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An eerie video of a photo of one “Hajj Jamal
Ghalaini” with a prayer on a backing track
pops up occasionally on Facebook. The voice
is that of an allegedly religious sheikh,
praying for the well-being of the man in the
photo for saving the Palestinian refugee
youth of Lebanon by facilitating their
departure to Europe.
The video would have been just another odd
social media post, were it not for the fact
that Ghalaini is a real person, with his
name recurring in the ongoing tragedy of
Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. Many have
credited their successful “escape” from the
country to this person who, they say kindly,
has made the journey to Europe far cheaper
than all other smugglers of desperate human
beings.
We know little about Ghalaini, except that
he seems to operate brazenly, without many
legal repercussions from the Lebanese
authorities or the Palestine Liberation
Organisation (PLO), the supposed caretaker
of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon.
Something very strange is going on.
Immediately after the Trump administration
in the US began to promote its “Deal of the
Century”, the issue of Palestinian refugees
— fundamental to the Palestinian national
struggle — once again took center-stage.
Although Trump’s plan is yet to be revealed
fully, early indications suggest that it
intends to remove Jerusalem entirely from
any future discussions or agreement between
Israel and the Palestinian Authority. The
move of the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to
Jerusalem and Trump’s own assertion that
“Jerusalem is off the table” confirm this
assumption.
Another component of Trump’s “deal” is to
resolve the issue of refugees without their
repatriation and without respecting
international law, especially United Nations
Resolution 194, which calls for the Right of
Return for Palestinian refugees who were
driven from their homes in historic
Palestine in 1948, as well as their
descendants.
Many news reports have been pointing to an
elaborate American plot to downgrade the
status of refugees, to argue against UN
figures indicating their actual numbers and
to choke off UNRWA, the UN agency
responsible for the welfare of “Palestine
refugees”, from badly needed funds.
Lebanon has been a major platform for the
ongoing campaign targeting Palestinian
refugees, particularly because the refugee
population in that country is significant in
terms of numbers and their plight is most
urgent in terms of its need for a solution.
Indeed, there appears to be an active plan,
involving several parties, to deprive
Lebanon’s Palestinian population of their
refugee status and to circumvent the Right
of Return.
To some, this may seem like wishful
thinking, not least because such a right is
“inalienable”, and thus non-negotiable. Yet,
obviously, without refugees demanding their
legitimate right collectively, the issue
could easily move from being an urgent,
tangible demand into a sentimental wish that
is impossible to achieve. This is why the
depopulation of Lebanon’s refugee camps,
which is happening at an alarming rate,
should worry Palestinians more than any
other current issue.
I spoke to Samaa Abu Sharar, a Palestinian
activist in Lebanon and the director of the
Majed Abu Sharar Media Foundation. She told
me that the topic of conversation among
refugees has changed in recent years.
“Whereas almost everybody from young to old
once spoke about their wish of returning to
Palestine one day,” she explained, “at
present the majority, particularly the
youth, only express one wish: to leave for
any other country that will accept them.”
It is common knowledge that Palestinian
refugees in Lebanon are marginalized and
mistreated more than most when compared with
other refugee populations in the Middle
East. They are denied most basic human
rights enjoyed by Lebanese citizens or other
foreigners in Lebanon, and even rights
granted to refugees under international
conventions. This includes the right to
work, as they are denied access to 72
different professions.
Apparently abandoned in a hopeless
situation, with a life of neglect and utter
misery in 12 UN-registered refugee camps and
a number of unofficial “gatherings” across
Lebanon, Palestinian refugees have striven
to better themselves for many years, driven
by the dream of going back to their homeland
one day.
However, the refugees and their Right of
Return are no longer a priority for the
Palestinian leadership. In fact, this has
been the case for nearly two decades, and
now the situation has worsened. Since the
start of the Syrian war in 2011, tens of
thousands more refugees have flooded the
camps, which already lacked most basic
services. Their misery was accentuated
further when UNRWA, under intense US
pressure and funding cuts, was forced to
cancel or downgrade many of its essential
services upon which refugees depend.
