Democratic Palestine : 20 (ص 8)
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- Democratic Palestine : 20 (ص 8)
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Palestinian Camps in Beirut
In mid-October, a correspondent for Democratic Palestine visited the Palestinian refugee camps in the
Beirut area. Here he spoke with a broad range of political activists, professionals, freedom fighters and
ordinary residents of Shatila and Burj Al Barajneh camps. The following is excerpts from some of these
interviews. It is noteworthy that since his visit, both these camps have been subject to renewed attacks by
Amal’s forces.
Shatila Still Besieged
Concerning future battles, he said, «We
are going to adopt much more severe
Comrade Abu Samer, administrative
officer of the PFLP in Shatila, is mar-
ried and has eight children. He is from
Dir Al Qassi in northern Palestine. He
explained the situation in the camp:
«We still live in a state of semi-siege.
We have been asking our Syrian bro-
thers to find a solution for that. Our
children are afraid to go to school.
Everybody is searched... We did not
expect these wars with Amal. We
fought together and considered our-
selves allies before the first camp war in
May 1985. Amal started harassing our
people. Then suddenly, they started the
war. We used the loudspeakers of the
mosque to ask them to stop, but Amal
was fulfilling a Zionist-imperialist plan.
This first war lasted until the Damascus
agreement was concluded (in June
1985).»
«There was calm for two months.
Then Amal started throwing grenades
at the camp intermittently, and
harassment of our people outside the
camp increased. There was a battle of
six hours, and we defeated Amal and
controlled their positions. Then we
withdrew to our own positions on the
orders of our political leadership. That
was in October 1985. Then, in
December 1985, there was the war of
four days. In February 1986, there was
the war of 20 days. Then there was the
45 day war in June 1986.»
FRONTLINE DEFENSE
We interviewed the fighters in a
PFLP military position that is on the
frontline in the defense of Shatila
camp. Comrade Abu Athab explained,
«I have been involved in all the battles
to defend Shatila since 1985. In 1985, I
fought from outside the camp, because
I could not enter. After that, I moved to
the camp. The camp wars are a direct
service to ‘Israel’, because they aim to
rob our people of their arms. Regard-
less of the pressure on us, we will never
give up our weapons.»
Comparing the military situation
now with the first battle with Amal in
1985, Comrade Abu Athab said,
«Before and just after the first battle,
Our situation was desperate, because we
were not prepared to fight Amal. We
did not have enough arms or ammuni-
tion. There were not enough military
cadres to lead the defense. Now the
situation is much better. We even have
8
a medical staff. In the first battle, the
fighting was all in the camp itself, but
in the following battles, we advanced to
a certain extent, so the fighting would
not take place in the camp.»
Comrade Samir Harb, leader of the
position, said, « I am proud to say I am
a fighter with the PFLP, because it is a
revolutionary organization that honors
the Palestinian cause and armed
struggle... We realize that Amal is
carrying out a plan to take away the
arms of the Palestinian masses. The
Amal leadership is divided into two
main factions. One is mislead by the
idea of building a sectarian, purely
Shiite canton. The other is directly tied
to Zionism and its state. The second
faction is more influential in the South.
The main body of Amal is nationalist,
but is mislead by these two factions...»
Comrade Samir explained the main
lessons gained in these battles as fol-
lows: «The first lesson was fighting in
hand-to-hand combat. At times, the
only distance between us and Amal was
a brick wall. I learned that I can fight
anyone face-to-face to defend our
revolution. The other lesson concerned
developing special relations with the
masses during a state of siege. Our
steadfastness cannot be separated from
the steadfastness of our masses. Our
masses played a vital role in supporting
the fighters. The women used pillow
cases to transport sand for defense
lines, and they helped transport food,
water and ammunition.»
Comrade Samir explained how they
had controlled their position in the first
place: «Before the 20 days battle
(February 1986), we were not here.
Then there was a political decision that
this area is part of the camp’s defense.
This area consists of three passageways
through which the Amal gangs were
able to direct fire at the center of the
camp. We were able to defeat Amal
here and take control of the area in
order to protect our people.»
Comrade Abu Athab was injured in
the fighting with Amal, and we asked if
he bore hard feelings against the
Shiites. He replied, «For forty years,
we have lived alongside Lebanese
Shiites with no problems. We inter-
married. We consider them brothers.
For this reason, I have a strong hatred
of those elements who serve ‘Israel’ by
trying to create antagonism between the
Palestinians and Lebanon’s Shiites.»
tactics if Amal strikes again, regardless
of their excuse. We are not going to
limit ourselves to responding. We will
implement the agreement by force and
we have the power to do it. We will not
allow any force to rob us of our arms.»
Comrade Abu Athab described the
relations between the fighters and the
masses: «Our masses are our source of
moral support during the battle. They
become fighters too by participating in
the militias. We in the resistance were
ready for battle and had food stocks for
three meals a day, while the masses
faced shortages. So we helped out. By
the end of the battle, we ate only two,
sometimes one meal a day. That had no
effect on our steadfastness. We are
used to this because we have had the
experience of previous occasions. In
conclusion, he stressed, «I would like to
salute all progressive fighters around
the world who struggle against impe-
rialism. I call on the Palestinian leaders
to reunite the PLO on a nationalist
basis, as has been proposed by the
PFLP. I hope that our comrades
abroad will increase their support for us
by all means possible.
POPULAR COMMITTEE
Mr. Darwish is a member of the
popular committee of Shatila camp. He
is from Akbara near Safad in northern
Palestine, and has nine children. He
gave an idea of the popular committee’s
aims and activities: «The popular
committee was established in 1973, in
accordance with a PLO decision...
Since the establishment, our aim has
been the same, i.e., serving the masses
and acting as the executive and political
apparatus in the daily life of the camp.
The popular committee is divided into
different committees for external rela-
tions, internal relations, social affairs,
finances, information, public services
and projects. Every committee has its
duties. The project committee is res-
ponsible for accomplishing specific
projects, such as water and electricity.
Recently, two wells were dug in the
camp, and the water is good. Electric
lines were set up, and the sewage system
was repaired. We brought two electri-
city generators. We also manage several
bakeries and cooperatives.»
«The public service committee is
responsible for garbage collection and
clearing away the rubble after wars.
The social committee is responsible for - هو جزء من
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