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Students Output : Palestinian Camps In Lebanon

Posted by Peter Hanna on 2010/6/11 13:48:23 (110 reads) News by the same author

Palestinian Camps In Lebanon
Samar Saliba

Historical Background
After the tragic naqba of 1948, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were displaced; creating an unsolvable social, economic, and political problem that would daunt the Middle East for decades to come and that will continue doing so for an unpredictable amount of time. As a new state was being formed, the previous one was disintegrating causing scores of Palestinians to seek refuge in neighboring countries- Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Egypt to name a few. At the time, the problem seemed momentary as the solution was thought to be within reach. In fact, during the 1950s, the present generation would have never believed that more than a half century later, the Palestinian question would have grown into a reality that seemed to be inerasable. After all isn’t 50 years more than enough to resolve one problem? Alas, the temporary refugee camps that had been established in neighboring Arab countries to house displaced families became Palestinians’ permanent residences; they became their reality.
Anywhere between 250 000 and 420 000 Palestinian refugees are now estimated to live in Lebanon forming 10 percent of the Lebanese population. One such example is the Satilla camp located in the South of Lebanon. Within this tiny area of 1km2 resides 17,000 Palestinians, 60- 65 percent of which are qualified as being children, adolescents or young men and women in their 20’s. They spend the majority of their days playing, lingering, wondering what tomorrow has in reserve for them. In a ‘normal’ society, they would represent the future of any country. They would be expected to have dreams and aspirations that could come true if they worked hard and most importantly if they got an education. In their case, education is quite a sensitive subject as tomorrow does not necessarily hold much of a bright promise for them; at least not with today’s politics which seem to be going nowhere in terms of solving the Palestinian question. This is rendered worse by the fact that Lebanon has often been qualified as having the worse living conditions for the Palestinians they host. They have no social or civil rights, they have extremely limited access to public health and education and no access whatsoever to public social services. In other words, they receive limited or no help from the Lebanese government. Worse yet, they are discriminated and looked down upon by most civilians as being second class citizens despite the fact that some of the refugees have lived in this country since 1949- when the camp was first built.
At the heart of the Shatilla camp exists an after school program around which most of the children’s days revolve. This program, headed by Abu Wassim, himself a Palestinian refugee who’s family has been living in Lebanon since 1949, is meant to be an after class help of some sorts by tackling issues that students might have had in class. Young volunteers around the camp help, most of them intelligent Palestinians who have had the chance to receive a higher education. However, by no means does it sound as organized as it seems. This “after school program” is not your typical bright, filled with toys, crayola and coloring books institution that one may find 5 minutes away from this camp. It consists of three 7 by 9 meter rooms, all of which are covered with maps of Palestine, and posters of Dalal Mughrabi, a martyr after which the school was named.
For the past 4 months, a group of AUB students including myself and Tressia have been volunteering at this school weekly in order to help the children with their English homework. We assist children from grade one to nine, but their level of education is so poor that this grading system does not mean much as it is much weaker when compared to other standards. There is not much organization as the group of children that show up vary daily, most of them not having much incentive to come unless they are really pressured by their parents. However, these children’s intelligence cannot be underestimated. Despite their awareness of the circumstances they are living it, their thirst to learn is very much alive. Nonetheless, they remain unsure of whether their efforts will lead up to anything fruitful. They are reminded time and time again that they are Palestinians and that their country is represented on the maps that cover the walls of the school. Their awareness is also illustrated through drawings that they make. Again, this is not your typical happy family drawing, but an illustration filled with Palestinian flags, peace signs and war scenes.

