26 mar 2014
The Action Group for Palestinian in Syria said the Yarmouk refugee camp on Tuesday was shelled with mortars, which led to serious damages to the properties of citizens. The group added in a statement that the refugee Ahmed Derby, from the Neirab camp, died of wounds he sustained following clashes that erupted between groups of the Free Army and the Regular Army in Aleppo.
Meanwhile, a school in Damascus sheltering Palestinian refugees, who fled the Yarmouk camp, was shelled on Tuesday. A number of Palestinians, including children, were wounded during the attack.
Head of the delegation of the Palestine Liberation Organization to the Yarmouk refugee camp Ahmed Majdalani called for adhering to the Palestinian initiative and rejecting the military solution in order to end the crisis in the camp.
The siege imposed on the Yarmouk camp has continued for the 257th day. The regular army and groups of the Popular Front - General Command have continued to prevent the entry of medical supplies and food to the camp, resulting in the deterioration of the health and living conditions there.
Palestinian refugee camps in Syria are experiencing difficult living conditions in light of the continued daily shelling, in addition to the acute shortage of food and medical supplies. During the past months, 136 Palestinian refugees died in the Yarmouk camp due to lack of nutrition and medical care.
The action group for the Palestinians in Syria said on Monday that the refugee Ibrahim Nasser also died of wounds he sustained a week ago following shelling on Aleppo.
The group stated that thirty refugees died last week in Syria camps, seven of them killed in the bombing that targeted the Yarmouk camp on Sunday.
It added that the Syrian security forces have arrested four Palestinian students at the University of Aleppo, from the Neirab camp.
Meanwhile, a school in Damascus sheltering Palestinian refugees, who fled the Yarmouk camp, was shelled on Tuesday. A number of Palestinians, including children, were wounded during the attack.
Head of the delegation of the Palestine Liberation Organization to the Yarmouk refugee camp Ahmed Majdalani called for adhering to the Palestinian initiative and rejecting the military solution in order to end the crisis in the camp.
The siege imposed on the Yarmouk camp has continued for the 257th day. The regular army and groups of the Popular Front - General Command have continued to prevent the entry of medical supplies and food to the camp, resulting in the deterioration of the health and living conditions there.
Palestinian refugee camps in Syria are experiencing difficult living conditions in light of the continued daily shelling, in addition to the acute shortage of food and medical supplies. During the past months, 136 Palestinian refugees died in the Yarmouk camp due to lack of nutrition and medical care.
The action group for the Palestinians in Syria said on Monday that the refugee Ibrahim Nasser also died of wounds he sustained a week ago following shelling on Aleppo.
The group stated that thirty refugees died last week in Syria camps, seven of them killed in the bombing that targeted the Yarmouk camp on Sunday.
It added that the Syrian security forces have arrested four Palestinian students at the University of Aleppo, from the Neirab camp.
A Palestinian refugee was killed on Tuesday evening due to the ongoing shellingof Syrian regime on the Palestinian refugee camps in Damascus. The Action Group for Palestinians in Syria said that Ahmed al-Darbi from al-Nairab refugee camp succumbed to wounds suffered in clashes erupted between the Syrian regime and the Free army in Aleppo .
The group stated that two bombs were dropped near al-Safadi mosque in the Yarmouk refugee camp causing big materialistic damages. Sounds of explosions were heard in the areas surrounding the camp.
It made clear that the camp has been subjected to a tight siege for 257 days. Health and living conditions deteriorated in the camp in addition to the spread of jaundice and dehydration due to banning the entry of food and medical aids by the Syrian regime.
During the last months, about 136 died of malnutrition and lack of medical care in Yarmouk camp.
The group stated that two bombs were dropped near al-Safadi mosque in the Yarmouk refugee camp causing big materialistic damages. Sounds of explosions were heard in the areas surrounding the camp.
It made clear that the camp has been subjected to a tight siege for 257 days. Health and living conditions deteriorated in the camp in addition to the spread of jaundice and dehydration due to banning the entry of food and medical aids by the Syrian regime.
During the last months, about 136 died of malnutrition and lack of medical care in Yarmouk camp.
25 mar 2014
Action Group for Palestinians of Syria said that it has documented the death of 2133 refugees in Syria since the events in that Arab country started until 22nd March 2014.
