Will it Work?
A Formula for Palestinian Survival in Damascus
by FRANKLIN LAMB
Western side of Yarmouk Camp, Damascus
For more than a year, Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp, one of nine in Syria, has been a war zone between supporters of the Syrian government and those seeking its overthrow. But the number of camp residents actively engaged in fighting on either side is negligible, according to Dr. Hamed Mouad.
Mouad is
author of the first book on Yarmouk camp history and its sociology. Many of his
relatives are camp residents, or were
at any rate, until they had to flee eight months ago. Despite great pressure to
help "liberate" the camp--pressure put upon them from both sides of this war--the residents here, insisting on neutrality,
overwhelmingly refused to join either side in the conflict. And for this they
have paid a big price.
All "legal" entrances to Yarmouk and its neighborhoods are blocked by the
Syrian army or rebel gunmen, and government and rebel snipers inhabit many
rooftops. However, along the western side it is possible to enter some parts of
the camp with the assistance of a friendly teenager. Approximately only 20% of
the 170,000 who lived in Yarmouk pre-crisis have remained, with a majority of
those seeking housing outside in Damascus suburbs. Many parts of the camp are
now largely a deserted wasteland, and most residents remaining have little or
no water, electricity, or safe camp infrastructure or shops of any sort. The
Syrian government, however, continues to allow free medical aid at public
health facilities, and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent Society (SARCS) helps many
with food parcels.
Palestinians interviewed inside this western area of Yarmouk explain that the
only reason anyone still remains at all is that they have run out of options.
They risk their lives daily, a sort of Russian roulette fate in view of snipers
and mortars, to remain in what is left of their homes--either that or they camp
out near the piles of rubble that were
their homes. Still others try to survive outside the camp, squatting on
blankets, flattened cardboard boxes or plastic tarps, in the shadow of schools
and mosques. There are even some fortunate families who have a small gas burner
to cook with.
Damascus experiences very high summer heat, far exceeding temperatures commonly
seen in Beirut and Saida Lebanon, where many of the Palestinian refugees from
Syria have fled--many but by no means all. For inside the Syrian capital can be
seen additional Yarmouk residents, lots of them, milling amongst the more than
one million refugees who have fled here from other parts of the country over
the past nearly 29 months. A few of these desperate people drape some blankets
in alleyways, gambling that the authorities will not roust them, or fearing,
even worse, that they may become victims of robbery or kidnapping. In Damascus,
kidnapping has especially become a significant business.
Damascus cops, some of them at any rate, will on humanitarian grounds allow
people to sleep in a few of the city's smaller, more inconspicuous playgrounds
or green spaces, a policy applied as well to Roma Gypsies, whose main
neighborhood was destroyed. But this lenience stops at the borders of the main
parks, which are probably the most beautiful and manicured, even during the
current fighting, of any Arab country in the Middle East. In these parks,
camping is not allowed. Yet that being said, when a mortar or car bomb
demolishes part of a street, some of its residents do spill into the central parks, reminding this observer of how
many times since the Lebanese civil war and Israeli aggressions that Beirut's
Saniyeh gardens in Hamra has been overcrowded with refugees living rough.
Classes will start in Syria in less than a month, meaning that school buildings
will no longer be available as temporary refugee shelters. Some Palestinians,
like their Syrian neighbors, are still fleeing to Lebanon, but the government
has recently raised the exit fee at the Masnaa border crossing from 550 Syrian
pounds to 1,100 (roughly $6) per person--not a big bite for most foreigners,
certainly, yet for Syrian and Palestinian families hoping to postpone death, it
is a rather hefty, nigh unaffordable, chunk.
Though it's hard to generalize, many residents of Damascus, including some of
the remaining Palestinians, seem to feel the violence will continue slowly to
subside as government forces go on pushing rebel forces further away from the
city center. This appears also to be the case with Syrians as a whole, despite
the fact that the population is numbed and exhausted, horrified at what has
become of their country, and pessimistic about the future of their beloved
Syria and its chances at remaining intact. Most of course have suffered
incalculable losses--tragically in terms of killed loved ones, but there are
also material losses, losses of livelihoods, jobs, and businesses, without much
prospect for recovery, at least anytime soon. Nonetheless, there is exhibited a
sense that life may soon improve. Mazin, the driver for Al Alam TV,
explained to this observer the other night: " It may seemed strange, but we
Damascenes hear more shelling these days as government forces push rebels
out of some of the suburbs, but we also feel more secure despite more
shelling because the rebels are being driven back away the our suburbs.
But there is a long way to go."
As signs of approaching better times, some people point to Ali Haidar,
Syria's Minister for National Reconciliation, seen frequently in public these
days discussing plans being put into place for the return of the Syrian and
Palestinian refugees. Another example is President Bashar al-Assad's August 1 visit
to the town of Daraya. Located outside Damascus, Daraya was a rebel bastion for
more than a year. Now it is mainly under government control. It was the Syrian
President's first such public trip since his 3/12/12 visit to Baba Amr in
central Homs--a location which ironically yesterday saw a huge explosion at a government
weapons depot in which approximately 50 people were killed. A defiant
speech nonetheless was given by Assad, who pledged victory over forces
seeking to topple Syria's government, and he seems to have buoyed some as he
chatted with soldiers, expressing the country's gratitude for its military's
performance. This kind of connecting with the general population is replicated
by an increasing number of Syrian officials, officials who are being seen more and
more in public outside their heavily protected offices. While not a complete
restoration of public optimism, it does seem to offer hope for an end to the
civil war.
