Democratic Palestine : 6 (ص 6)
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- Democratic Palestine : 6 (ص 6)
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plete civil rights, particularly the right to work and move about
freely, since there are many companies, organizations and
workshops which do not employ Palestinians.
We asked his mother, Um Khalil, about her social condi-
tions: «Our living conditions are terrible. When we go to get
medical treatment, they don't give us any. Sometimes they ask
for a paper from another official; when we bring it, they say that
they aren't able to treat us.» Um Khalil adds that Gaza hospital
is no longer free: «A visit would cost 100 Lebanese pounds. If
my husband makes 1000 pounds monthly and we have eight
children, how can we go to the hospital?»
«The Palestinian should be treated like any
Lebanese citizen.»
Adeeb Ibrahim is a worker and lives in Shatila refugee
camp. he emphasized the harassment to which Palestinians in
Beirut are subjected from different movements, groups and the
Lebanese authorities: «This is a very important matter that our
leadership must discuss with those concerned, so that our
youth will not be subjected to beatings or detainment inside the
camps...We cannot go visit our relatives in the Beqaa Valley
without being harassed. | am a Palestinian residing in Leba-
non. | have a right to go to the north, south, east or west of the
country. | have legal residence and should be treated like any
Lebanese citizen.»
«God only knows where our next place of refuge
will be.»
Lemyaa Ahmed is 20 years old and works at a factory
Samed (the PLO’s economic institution). She lives in the
sports stadium on the edge of Shatila camp, which was heavily
bombed tn the 1982 Israeli invasion and where over 30 families
now live in the worst conditions. Lemyaa said, «Before the
1975-76 civil war, we lived in Tel al Zaatar refugee camp
(which was destroyed by the Phalangists). We left there for
Damour and then to Beirut. During the invasion we came to
where we now are. Only God knows where our next place of
refuge will be.»
«We must organize committees to help the
needy.»
Zaineb Khalil is 18 years old. She discussed the impor-
tance of devoting attention to social problems by organizing
committees concerned with the most needy: those who are on
the verge of starvation or who lack ability to care for them-
selves. She also mentioned the need to give attention to
schools and to building social and cultural clubs. Describing
the situation, she said: «There is no work, no security; our
salaries have been cut and the PLO does not seem to be con-
cerned. The number of missing and detained Palestinians is in
the hundreds if not thousands. There is daily harassment from
the authorities and different groups.»
«No work, no security, no guarantees, no free-
dom.»
Anxiety was plain to see on the face of a high school stu-
dent who refused to give his name; he spoke about the almost
total lack of social life at home or at school: «There is no se-
curity,no guarantees.» He then asked sarcastically about the
guarantees agreed upon between the Lebanese government
and the PLO.
Um Shehadeh is 70 years old. She lives with her daughter
and has no one to support her. The different episodes of the
tragedies of the Palestinian people are written all over her
face. She said, «We left Nabatiyeh after the war to go to
Shehim, then to Beirut. We lived in a building inhabited by
6
refugees. Our entire life has been torturous. This is the fate of
the Palestinian people.»
«! can still envision what happened during the
Massacres.»
The story of Um Atiyeh, 65 years old, does not differ much
from that of Um Shehadeh. Um Atiyah told how she left Tel al
Zaatar in 1976 without any compensation. She went to
Damour, then to Shatila after the invasion. She witnessed the
Sabra and Shatila massacres. «|! can still see the children,
women and girls before my eyes.» After the massacres, Um
Atiyah searched for a home, but found only a single room
where she and her family lived for a long time. She finally left it
because she could not pay the rent. Today she too lives in the
sports stadium near Shatila. At the end of her talk she said bit-
terly: «lam an old woman but still hold the PLO responsible for
forgetting its people. »
«Killing a Palestinian became easier than killing a
bird.»
Sabah Ahmed works as a seamtress in her home. She
said, «Palestinian workers have great difficulty in finding a job
especially as the Lebanese authorities forbid any Palestinian
to work without a work permit. It is usually quite difficult to get
this permit, since it costs a lot, too much for the average worker
to pay.» Concerning the security situation after the departure
of the Palestinian resistance, she said bitterly: «It became
easier to kill a Palestinian than to kill a bird.»
Mahmoud Ali, an accountant, answered our questions by
saying: «There is no security; any problem can result in the
death of Palestinian youth. This in turn is due to the absence of
anyone being willing to protect the Palestinians. Since the
departure of the resistance, we have been humiliated. When
the resistance was present, we knew where we stood and who
would protect us from the Lebanese authorities, the Zionist
enemy or the fascist parties.» Concerning the social conditions
in the refugee camps, he said, «Our people are desti-
tute...there are no jobs and we are constantly harassed. This
has led some Palestinians to leave the area.» He added that if
the revolution’s structures were present, they would have pro-
vided some.employment. As for UNRWA, he mentioned that
there is a great deal of carelessness. The financial aid formerly
granted to Palestinian refugees has been cut.
«Where is the PLO?»
We then discussed the PLO's responsibility for defending
the camps, securing a livelihood for the people and guarante-
eing their political and civil rights, with these same people.
Everybody agreed that the PLO is absent and has relinquished
its most basic obligations to its people in Beirut.
Khalil Atiyah said that the PLO should contact the
Lebanese government to secure acceptable living conditions
for the Palestinians in Lebanon, including freedom of move-
ment and study. He demanded that special committees be
established to seek out those families in most need. He also
called for reforming popular comittees to carrying out the vari-
ous functions needed in the camps.
«An alternative to Tel al Zaatar must be found.»
Adeeb Ibrahim said that if the leadership of the revolution
could only see how the people of Tel al Zaatar are living, they
would not delay in finding a new place for them. «We wonder
how the leadership can think about everything except aid to the
Palestinian masses still holding out in Lebanon. Aren't the
catastrophes we have faced enough to convince them of the
need for this aid? People here are dying of hunger and nobody
cares...Yet despite what has happened. we maintain our - هو جزء من
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