The group said in a statement that 888 refugees were killed due to shelling on places of residence, adding that detailed account of those killed would be published in early April.
It said, meanwhile, that three Palestinians were killed last Thursday due to continued shelling on refugee camps.
It said that Omar Hamawi was killed at the hands of a sniper in Aleppo while Ahmed Al-Mallah, from Yarmouk refugee camp, was killed under torture in the Syrian regime’s prisons.
The group pointed out that Kamal Mustafa, a resident of Khan Danun refugee camp, was killed in clashes between Syrian regular and free armies in Qunaitera town.
It said that frustration prevailed among Palestinian refugees in Yarmouk camp on Saturday after distribution of food aid was deferred.
Source: Palestinian Information Center
The group said in a statement that 888 refugees were killed due to shelling on places of residence, adding that detailed account of those killed would be published in early April.
It said, meanwhile, that three Palestinians were killed last Thursday due to continued shelling on refugee camps.
It said that Omar Hamawi was killed at the hands of a sniper in Aleppo while Ahmed Al-Mallah, from Yarmouk refugee camp, was killed under torture in the Syrian regime’s prisons.
The group pointed out that Kamal Mustafa, a resident of Khan Danun refugee camp, was killed in clashes between Syrian regular and free armies in Qunaitera town.
It said that frustration prevailed among Palestinian refugees in Yarmouk camp on Saturday after distribution of food aid was deferred.
Source: Palestinian Information Center
Filippo Grandi, Commissioner-General of UNRWA, has urged the international community to act and save the besieged Gaza Strip. He warned that any delay in lifting the siege on Gaza would aggravate the situation there and would lead to a very serious situation.
Grandi, who was addressing a press conference in Gaza Tuesday on the eve of ending his duty as Commissioner-General of UNRWA, described the blockade on Gaza as “illegal”.
He asked the Egyptian authorities and government to shoulder their responsibilities and open the Rafah land crossing immediately.
“With all due respect to their security needs, yet the population in Gaza could not be detained in that limited area of land especially the patients and students,” the UN official said.
Grandi, who was addressing a press conference in Gaza Tuesday on the eve of ending his duty as Commissioner-General of UNRWA, described the blockade on Gaza as “illegal”.
He asked the Egyptian authorities and government to shoulder their responsibilities and open the Rafah land crossing immediately.
“With all due respect to their security needs, yet the population in Gaza could not be detained in that limited area of land especially the patients and students,” the UN official said.
Director of Hamas's information office in Lebanon Ra'fat Murra said that the Palestinian Islamic and national political forces agreed on launching an initiative neutralizing the Palestinian presence in Lebanon and protecting the Palestinian-Lebanese relations. Murra told Quds Press that this initiative received wide acceptance among the Palestinian and Lebanese quarters and it is aimed to prevent the implication of the Palestinian refugees in any inter-Arab conflicts.
He stated that the region around Palestine are exposed to different political and security problems that took a violent turn and created a state of incitement against the Palestinian presence in some Arab countries, especially in Lebanon.
"The serious thing is that there are regional parties seeking to implicate the Palestinians in Lebanon in local events and such a situation threatens the Palestinian presence there," the Hamas official underlined.
The Palestinian initiative to neutralize the refugee camp has been presented to different Lebanese officials and national figures and received their approval, noting that this initiative would be declared soon.
He stated that the region around Palestine are exposed to different political and security problems that took a violent turn and created a state of incitement against the Palestinian presence in some Arab countries, especially in Lebanon.
"The serious thing is that there are regional parties seeking to implicate the Palestinians in Lebanon in local events and such a situation threatens the Palestinian presence there," the Hamas official underlined.
The Palestinian initiative to neutralize the refugee camp has been presented to different Lebanese officials and national figures and received their approval, noting that this initiative would be declared soon.
The action group for the Palestinians in Syria said on Tuesday that the Syrian regime forces kidnapped four Palestinian students from Aleppo university, north of Syria. The students were identified as Ahmed Abdul-Hafed, Mohamed Jamil, Mohamed Abul-Saber and Amjad Magames. All of them are from Neirab refugee camp.
