuals, and are the exception rather than the norm. It doesn’t mean that camps are unsafe to live in or to visit.
But life in the camp does lack certain basic things. For example, there are no playgrounds or other means of entertainment for our children. They deserve to play and enjoy their childhood like all other children around the world.
© Rana Moneim
Social media shows people how we live
There was a time when the outside world had little idea of the events occurring in Palestinian camps in Lebanon. The camps stood in isolation from the surrounding cities and villages, and there was little communication with the outside world, except for rare individual relationships.
Advances in communications technology and the advent of social media has changed all that. People know what takes place inside the camps now very quickly by just looking at Whatsapp, Facebook or Twitter. Most of the local Lebanese television channels also report what happens inside the Palestinian camps and transmit the events to people all over the world.
Friends and relatives also play a significant role in publishing what is happening in camps. Most people have cousins or friends who live outside to whom they can send news or other information. Marriage between Palestinians and Lebanese also facilitates communication between the inside and outside. Nowadays many students study in different universities in Lebanon or abroad, and many carry out research projects about life in the camps, again helping people better understand what’s going on.
Can we be friends with the people we grew up to hate?
Credit: Mary Mitchell
When
The year was 1975, the drums of war echoed through every corner of the flourishing gem of Lebanon. I won’t go into details of the reasons why, or who was to blame. War is a two-way dance. We are all to blame.
Christians and Palestinians went to war. There was bloodshed. Thousands died. Soldiers fed on each other’s misery. The result was nil all. No one won, for in this small but highly complex country, winning a war was simply impossible.
The year is 2014. Could a Lebanese Christian be friends with a Muslim Palestinian? I thought: these are the animals my people fought. These are the people we grew up learning to hate. These are the ghosts of death that sent fear into every Christian’s heart. Or was it all an illusion? And were we, Christians and Palestinians, merely actors? Was Lebanon the stage? Were we performing a script that we had no control over, written by a hidden master and directed by a foreign, deceptive director?
It was a crisp warm summer day, and the almighty yellow sun cast its rays on the southern historic Phoenician city of Tyre. I was invited into our supposed enemy’s camp. I hesitantly agreed. I didn’t know what to expect. How will they perceive me, an active member of a political party which not so long ago took the lives of their young people, and rendered many families without sons, daughters, mothers, and fathers?
But as soon as I entered the Palestinian camp of Rashedieh (left), all my preconceptions were shattered. The people of these camps were no enemies. They were not ghosts of death, but rather humans with the same concerns as me. They wanted to work and earn a living, with an eye on Lebanon as a safe haven, and an eye on their never-forgotten home back in holy Palestine. With open arms and accepting hearts, I was welcomed. I was truly astonished.
To this day I visit the camp at least twice a month, and the enemies of the past have turned to lifelong friends. I couldn’t but sympathise with them for the living conditions they endure are not suitable for humans in this day and age. I learned a very valuable lesson – never treat a person based on preconceptions, but as brothers in humanity. If we apply this simple rule, the world can surely reign in peace.
The local and international NGOs who have been working in the camps and with Palestinians, have also facilitated, enhanced and enriched the communication between Palestinians inside and outside.
The popular committees, which govern the camps, communicate on regular basis with other committees and the municipalities around the camps.
Because all these channels of communication have opened up, knowing about Palestinian camps is no longer a complicated issue.
© Mohammed Maarouf