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April 24, 2005

The Palestinian Problem

This morning I had the opportunity to tour a Palestinian refugee camp run by UNRWA outside of Amman. Not many people actually have the opoprtunity to see this type of thing so I was definitly looking forward to the trip.

The camp conditions wern't too surprising when we finally arrived. The refugees live in houses, not tents, and have running water and electricity. The streets are narrow and dirty but it reminded me of any poorer part of a city, particularly the poorer parts of Amman. We visited a boy's elementary school and the health center after being breifed on the status of the Palestinian camps in the region. The camp we went to is the biggest in Jordan and hosts about 80,000 refugees.

Although it wasn't surprising, the camp conditions were still extremely sad to see. Walking in to a classroom stuffed with 45 second-grade boys probably isn't unique to the refugee camps but it is frustrating. The library we saw is not only locked away so that it can only be used under strict supervision but it also only contains about 100 books, most of which seemed to be dictionaries. It definitely didn't contain my idea of pleasureable reading.

After the boy's school we saw a learning center for "slow" or "disabled" learners. This was definitly the cleanest building we saw and seemed to give us some hope that there really is a growing and flurishing society in these croweded streets. These types of services move beyond temporary fixes and focus on the fact that a new society needs to be taken care of now. The refugee problem does not seem to be chaning any time soon and it is important to focus on the current situation instead of an idealized past or future.

Karl passed along an interesting article about this exact predicament in Lebanon. The Lebanese government is trying to find a ballance between complete acceptance of the situation and complete denial of the problem. So far, the steps that they have taken have only led to poverty and to violence so a new strategy is necessary.

The article also brings up another interesting point about the Right of Return. I asked my friend Adel the other day about how many Palestinians woudl actually return to Israel if they were given the chance. He told me, being half Palestinian, that there aren't very many at all that would want to return, they just want to know that they can. The article references a survey that says just that: only a very small percentage of Palestinians would actually return if they could. I am quite curious to know if this fact would make a difference in negotiations if the Israelis knew this and what effect it would have. In my opinion, it could very well encourage people to make new compromises.

In the end, the sadest part about my experience was seeing the lines of people waiting at the health center. Although it is great that they get some kind of care, there is no way that is is completely comprehensive. The money just isn't available to supply the equipment that they need.

In the end, I think that I am truly blessed to have the opportunities that I have. These problems are not unique to refugees in any way but it is still important to understand how these people live. Hopefully it is visits like these that will solve this conflict and return peace to both the Israelis and the Palestinians.

Posted by rcollins at April 24, 2005 6:58 AM

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Posted by: Karl at April 25, 2005 8:59 PM