The action group also said that a Palestinian refugee named Naser Ibrahim, from Handarat refugee camp, died of serious wounds he had sustained a week ago in Assalat area near Aleppo.
30 Palestinians had been killed during last week as a result of the hostilities taking place in different areas of Syria, according to the action group.
The action group also said that a Palestinian refugee named Naser Ibrahim, from Handarat refugee camp, died of serious wounds he had sustained a week ago in Assalat area near Aleppo.
30 Palestinians had been killed during last week as a result of the hostilities taking place in different areas of Syria, according to the action group.
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Palestinian refugee camps and communities around the world came together on March the 22nd, for a day of action on the right of return and in support of Palestinians living in Syria. With demonstrations, scout marches, poster exhibitions, lectures, dabke performances and concerts, Palestinians from Syria to Chile, Lebanon to America coordinated activities to assert their unity as one people under the banner "Return Unifies Us'.
The call for popular mobilizations was issued by several of the largest Palestinian national coalitions and signed by over one hundred Palestinian popular associations. The day coincides with the 1968 Karameh battle, symbolizing the unity of Palestinians in their national struggle for the right of return. The slogans and events raised the call for the right of return and for the Palestinians besieged in Syria. |
In Nablus, a scout march led to a large rally held in the center of the city attended by representatives of popular forces and political factions. Paying their respects to the sacrifices of the Palestinian people, especially martyrs and prisoners, speakers called for amplifying the demand for return. Tayseer Nasrallah, coordinator of the activities in Nablus emphasized, "we uphold and defend our national rights, foremost amongst them our right of return to our homes from which we were expelled in 1948 and we stand by our people in Syria". Organisers in the West Bank also convened a rally at the entrance to Al Amari refugee camp near Ramallah with posters, placards, and speeches.
Yarmouk camp in Syria organized two concerts: a performance by the Yarmouk Youth Group in the courtyard of the Damascene School and a smaller event in which youth sang patriotic songs. The slogans raised referred to the ongoing siege of Palestinian camps in Syria and the constant demand among Palestinians for the right of return. The residents of the now destroyed Handarat camp near Aleppo, currently on the Turkish border, convened readings, a photo exhibition and oral testimony from residents of the camp.
Alongside activities held in Chile, the President of the Palestinian Federation, Mauricio Abu Ghosh, declared that: "the Right of Return is inalienable, non-transferable and non-negotiable...it is owned by each Palestinian, and each has the duty to defend it and to raise it over his personal aspirations...for it is a national aspiration, and a collective right of the Palestinian people".
In various locations across Gaza, the popular committees of the refugee camps held a series of public meetings. Those participating emphasized the urgent need for national unity in order to advance Palestinian collectively held rights, in particular the right of return. These calls found resonance in Lebanon, where youth in Baddawi camps organized film showings and a speaker event to relay their participation in this national day of action. Young Palestinians from Jerusalem and from 1948 Palestine also raised signs and organized pickets for the day.
In Switzerland, Palestinian activists organised a speaker event on the right of return with prominent legal scholars, including the UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Palestine, Professor Richard Falk. In Australia, Palestinians in Sydney organised a community event with traditional Palestinian Dakbe and a talk from academics and members of the community.
In an event attended by hundreds in London, Palestinian students wore t-shirts with the map of Palestine and the slogan 'Return Unifies Us'. Copies of the call for action were distributed among attendees and well-known Palestinian artists and poets issued slogans for Syria and the right of return from the stage. In North America, Palestinians in Washington DC organized a concert, and in Canada, Palestinian organisers in Vancouver participated in a large anti-racism march with banners for the right of return.
Across the different locations, and from the various communities and camps, the emphasis of the day was on the unwavering unity and oneness of the Palestinian people, and a celebration of their rights.
Several Palestinians around the world are preparing to hold events in the coming days under the banner "Return Unifies Us'.
Yarmouk camp in Syria organized two concerts: a performance by the Yarmouk Youth Group in the courtyard of the Damascene School and a smaller event in which youth sang patriotic songs. The slogans raised referred to the ongoing siege of Palestinian camps in Syria and the constant demand among Palestinians for the right of return. The residents of the now destroyed Handarat camp near Aleppo, currently on the Turkish border, convened readings, a photo exhibition and oral testimony from residents of the camp.