Interview
Abu Wassim is very much aware of the Lebanese ignorance on the Palestinian matter. Therefore he is thrilled that we are trying to publicize his cause. In fact, that is all that he asks from us- he insists time and time again that we need to talk about the enormous problem that many remain oblivious to.
The day I interviewed him, he happened to be in the company of another man, Abu Abed, who is a prominent figure in the leadership of the Burj el-Barajnh camp. Along with Abu Wassim, he gave his opinion and described his side of the story. Both only speak Arabic so the following interview was translated as best as possible. Also, children happened to be bustling in and out of the camp, listening attentively to our conversation and sometimes contributing.
Who provides school for the children?
UNRWA provides for elementary school. You saw that there is a United Nations office at the entrance of the camp. There are numerous officers that help out around the camp; that is not the problem. The problem is the funding of the children’s education. Before, perhaps 15 years ago or more, the UN used to provide everything for the students and much more. They provided everything from a pencil to the books and classrooms. However, as years passed by, we saw less and less money being spent on us supposedly because the UN was and still is having financial problems. (The other man interjects) But of course we all know that it is the US that is no longer willing to help the Palestinian cause as they are on Israel’s side. It is impossible for the UN not to have any more money. How can such a prestigious organization be in such financial difficulty to the point where it cuts its funds to less than 10 percent of what we used to receive from UNRWA?
What do you think about the level of education they receive?
My daughter Nana will tell you so you can hear it from a child who actually attends school. (his daughter Nana happened to be next to him) The classroom is often crowded, in some of my classes we are more than 57 students like in my math class. (Back to Abu Wassim) So you see it makes it hard for a child to learn when they are so many in class. Especially when they have such a limited amount of time. The teacher enters, gives her lesson the way he or she wants it, and exists without further explanation. If the child gets it great, if not than he is lost. This is why we put this program in place, to help all children after school hours with whatever they need. We review lessons with them, help them study for an exam. We try to be as productive as possible with the means we have. You see the girl over there and her friend next to her? They were both having problems at school, they had to repeat grade 4 in order to pass, but now they are fine, as we have been helping them here at the center.
Abu Wassim, you know most of the families and children in this camp. Do all of them attend school and your center regularly? They are required to come every day correct?
Yes, they are required to attend school by us, by their parents, by the UN. They need to attend school every day then come to the center for a couple of hours at a different time period depending on their grade level. You saw that our classroom is quite small and that there aren’t enough chairs so we can only accommodate a certain amount of people at the same time. If we see that some of them do not show up, I try to go out of my way and ask their family what is going on. We try our best.
I know that your eldest daughter, Yasmine, will be graduating soon. She is a bright student, do you think she has a promising future ahead of her?
Before, the UN used to sponsor the brightest students by sending them to the best universities around here and therefore permitting them to receive a higher education. This has changed due to their fund cuts. We just wish for our children the best, we try to give them the most we can just like our parents tried hard to give us what they did not get the opportunity to have. For example, I want all my girls to learn English when I don’t even understand it because I know that it is important to understand this language in today’s world. Unfortunately, we cannot do much about it right now; we put all our energy into hoping and believing that tomorrow’s politics will be beneficial to us and that it will enable Yasmine to go to college.
What do most children do when they finish their schooling and cannot afford to continue? What about young men and women that are in their 20’s?
That is the biggest problem we have now. There is a very high rate of unemployment, and like I told you before the large majority of people here at the camp are youngsters. So most of them spend their days together sitting in front of their houses smoking nargile. Yes there is a drug problem but it’s a problem just like in any other society. They are bored and so they gather and do drugs. But by no means is the drug situation within Palestinian refugee camps as extreme as outsiders think. You come here all the time and you see! Is the camp a dangerous place full of drugs like people think it is? It is just a stereotype. We condemn drugs. In fact we had a lady from a social committee come in the other day and speak to the children about drug abuse. She came, spoke for an hour and left, we don’t know if it will make a difference but it is better than nothing.
Abu Abed- we do not ask to be granted Lebanese citizenship. We just ask to be treated 10 percent of the way Lebanese are treated. We cannot continue living this way, we have been here for decades but we do not feel at home. Every day is a struggle; if we work today we will eat tonight, if we do not work today than we will sleep with no food. We can make no future plans because we are treated as second-class citizens here, we are looked down upon especially in the places you girls come from, we could never go to hamra or kaslik! Tomorrow’s prospects don’t look much better as our children will probably lead a harder life than we had. The meager education they receive is going to waste, as they cannot become a doctor, or a lawyer. Most of the young people here work as cab drivers, or at construction sites.
Our conversation continued for the next hour or so but for the sake of space I will stop here. He discussed health care issues, their plans for the future, amongst other camp related issue which my partner Tressia Hobeika covers in her report.
Application to Human Rights
The way Palestinian refugees are treated in Lebanon defies numerous articles that are considered to make up the foundations of human rights. The treatment of Palestinians in Shatilla camp is no exception. Since I am focusing on children’s education, I will first look at the application of Article 26, which directly tackles the issue of education.
Article 26 consists of three different parts:
1) Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.
The general concept of article 26 has been implemented in Shatilla but it is nowhere near the level that it should be at. It is true that regardless of the shrinking UN budget, UNRWA is still providing elementary schooling for all registered refugees. However, there is no reinforcement mechanism that follows up on children and ensures that they attend classes regularly. Also, this article does not assess the quality of education. They have been receiving elementary education but the conditions are less than mediocre. Fifty students per teacher is not an environment in which an optimum education can be given.
2) Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.

Due to the inadequate level of education at the Shatilla camp, it cannot be said that education contributes to the full development of the human personality. In fact, quite the contrary as the negative environment in which their studies are conducted inhibits any goals or incentives they might have as most of the youth ends up smoking nargila ganged up on one of the camp narrow alleys. They are very much aware that the way they are being treated is unacceptable but they cannot do anything about it. To them, the universal declaration of human rights is nothing but words on paper as it does not seem to apply to them whatsoever.

(3) Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.
Again, this does not apply to parents at shatilla whatsoever as the options are extremely limited to begin with. The children are lucky if they get any education at all. Being able to pick the kind of education they receive would truly be a luxury.
As mentioned above, there are numerous other articles that are being violated, regardless of the fact that Palestinian refugees can be considered to be a “special case”: Article 1, 2, 6, 7, 8, 13, 14, 15, 22, 23 just to name a few. So many violations are in place due to the fact that Palestinians are considered to be second-class citizens in Lebanon- the government does not protect them nor are they granted a citizenship and most importantly they are denied the right to lead any sort of normalized life. Article 28 is interesting to analyze as it summarizes more or less the situation that the Palestinian refugees are faced with:
Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized.
Palestinian refugees do live in a social and international order in which all rights and freedoms mentioned in this article could be fully realized; yet they are not. They have not been since 1948 and the prospects for the future seem quite dim, especially as Israel’s relationship with Palestine does not seem to be evolving.
Conclusion
To conclude, over the past 4 months that we have been visiting the Shatilla camp, we have realized more and more that the desolate environment in which Palestinian refugees live in is unacceptable. It is in violation of the majority of the articles that the Universal Declaration of Human rights consists of and promotes as being the basic foundations of a human being’s life. The unfortunate aspect lies in the fact that this is a well-known fact but very little is being done about it. This is perhaps due to our human nature for being so to say too “stuck in our bubble” for a lack of a better expression. As long as it does not have any effects on our immediate surroundings the human has a hard time relating to it. The question is, how much worse can this get before these people, no less equal that any other, will finally be granted their basic needs?