Democratic Palestine : 6 (ص 8)
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- Democratic Palestine : 6 (ص 8)
- المحتوى
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Will they survive the coming winter?
An Open Dialogue with Popular Committees’ Members
Abu Kassem, a member of the Popular Committee of the
Shatila camp, spoke about the conditions of the camp and the
problems facing the population. He said: «We were left in a
very difficult situation. Living conditions have deteriorated,
while restricting laws have increased. For example, 6 months
ago, a number of people submitted applications to obtain ID
cards. You know how important the ID cards are for being
allowed to move around even inside the camp and for being
allowed to work. But until now we are unable to get them. It is
possible to get them in two hours only, if one has 70 Lebanese
pounds. No exaggeration; people don’t have this amount of
money, because of unemployment. Now there are new rules
concerning employment such as obtaining a permission to
work, and the question is, who will grant us this permission?
Lately piles of trash has been scattered throughout the
camp.This forced a large number of our children to do the
clean-up work. However, they were imprisoned, because they
don't have a permission to work. The following day an armed
group arrived in the camp and announced through loudspeak-
ers: «Palestinians are not allowed to work».
What did the Palestinian organizations do concerning all
this? Nothing. They have to pay more attention to their own
people. Everyday we expect a massacre. I'd like to say, there
are women who fought closely with the revolution. Now they
have no food for their children. Frankly, they work as prosti-
tutes. Does this satisfy Abu Ammar in Tunis or any other leader
in Damascus? Finally I'd like to say, if the PLO will not pay
attention to these problems, let them leave us alone, and we
will act on our own.»
Abu Saleh, another member of the committee viewed the
present tasks of the Popular Committee in the following way:
«Presently the role of the Committee is limited to trying to solve
8
problems far away from anything concerning financial needs.
Due to the lack of financial and moral support, our committee
differs from the previous ones which were supported by all
PLO organizations. We made several attempts to contact the
PLO in order to solve this problem, but no results. The PLO
Executive Committee does not convene, and no one else is
authorized to take such decisions. Therefore all we do now is
to negotiate with some forces to solve problems that occur in
the camp. Moreover, the Committee tries to help in solving
problems related to electricity and water. However we can only
appeal to individuals for these matters. | hold all organizations,
with no exception, responsible for this state we have reached.
None of them are working seriously to alter the existing situa-
tion facing our masses in the camp. There are water and elec-
tricity shortages, and the Palestinian hospitals are already
Who is responsible for the Palestinian camps in Lebanon? - هو جزء من
- Democratic Palestine : 6
- تاريخ
- نوفمبر ١٩٨٤
- المنشئ
- الجبهة الشعبية لتحرير فلسطين
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