Alongside activities held in Chile, the President of the Palestinian Federation, Mauricio Abu Ghosh, declared that: "the Right of Return is inalienable, non-transferable and non-negotiable...it is owned by each Palestinian, and each has the duty to defend it and to raise it over his personal aspirations...for it is a national aspiration, and a collective right of the Palestinian people".
In various locations across Gaza, the popular committees of the refugee camps held a series of public meetings. Those participating emphasized the urgent need for national unity in order to advance Palestinian collectively held rights, in particular the right of return. These calls found resonance in Lebanon, where youth in Baddawi camps organized film showings and a speaker event to relay their participation in this national day of action. Young Palestinians from Jerusalem and from 1948 Palestine also raised signs and organized pickets for the day.
In Switzerland, Palestinian activists organised a speaker event on the right of return with prominent legal scholars, including the UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Palestine, Professor Richard Falk. In Australia, Palestinians in Sydney organised a community event with traditional Palestinian Dakbe and a talk from academics and members of the community.
In an event attended by hundreds in London, Palestinian students wore t-shirts with the map of Palestine and the slogan 'Return Unifies Us'. Copies of the call for action were distributed among attendees and well-known Palestinian artists and poets issued slogans for Syria and the right of return from the stage. In North America, Palestinians in Washington DC organized a concert, and in Canada, Palestinian organisers in Vancouver participated in a large anti-racism march with banners for the right of return.
Across the different locations, and from the various communities and camps, the emphasis of the day was on the unwavering unity and oneness of the Palestinian people, and a celebration of their rights.
Several Palestinians around the world are preparing to hold events in the coming days under the banner "Return Unifies Us'.
24 mar 2014
The convoy’s delegation
The eighth humanitarian aid convoy sent by European Al-Wafaa campaign kicked off on Monday morning from the capital city of Lebanon, Beirut, to provide support to the distressed Palestinian refugees who was affected by the violence in Syria. The convoy includes Asian and European delegations which composed of 19 people. They seek to give assistance to the people living in camps and shelters specially in the besieged Yarmouk Refugee Camp.
It carries six containers of food and medical aids in addition to four ambulances.
Last month, al-Wafaa convoy went to the Refugee Camps in Syria, carrying 44 containers of aids and children’s needs.
The eighth humanitarian aid convoy sent by European Al-Wafaa campaign kicked off on Monday morning from the capital city of Lebanon, Beirut, to provide support to the distressed Palestinian refugees who was affected by the violence in Syria. The convoy includes Asian and European delegations which composed of 19 people. They seek to give assistance to the people living in camps and shelters specially in the besieged Yarmouk Refugee Camp.
It carries six containers of food and medical aids in addition to four ambulances.
Last month, al-Wafaa convoy went to the Refugee Camps in Syria, carrying 44 containers of aids and children’s needs.
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A mortar shell fired at the Yarmouk refugee camp, south of Damascus, on Sunday evening killed seven Palestinians including a woman.
The action group for Palestinians in Syria said in a press release on Monday that a mortar shell slammed into the central area of the camp where refugees were gathered to receive food aid. It said that seven were killed instantly, adding that around 2000 refugees were killed in Syria since the start of the events in that country in March 2011. |
23 mar 2014
The action group for Palestinians in Syria said that it has documented the death of 2133 refugees in Syria since the events in that Arab country started until 22nd March 2014. The group said in a statement that 888 refugees were killed due to shelling on places of residence, adding that detailed account of those killed would be published in early April.
It said, meanwhile, that three Palestinians were killed last Thursday due to continued shelling on refugee camps.
It said that Omar Hamawi was killed at the hands of a sniper in Aleppo while Ahmed Al-Mallah, from Yarmouk refugee camp, was killed under torture in the Syrian regime’s prisons.
The group pointed out that Kamal Mustafa, a resident of Khan Danun refugee camp, was killed in clashes between Syrian regular and free armies in Qunaitera town.
It said that frustration prevailed among Palestinian refugees in Yarmouk camp on Saturday after distribution of food aid was deferred.
It said, meanwhile, that three Palestinians were killed last Thursday due to continued shelling on refugee camps.
