The future of Palestinians in Syria

Four years into the civil war and the Palestinians living in Syria have suffered a great deal. More than 2,600 have been killed and thousands more have been injured. Most Palestinian refugee camps have been destroyed and their residents displaced across Syria and neighbouring countries.

For many Palestinian refugees, their displacement from Syria to Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Libya, Turkey or Europe, has not provided them with the protection they sought, or even their basic needs. They have been treated inhumanely, unwanted wherever they have gone in the search for a dignified and secure future.

The Palestinian Liberation Organisation is supposed to take care of Palestinian refugees wherever they are, as is the Palestinian Authority and the political factions. None was able to intervene over the problem of Palestinians living in Syria, or to provide them with protection; nor could they publicise their cause, so now they stand largely forgotten and alone.

In the absence of a vision and a work plan matters are at a standstill. Work on the ground to relieve the Palestinian refugees of their suffering in Syria requires the development of such a vision and for it to be put into action.

Who should take the first step? This is both an easy and a difficult question at the same time. It is easy because any Palestinian faction or institution can take the initiative, but it is difficult due to the factional infighting and lack of unity. The Palestinians, wherever they live, are hostages to the factionalism which discourages anyone from trying anything new without the agreement of all the others first. Of course, such agreement across the board is rare.

Nevertheless, a moral, humanitarian, religious and national responsibility imposes on all those with a conscience the need to take the initiative to get Palestinians in Syria out of the current crisis peacefully. I believe that not anyone who does not assume this responsibility immediately and without hesitation is negligent to the point of betraying the people and the cause.

The main problem of the Palestinian refugees in Syria is that they have no homeland or government to protect them, or any guarantee that they will be allowed to return to their former lives, even if and when the Syrian war ends. It would be naive to bet on Lebanon accommodating them, or Jordan, while Turkey, Europe and other countries refuse to do so. It is worthwhile to remember at this stage that these Palestinians did not come from the moon to settle in Syria; they were expelled from their land by Israel’s ethnic cleansing of Palestine, in particular from the districts of Safed and Tiberias, Acre, Haifa and Nazareth.

Today, Israel is the only country that does not feel the threat of Palestinian refugees knocking at the door of their occupied land, as they are knocking on the doors of countries all over the world. Why should Israel remain free of responsibility given that it created the refugee crisis in the first place? Why doesn’t it comply with international law, which recognises the refugees’ right to return to their land in Palestine, and compensate them for their grief? Making an effort for the return of Palestinians in Syria to their homes in the Galilee is the core solution to their problem.

In my humble opinion, anyone who does not believe in this does not believe in the right of refugees to return and get compensated. As long as the Palestinians have a legal right to return to their homeland – which they do – then we should agree on and develop the mechanism to facilitate the matter and compel Israel to comply with it. If we have achieved this within a time frame determined by a strategic plan, then a large part of our cause will be won, and the people of Syria and other host countries will be relieved of a huge burden. If we fail to do so, we will sound an alarm bell for Israel and its allies, and they and the world will realise that if the problem of the Palestinians in Syria is not solved, then Israel will have to suffer through accumulating crises. This will push global superpowers to pressure the parties of the conflict in Syria to neutralise the Palestinians so as not to push them toward Israel. Either way, we would have helped our brothers, stirred our cause and embarrassed our enemy, so who is going to take the first step?

Translated from Al Resalah, 1 April, 2015.