A suspiciously-timed census, the first of
its kind, by the Lebanese Central
Administration of Statistics and conducted
jointly with the Palestinian Central Bureau
of Statistics last December, resolved that
the number of Palestinian refugees in
Lebanon stands at only 175,000. The timing
was interesting because the survey was
conducted at a time that the US
Administration was keen to reduce the
“official” number of Palestinian refugees in
anticipation of any future agreement between
the PA and Israel. According to UNRWA
statistics, though, there are more than
450,000 Palestinian refugees registered with
the agency in Lebanon alone.
There is no denying that there has been an
increase in the number of Palestinian
refugees wanting to leave Lebanon. Some have
done so successfully, only to find
themselves contending with the stigma of
refugee status in Europe. As expected, some
have returned.
Clearly, there are those who are keen to rid
Lebanon of its Palestinian population.
Hence, the official disregard for the likes
of Ghalaini and their human trafficking
networks.
“There is more than one organized network
facilitating the migration of Palestinians
at prices that have recently gone down to
make it more accessible to a larger number
of people,” Abu Sharar told me. The
conclusion that many of these young men and
women refugees now draw is that, “There is
no future for them in Lebanon.”
This is not the happy, triumphant ending
that generations of Palestinian refugees in
Lebanon have hoped and fought for over the
years.
Ignoring the miserable plight of Palestinian
refugees in Lebanon is now coming at a heavy
price. Relegating their plight to “final
status negotiations”, a pipe dream that
never materialised, is now leading to a
two-fold crisis: the suffering of hundreds
of thousands of people is getting worse, and
we are witnessing the systematic destruction
of one of the main pillars of the
Palestinian struggle — the refugees’
inalienable Right of Return.
–
Ramzy Baroud is a journalist, author and
editor of Palestine Chronicle. His
forthcoming book is ‘The Last Earth: A
Palestinian Story’ (Pluto Press, London).
Baroud has a Ph.D. in Palestine Studies from
the University of Exeter and is a
Non-Resident Scholar at Orfalea Center for
Global and International Studies, University
of California Santa Barbara.
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Your Comment is Received .. Thank You
An eerie video of a photo of one “Hajj Jamal
Ghalaini” with a prayer on a backing track
pops up occasionally on Facebook. The voice
is that of an allegedly religious sheikh,
praying for the well-being of the man in the
photo for saving the Palestinian refugee
youth of Lebanon by facilitating their
departure to Europe.The video would have been just another odd social media post, were it not for the fact that Ghalaini is a real person, with his name recurring in the ongoing tragedy of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. Many have credited their successful “escape” from the country to this person who, they say kindly, has made the journey to Europe far cheaper than all other smugglers of desperate human beings.
We know little about Ghalaini, except that he seems to operate brazenly, without many legal repercussions from the Lebanese authorities or the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), the supposed caretaker of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon.
Something very strange is going on.
Immediately after the Trump administration in the US began to promote its “Deal of the Century”, the issue of Palestinian refugees — fundamental to the Palestinian national struggle — once again took center-stage.
Although Trump’s plan is yet to be revealed fully, early indications suggest that it intends to remove Jerusalem entirely from any future discussions or agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. The move of the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and Trump’s own assertion that “Jerusalem is off the table” confirm this assumption.
Another component of Trump’s “deal” is to resolve the issue of refugees without their repatriation and without respecting international law, especially United Nations Resolution 194, which calls for the Right of Return for Palestinian refugees who were driven from their homes in historic Palestine in 1948, as well as their descendants.
Many news reports have been pointing to an elaborate American plot to downgrade the status of refugees, to argue against UN figures indicating their actual numbers and to choke off UNRWA, the UN agency responsible for the welfare of “Palestine refugees”, from badly needed funds.