It said that Omar Hamawi was killed at the hands of a sniper in Aleppo while Ahmed Al-Mallah, from Yarmouk refugee camp, was killed under torture in the Syrian regime’s prisons.
The group pointed out that Kamal Mustafa, a resident of Khan Danun refugee camp, was killed in clashes between Syrian regular and free armies in Qunaitera town.
It said that frustration prevailed among Palestinian refugees in Yarmouk camp on Saturday after distribution of food aid was deferred.
22 mar 2014
A day of action and events is being held tomorrow, 22nd of March, supporting Palestinians in Syria and upholding the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes of origin. Under the title 'Return Unifies Us' Palestinians in the West Bank, Jerusalem, Gaza, Syria, Lebanon, France, UK, Chile, Australia and elsewhere will be holding concerts, rallies, poster exhibitions, lectures, dabke, scout marches, and oral testimonies around the popular demands for national unity and the right of return.
This day takes place in the midst of the extreme crisis faced by Palestinians living in Syria. Many of the refugee camps have been either entirely or partially destroyed, others have been under siege for months, with people dying of starvation. The disaster faced by Palestinians in Syria has highlighted the urgency of the Palestinian demand to implement the right of return to their homes of origin.
The Palestinian right of return has been the unifying Palestinian national demand since the Nakba of 1948. During the revolutionary era, the right of return was the principle around which Palestinians rallied to the call of the Palestinian resistance, and this day of action celebrates this resistance with the anniversary of the Battle of Karama.
Well over one hundred Palestinian popular associations around the world have nowsigned the call that was issued ten days ago. Amongst the signatories are the largest Palestinian national coalitions, including the Global Right of Return Coalition, the BDS National Committee, the Civic Coalition of Jerusalem, Executives of the Popular Committees and of the National and Islamic forces, as well as dozens of associations from across Palestine, Palestinian exile communities and refugee camps. Stating that only "by insistence on the unity and cohesion of our people everywhere, the unity of their struggle, and the oneness of their destiny, that the right of return to their homes of origin and other national principles can be achieved", the call was issued "to safeguard and defend national principles". This call is the latest in a series of protests, rallies and marches, including a scout march coordinated across Palestine, Lebanon and Syria, in order to highlight the situation of Palestinians in Syria, to stand with them, and emphasize the right of every Palestinian to return home.
Palestinians in Syria are taking the lead: in Yarmouk, the Damascene School, along with the Yarmouk Youth Band ,will be organizing a special concert for the right of return. The residents of the now destroyed Handarat camp near Aleppo, currently on the Turkish border, will convene readings, oral testimony and recordings of Nakba survivors of Handarat camp. A further event is also being held in De'raa camp. Across the border in Lebanon, Palestinian youth associations will be holding two poster exhibitions in different camps: the first at Al-Nakaba Center in Borg Al Barajneh, and a second in Beddawi Camp where there will also be a film screening "Jomhurryet Dalal", and balloons in UNRWA School Yard, hosted by the Palestinian Cultural Club. One of the first signatories of the Call, the National Federation of Scouts, are holding scout marches across camps in Palestine and Lebanon.
In Nablus, in occupied Palestine, four scout troupes, along with local leaders and association heads will march to the center of the city, raising slogans in support of our people in Syria and for the right of return. In Gaza, the popular committees in the refugee camps have coordinated a series of demonstrations and rallies in four locations in the north, the middle and the south of the area, and rallies are being held in Bethlehem and Jerusalem and at the entrance of Al Am'ari camp near Ramallah.
The Palestinian Federation in Chile, representing a community of 300,000 Palestiniansy, are recording the testimonies of Palestinians living in the country and insisting upon their right of return, and hosting a community discussion with a roundtable. Smaller rallies and demonstrations are organised by the Palestinian Community Association in cities across France, by the General Union of Palestinian Students in Havana, Cuba, and by the US Palestinian Community Network in Washington. Argentina and Australia are hosting large community events, with dabke and speakers, and Palestinian students in the UK are organizing a large fundraiser at a concert in London to raise funds for Syria and to rally for the right of return.
