SAN DIEGO, Calif.–According to a study done by the United Nations, approximately 34,000 Palestinian refugees used to live in Iraq. Now, only about 15,000 Palestinians remain since the occupation began.
The San Diego branch of AL-AWDA, a Palestinian human rights organization, recently met to discuss possible ways to help the Palestinian refugees. "Our goal is to educate the public about the current situation of the Palestinians refugees who are living in Iraq." says Zahi Damuni, one of the group organizers.
"Approximately 19,000 have been forced to flee Iraq, once again becoming refugees. One of the biggest issues there is that a lot of them are being targeted by different militias, and many others are stuck in camps along the borders," explains Damuni.
The situation of the Palestinians is a very sensitive subject. Due to the atrocities suffered by the Jewish people at the hands of the Nazis during World War II, on May 14, 1948 the Jewish people were given the region of Palestine as a homeland, thus forming the Nation of Israel.
The surrounding Arab nations rejected the decision, and conflicts quickly arose. The armies of Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Trans-Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and Egypt attacked but were defeated by the Israeli army. In the same year, an estimated 750,000 Palestinians were driven out of their homes and into various refugee camps throughout the Middle East.
Tension has only grown since then. Due to terrorist attacks by extremists, wars, and retaliation from the Israelis, many innocents have been harmed on both sides, making a peaceful resolution between the two only more difficult.
The Palestinians who have been driven to Iraq as refugees continue to experience hardship in this war zone. Mahmoud Zubaidi, a speaker at the AL-AWADA meeting, gives insight into their problems within Iraq, "The Palestinian refugees who were living in Iraq have suffered from day one. The refugees had received some help from the regime, so they were looked upon as Sadaam supporters and favorites of the regime. Of course, that couldn't be further from the truth, as the Palestinian refugees in Iraq were used by Sadaam to capitalize on their refugee status. Now, some of the Iraqi factions have used that help as a reason to take revenge against them."
A short film was shown, entitled "Nowhere to Flee". It contains interviews with some of the Palestinians living in the refugee camps along the Iraqi border. They told of what they had suffered due to racism from the various Iraqi militias, including the Hussein Brigade.
On a regular basis they would receive death threats, letters telling that they only have a certain amount of time to leave, and neighbors and family members would go missing.
One refugee said, "We just want to live, even if we live in poverty." Another person said, "Our only crime is being Palestinian".
Currently, AL-AWDA is focusing their refugee support on the Tenif refugee camp. Zubaidi explains, "The camp was established in 1991 for the Iraqi refugees during the Iraqi-Kuwaiti War. The Palestinian refugees were placed in the camp and receive some support from the United Nations, but there is a lot of room for improvement. It's not big enough to support all of the refugees."
"The Tenif camp has 340 people and is about 260 kilometers from the nearest populated area. It's very isolated with very harsh conditions, and only 10% of the people who need medical treatment can be treated or are given temporary entry to the city of Damascus for treatment," says Zubaidi.
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