Lebanon has been a major platform for the ongoing campaign targeting Palestinian refugees, particularly because the refugee population in that country is significant in terms of numbers and their plight is most urgent in terms of its need for a solution. Indeed, there appears to be an active plan, involving several parties, to deprive Lebanon’s Palestinian population of their refugee status and to circumvent the Right of Return.
To some, this may seem like wishful thinking, not least because such a right is “inalienable”, and thus non-negotiable. Yet, obviously, without refugees demanding their legitimate right collectively, the issue could easily move from being an urgent, tangible demand into a sentimental wish that is impossible to achieve. This is why the depopulation of Lebanon’s refugee camps, which is happening at an alarming rate, should worry Palestinians more than any other current issue.
I spoke to Samaa Abu Sharar, a Palestinian activist in Lebanon and the director of the Majed Abu Sharar Media Foundation. She told me that the topic of conversation among refugees has changed in recent years. “Whereas almost everybody from young to old once spoke about their wish of returning to Palestine one day,” she explained, “at present the majority, particularly the youth, only express one wish: to leave for any other country that will accept them.”
It is common knowledge that Palestinian refugees in Lebanon are marginalized and mistreated more than most when compared with other refugee populations in the Middle East. They are denied most basic human rights enjoyed by Lebanese citizens or other foreigners in Lebanon, and even rights granted to refugees under international conventions. This includes the right to work, as they are denied access to 72 different professions.
Apparently abandoned in a hopeless situation, with a life of neglect and utter misery in 12 UN-registered refugee camps and a number of unofficial “gatherings” across Lebanon, Palestinian refugees have striven to better themselves for many years, driven by the dream of going back to their homeland one day.
However, the refugees and their Right of Return are no longer a priority for the Palestinian leadership. In fact, this has been the case for nearly two decades, and now the situation has worsened. Since the start of the Syrian war in 2011, tens of thousands more refugees have flooded the camps, which already lacked most basic services. Their misery was accentuated further when UNRWA, under intense US pressure and funding cuts, was forced to cancel or downgrade many of its essential services upon which refugees depend.
A suspiciously-timed census, the first of its kind, by the Lebanese Central Administration of Statistics and conducted jointly with the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics last December, resolved that the number of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon stands at only 175,000. The timing was interesting because the survey was conducted at a time that the US Administration was keen to reduce the “official” number of Palestinian refugees in anticipation of any future agreement between the PA and Israel. According to UNRWA statistics, though, there are more than 450,000 Palestinian refugees registered with the agency in Lebanon alone.
There is no denying that there has been an increase in the number of Palestinian refugees wanting to leave Lebanon. Some have done so successfully, only to find themselves contending with the stigma of refugee status in Europe. As expected, some have returned.
Clearly, there are those who are keen to rid Lebanon of its Palestinian population. Hence, the official disregard for the likes of Ghalaini and their human trafficking networks.
“There is more than one organized network facilitating the migration of Palestinians at prices that have recently gone down to make it more accessible to a larger number of people,” Abu Sharar told me. The conclusion that many of these young men and women refugees now draw is that, “There is no future for them in Lebanon.”
This is not the happy, triumphant ending that generations of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon have hoped and fought for over the years.
Ignoring the miserable plight of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon is now coming at a heavy price. Relegating their plight to “final status negotiations”, a pipe dream that never materialised, is now leading to a two-fold crisis: the suffering of hundreds of thousands of people is getting worse, and we are witnessing the systematic destruction of one of the main pillars of the Palestinian struggle — the refugees’ inalienable Right of Return.
– Ramzy Baroud is a journalist, author and editor of Palestine Chronicle. His forthcoming book is ‘The Last Earth: A Palestinian Story’ (Pluto Press, London). Baroud has a Ph.D. in Palestine Studies from the University of Exeter and is a Non-Resident Scholar at Orfalea Center for Global and International Studies, University of California Santa Barbara.
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