This day takes place in the midst of the extreme crisis faced by Palestinians living in Syria. Many of the refugee camps have been either entirely or partially destroyed, others have been under siege for months, with people dying of starvation. The disaster faced by Palestinians in Syria has highlighted the urgency of the Palestinian demand to implement the right of return to their homes of origin.
The Palestinian right of return has been the unifying Palestinian national demand since the Nakba of 1948. During the revolutionary era, the right of return was the principle around which Palestinians rallied to the call of the Palestinian resistance, and this day of action celebrates this resistance with the anniversary of the Battle of Karama.
Well over one hundred Palestinian popular associations around the world have nowsigned the call that was issued ten days ago. Amongst the signatories are the largest Palestinian national coalitions, including the Global Right of Return Coalition, the BDS National Committee, the Civic Coalition of Jerusalem, Executives of the Popular Committees and of the National and Islamic forces, as well as dozens of associations from across Palestine, Palestinian exile communities and refugee camps. Stating that only "by insistence on the unity and cohesion of our people everywhere, the unity of their struggle, and the oneness of their destiny, that the right of return to their homes of origin and other national principles can be achieved", the call was issued "to safeguard and defend national principles". This call is the latest in a series of protests, rallies and marches, including a scout march coordinated across Palestine, Lebanon and Syria, in order to highlight the situation of Palestinians in Syria, to stand with them, and emphasize the right of every Palestinian to return home.
Palestinians in Syria are taking the lead: in Yarmouk, the Damascene School, along with the Yarmouk Youth Band ,will be organizing a special concert for the right of return. The residents of the now destroyed Handarat camp near Aleppo, currently on the Turkish border, will convene readings, oral testimony and recordings of Nakba survivors of Handarat camp. A further event is also being held in De'raa camp. Across the border in Lebanon, Palestinian youth associations will be holding two poster exhibitions in different camps: the first at Al-Nakaba Center in Borg Al Barajneh, and a second in Beddawi Camp where there will also be a film screening "Jomhurryet Dalal", and balloons in UNRWA School Yard, hosted by the Palestinian Cultural Club. One of the first signatories of the Call, the National Federation of Scouts, are holding scout marches across camps in Palestine and Lebanon.
In Nablus, in occupied Palestine, four scout troupes, along with local leaders and association heads will march to the center of the city, raising slogans in support of our people in Syria and for the right of return. In Gaza, the popular committees in the refugee camps have coordinated a series of demonstrations and rallies in four locations in the north, the middle and the south of the area, and rallies are being held in Bethlehem and Jerusalem and at the entrance of Al Am'ari camp near Ramallah.
The Palestinian Federation in Chile, representing a community of 300,000 Palestiniansy, are recording the testimonies of Palestinians living in the country and insisting upon their right of return, and hosting a community discussion with a roundtable. Smaller rallies and demonstrations are organised by the Palestinian Community Association in cities across France, by the General Union of Palestinian Students in Havana, Cuba, and by the US Palestinian Community Network in Washington. Argentina and Australia are hosting large community events, with dabke and speakers, and Palestinian students in the UK are organizing a large fundraiser at a concert in London to raise funds for Syria and to rally for the right of return.
Five Palestinian refugees were killed in Syria including a woman and her daughter on Friday due to the continued clashes and shelling on refugee camps. The action group for Palestinians in Syria said in a press release on Saturday that Fawziya Al-Rayyan was killed along with her daughter Mona Al-Bash in shelling on Qadsaya neighborhood.
It added that both were residents of Yarmouk refugee camp and had fled it seeking a safer area in Qadsaya.
The group said that Emad Dawa was also killed on Friday in the violent clashes in Yarmouk refugee camp, noting that he is a member of the popular front for the liberation of Palestine – general command.
It said that Midhat Al-Khatib, from Nairab refugee camp in Aleppo, died on Friday of serious wounds suffered in the bombing of explosive barrels on Aleppo.
Khaled Saadiya was killed in Yarmouk refugee camp during the distribution of aid, the group added.
It pointed out that panic prevailed in Yarmouk camp on Friday due to the violent clashes between Syrian opposition forces and the PFLP – GC elements.
The Yarmouk camp is still suffering from the eight-month-old siege that caused the death of 135 of its inhabitants due to starvation and lack of medical supplies.
