Democratic Palestine : 24 (ص 31)
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- عنوان
- Democratic Palestine : 24 (ص 31)
- المحتوى
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wounded (three youths, one woman
and an elderly man) had died due to
lack of proper nourishment and
medical treatment. Ten children, rang-
ing in age from four months to one and
a half years, had died from malnutri-
tion. Forty-five other children were
threatened with the same fate. No less a
testimony to Amal’s fascism was its
refusal to let two children out of the
camp to be treated for cancer.
It had become common to see people
rummaging among heaps of garbage to
find something edible that had been
discarded by mistake. The approx-
imately 40 wounded in Shatila’s
underground shelter had lost con-
sciousness for lack of food, loss of
blood or inability to withstand pain in
the absence of painkillers. Doctors were
forced to carry out many amputations
without anaesthesia, an_ especially
traumatic situation when a child was
concerned. With no blood bags, no
soap and no antiseptic stronger than
boiled water, doctors were forced to
perform surgery by candlelight,
because there was no fuel left to run
generators. People had begun to burn
their furniture, doors and window
frames for cooking and warmth. The
mountains of garbage, clouds of in-
sects, open sewage and polluted water
only added to this impossible situation
of death and disease. One Shatila resi-
dent voiced the thoughts of the
thousands under siege: «Why can’t any
power in the world put a stop to this
nightmare. We are on the verge of
death.» A spokeswoman for the
Shatila branch of the General Union of
Palestinian Women said, «We die
slowly and the whole world looks on.»
In March alone, 46 were wounded
and 43 killed in Burj Al Barajneh. In
Shatila, 63 were wounded and 2S killed.
It is estimated that in Shatila, with a
population of 3,000, approximately
one-third of whom are under 15 years
of age, one in every five persons was
killed or wounded since the state of
siege began on November 26th. Many
have been wounded more than once,
and many had to suffer amputations.
In Burj Al Barajneh, with a population
of 20-30,000, one in every fifteen per-
sons was wounded or killed.
In the face of these atrocities, a
broad protest campaign was launched,
led by the besieged camp residents
themselves. A hail of appeals from
Palestinian organizations, the Shatila
and Burj popular committees and the
GUPW were forwarded to President
Hafiz Al Asad, Col. Muamer Qaddafi,
President Shadli Bin Jadeed,
Democratic Yemen’s President Haider
Abu Baker Al Attas, the Secretary
General of the Arab League, the United
Nations, the national and progressive
Lebanese organizations and religious
personalities, as well as to international
women’s organizations, especially the
World Federation of Democratic
Women.
Demonstrators, led by PNSF
members, marched in Nahr Al Bared
and Badawi camps in North Lebanon,
protesting the siege and calling on the
International Red Cross to intervene.
promptly to alleviate the suffering by
evacuating the wounded and letting in
supplies.
In Tripoli, Lebanon, popular com-
mittees held a sit-in in front of the
ICRC headquarter, emphasizing the
same demands. In southern Lebanon,
representatives of eight Palestinian
organizations and of the popular
committees of Ain Al Hilweh, Miyeh
Miyeh, Sidon, Al Kharoub region, the
costal area, Nabatiyeh and Tyre called
a strike on March 31st, denouncing the
siege of the camps. On April Ist, a
massive demonstration was held in Ain
Al Hilweh, organized by the PNSF
committee. At the end of the
demonstration, speeches were made in
a school playground, condemning
Angry Palestinian women and children demonstrators protest siege of refugee camps in Beirut. - هو جزء من
- Democratic Palestine : 24
- تاريخ
- مايو ١٩٨٧
- المنشئ
- الجبهة الشعبية لتحرير فلسطين
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