As the
pendulum swings, at least for now, in favor of the current regime, Syrian and
Palestinian friends and acquaintances still express dismay, for more specifics
are becoming apparent in regard to what they may face should the extreme
Islamist, Salafist and Wahabist forces ultimately prevail and set up a Salafist
caliphate. Just this week, for instance, a sharia committee in the rebel-held
region of secular Aleppo banned the baking or eating of croissants, this despite
shortages of bread. The reason given? The French croissants, according to some
Salafist-Wahabist "scholars," are secret symbols of colonial oppression. The belief
of the leaders of Jabhat al-Nusra and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant,
both affiliated with al-Qaeda, seems to be that because Syria is a former
French colony, this symbol of Frenchness is obviously connected with
imperialism. And of course the pastry's crescent shape celebrates European
victory over Muslims. Conspiracy theorists abound everywhere, it seems.
Also, various groups increasingly are issuing fatwas designed to ensure
that the planned new order dismantles the current secular Syrian society, the
sooner the better. Over the past several months a raft load of Fatwa's, which
apparently any wannabe Islamic "scholar" can issue when in the mood, has
included just about the wholesale importation of Saudi Arabian culture and
lifestyle. In fact, some of these Fatwa's make the KSA appear almost moderate.
Within the past few months, Rebel-held regions of Aleppo have become more and
more dominated by extremist elements, further marginalizing more moderate rebel
groups, and putting many Syrians at their mercy. The Islamic law council
of Aleppo's Fardous neighborhood recently issued a fatwa banning all women, not only Muslims, from
wearing "immodest" dress. This includes not only tight-fitting
clothing but also a ban on cosmetics. Another Fatwa decrees a one year jail
sentence for failing to fast during the month of Ramadan, again, Muslim or not.
In the face of this decidedly dismal backdrop, the PLO leadership in Ramallah is reaching out to Palestinians in Syria, as well as to the Syrian government, with a proposed solution to the current Palestinian refugee crisis, a crisis that for the moment, despite hopeful signs, continues to worsen. Reportedly a four-member delegation was sent to Damascus at the end of July from PA headquarters in Ramallah. Upon arrival, the envoys presented the 14 Palestinian factions in the Syrian capital with a two-step initiative to end the fighting in Yarmouk. A copy of the "secret plan" was obtained by this observer. The proposal has, on good authority, been approved by the Syrian government, with a decision expected from the PLO groups during the first half of August. Meant to build on Mahmoud Abass' July visit to Lebanon, the PLO declaration reads essentially as follows:
"Based on the principled position declared by the Palestine Liberation
Organization leadership regarding all the internal developments taking place in
the Arab countries -- particularly the crisis in Syria -- which is not to
interfere in the internal affairs of these countries, and prevent the
involvement of either the Palestinians or their camps in these struggles, by
maintaining their neutrality and preserving the camps as secure environments
for their Palestinian and Syrian residents, empty of both weapons and fighters,
in order to keep the Palestinian struggle directed against our primary enemy,
the Israeli occupation.
Mindful of the above, and after the developments which led to the dispersal of
hundreds of thousands of our people in the camps, which were then turned into
insecure and dangerous zones, we the factions of the Palestine Liberation
Organization, the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people,
propose the following initiative, with the hope that in cooperation with all
those concerned, we can work together to achieve the following:
First, based on our principled position of positive neutrality and keeping the
Palestinians and their camps out of the confrontations in Syria, we propose
that all the Palestinian camps -- and Yarmouk camp in particular -- be secure and
safe areas, free of weapons and fighters, by taking the following steps:
-- End all public display of weapons and fighters, with guarantees to those who
wish to do so.
-- Avoid the use of the camps as areas of confrontation and cease all forms of
fighting, including sniping and shelling.
-- Allow the free movement of people, food, medical supplies and vehicles in and
out of the camp, which will encourage the return of the displaced to their
homes.
-- Restore services, including electricity, water, telecommunications, schools,
and hospitals.
-- Provide amnesty to all those camp residents who have been detained if their
involvement in the fighting cannot be confirmed.
Second, follow up and coordinate efforts in order to execute the steps outlined
in the proposal by eliminating all obstacles, providing all that is required
for its success."
It is a fine sounding, presumably well-meaning initiative, but one that has
been met with grave doubts among Palestinians here, including camp popular
committees. The plan is considered unworkable since some groups that are
even more extremist than al-Qaeda have started moving families of their members
and community into Yarmouk, pledging to stay despite what any other rebel
groups decide, reminding us of the fate of Nahr al Bared camp near Tripoli,
Lebanon.
The overwhelming sense among Palestinians here with whom this observer has
discussed the proposal, is that there can be no progress with respect to
returning Palestinian refugees to their homes in Yarmouk until a political
solution is reached among all the major parties to the Syrian Crisis. And some
predict that may take decades.