It added that both were residents of Yarmouk refugee camp and had fled it seeking a safer area in Qadsaya.
The group said that Emad Dawa was also killed on Friday in the violent clashes in Yarmouk refugee camp, noting that he is a member of the popular front for the liberation of Palestine – general command.
It said that Midhat Al-Khatib, from Nairab refugee camp in Aleppo, died on Friday of serious wounds suffered in the bombing of explosive barrels on Aleppo.
Khaled Saadiya was killed in Yarmouk refugee camp during the distribution of aid, the group added.
It pointed out that panic prevailed in Yarmouk camp on Friday due to the violent clashes between Syrian opposition forces and the PFLP – GC elements.
The Yarmouk camp is still suffering from the eight-month-old siege that caused the death of 135 of its inhabitants due to starvation and lack of medical supplies.
Palestinians are raising the flag of return under the banner Return Unifies Us'.
Karma Nabulsi
The only thing heard nowadays about the majority of the Palestinian people – those made refugees in the Nakba of 1948 – is that they must consider themselves and their fate entirely forfeited. Surrendering their right to return to the place they were expelled from – the most basic right every refugee has under international law – is apparently a given. It is on every leader's lips, the key component of "the compromise" required in the leaked details of John Kerry's "framework" for peace; a commonplace at every western diplomatic closed-door roundtable, which includes the quiet complicity of every Arab regime.
Forfeited if you consider what is now happening to the half a million Palestinian refugees in Syria without respite: entire refugee camps, established more than 65 years ago, utterly flattened; the people in them killed or having fled to safely elsewhere; other refugee camps under military siege for so many months that the people suffering in them are literally starving to death. Hundreds of thousands made refugees for the third or fourth time in their lives, spending the hard months of this past winter in the snow and rain, many without a tent or food, the children without a school or medical care, on the slopes of a Turkish hillside, crowded into already bursting camps in Lebanon, cordoned off under military jurisdiction in Jordan.
It is not all that different to the extreme pressures Palestinians are facing in Palestine, where everyone is more or less a refugee too. In what is now Israel, people internally displaced from their homes in 1947 and 1948 are living in villages that still have no electricity; in Jerusalem more Palestinian refugees are created every day by the Israeli military, as people are illegally thrown out of their ancestral homes. In the occupied West Bank, people's homes are demolished each week. And, of course, in Gaza, where the density and length of the siege, the despair of any change by the people there (the majority of whom are refugees from 1948), and the silence on their collective predicament, is legendary.
You could think, under these extreme cruelties specifically designed to break Palestinians and their cause, that the people as a whole have surrendered – or, if not surrendered, then at least are resigned to their fate. You would be wrong. Today, right across the world – and leading from besieged Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus – Palestinians are raising the flag of return under the banner Return Unifies Us. As a result of a remarkable call issued by a number of large national civic coalitions, which has spread like wildfire across the Palestinian body politic scattered to the four winds, it is now signed by more than 150 popular and grassroots organisations in Palestine and in exile.
Palestinians in dozens of locations are coming together to promote the popular demand for unity and the right of return: the Yarmouk youth band are holding a concert by candlelight; on the windy Turkish border the survivors of the razed, and now regrouped, Handarat camp near Aleppo Syria are giving oral testimonies; and in the 300,000-strong Palestinian community in Chile, Lebanon, Jerusalem, France and Australia, at a concert in London, right across Gaza, in Balata camp in Nablus, Der'aa camp in Syria and Al Am'ari camp in Ramallah, poster exhibitions, lectures, rallies and marching scout troupes are all celebrating the unity of the Palestinian people and their rights.
By this grand gesture, in the face of the continuing disaster of ethnic cleansing, they are making the invisible spirit of an entire people, their humanity and their dignity, visible. On the anniversary of the legendary battle of Karameh in 1968 – a landmark of Palestinian resistance to their nation's destruction and a rallying call for the cause of liberation and return – Palestinians everywhere still have the power to fashion their fate. And they have taken it.
This article was originally published on The Guardian
Karma Nabulsi
The only thing heard nowadays about the majority of the Palestinian people – those made refugees in the Nakba of 1948 – is that they must consider themselves and their fate entirely forfeited. Surrendering their right to return to the place they were expelled from – the most basic right every refugee has under international law – is apparently a given. It is on every leader's lips, the key component of "the compromise" required in the leaked details of John Kerry's "framework" for peace; a commonplace at every western diplomatic closed-door roundtable, which includes the quiet complicity of every Arab regime.
Forfeited if you consider what is now happening to the half a million Palestinian refugees in Syria without respite: entire refugee camps, established more than 65 years ago, utterly flattened; the people in them killed or having fled to safely elsewhere; other refugee camps under military siege for so many months that the people suffering in them are literally starving to death. Hundreds of thousands made refugees for the third or fourth time in their lives, spending the hard months of this past winter in the snow and rain, many without a tent or food, the children without a school or medical care, on the slopes of a Turkish hillside, crowded into already bursting camps in Lebanon, cordoned off under military jurisdiction in Jordan.
It is not all that different to the extreme pressures Palestinians are facing in Palestine, where everyone is more or less a refugee too. In what is now Israel, people internally displaced from their homes in 1947 and 1948 are living in villages that still have no electricity; in Jerusalem more Palestinian refugees are created every day by the Israeli military, as people are illegally thrown out of their ancestral homes. In the occupied West Bank, people's homes are demolished each week. And, of course, in Gaza, where the density and length of the siege, the despair of any change by the people there (the majority of whom are refugees from 1948), and the silence on their collective predicament, is legendary.
You could think, under these extreme cruelties specifically designed to break Palestinians and their cause, that the people as a whole have surrendered – or, if not surrendered, then at least are resigned to their fate. You would be wrong. Today, right across the world – and leading from besieged Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus – Palestinians are raising the flag of return under the banner Return Unifies Us. As a result of a remarkable call issued by a number of large national civic coalitions, which has spread like wildfire across the Palestinian body politic scattered to the four winds, it is now signed by more than 150 popular and grassroots organisations in Palestine and in exile.
Palestinians in dozens of locations are coming together to promote the popular demand for unity and the right of return: the Yarmouk youth band are holding a concert by candlelight; on the windy Turkish border the survivors of the razed, and now regrouped, Handarat camp near Aleppo Syria are giving oral testimonies; and in the 300,000-strong Palestinian community in Chile, Lebanon, Jerusalem, France and Australia, at a concert in London, right across Gaza, in Balata camp in Nablus, Der'aa camp in Syria and Al Am'ari camp in Ramallah, poster exhibitions, lectures, rallies and marching scout troupes are all celebrating the unity of the Palestinian people and their rights.
By this grand gesture, in the face of the continuing disaster of ethnic cleansing, they are making the invisible spirit of an entire people, their humanity and their dignity, visible. On the anniversary of the legendary battle of Karameh in 1968 – a landmark of Palestinian resistance to their nation's destruction and a rallying call for the cause of liberation and return – Palestinians everywhere still have the power to fashion their fate. And they have taken it.
This article was originally published on The Guardian
21 mar 2014
Three Palestinian refugees were killed on Thursday due to the continued siege and shelling on the Palestinian refugee camps in Syria.
The action group for Palestinian refugees in Syria confirmed that two elderly Palestinian refugees were starved to death due to the continued siege imposed on Yarmouk refugee camp. 135 Palestinian martyrs were died of starvation in the camp till this moment.
The sources added that the child Odi Ala Sheikh, from Daraa refugee camp, was killed after being injured by a gunshot in Bourj al-Barajneh in Lebanon yesterday.
Limited aid supplies were delivered in Yarmouk Refugee camp and while medicines were handed over to the Red Crescent committees, in addition to transferring a number of humanitarian cases to hospitals.
The action group for Palestinian refugees in Syria confirmed that two elderly Palestinian refugees were starved to death due to the continued siege imposed on Yarmouk refugee camp. 135 Palestinian martyrs were died of starvation in the camp till this moment.
The sources added that the child Odi Ala Sheikh, from Daraa refugee camp, was killed after being injured by a gunshot in Bourj al-Barajneh in Lebanon yesterday.
Limited aid supplies were delivered in Yarmouk Refugee camp and while medicines were handed over to the Red Crescent committees, in addition to transferring a number of humanitarian cases to hospitals.
