BEIRUT/SIDON, Lebanon: Ahead of the Palestinian request for state recognition at the U.N. Security Council in New York Friday, refugees at camps across Lebanon are largely confident that Palestine will become the 194th country, but remain ambivalent about the effects it will have.
At Ain al-Hilweh near the southern coastal city of Sidon, Palestinian flags adorned the entrance to the camp, and hung from most buildings and cars.
Children, just starting their new academic year, walked to school saluting their homeland, singing “good morning Palestine” over and over.
Many seemed to be celebrating in advance, and ignoring the fact the United States has vowed to veto the proposal, due to be put forth by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Friday.
Imad Bleibel, a Fatah official who said their office could not keep up with the demand for Palestinian flags, was confident of the announcement of a state. “The Palestinian dream, that we have held since 1948, will be achieved and it is part of the struggle for a Palestinian revolution that has sacrificed thousands of martyrs.”
Another Fatah official in the camp, Asef Jabar, couldn’t hide his optimism. “With the presence of President Abu Mazen [Abbas], the Palestinian entity will rise and will not be affected by American and international pressure.”
Speaking at a rally in the camp Tuesday, general secretary of the PLO and Fatah, Fathi Abou al-Erdat, assured that “the American veto, if it takes place, will not affect our morale. God willing we will have achieved a historical victory … so we can have all the privileges that we have always dreamed of.”
At Sabra and Shatila camps in Beirut’s southern suburbs, Abu Omar Khatab, a PLO Popular Democratic Front official, was certain the U.S. would use its veto against Palestine’s bid for statehood but said they would then take it to the U.N. General Assembly. If that vote is successful, Palestine would be upgraded from an “entity” to a “nonmember state.”
For Khatab, this would constitute the first step to statehood.
When later, “Palestine is recognized as a state, Israel will be considered an occupying power. And Israeli settlements will be illegal.”
In Burj al-Barajneh camp, also in Beirut, Bashir Hamato, a tobacconist, was confident that Palestine would receive recognition as a state at the U.N., and said he has full faith in the Palestinian Authority not to accept any conditions for statehood.
“After 18 years of discussions we are no longer going to accept conditions: we are not going back to negotiations now,” Hamato said.
He was also of the firm belief that the right of return would be guaranteed to all refugees. “Palestinians abroad have not given up their nationality. I believe I will return to Palestine, with Jerusalem as the capital.”
For Abu Ali Ashwah, a PLO member in Burj al-Barajneh, Palestinian statehood is inevitable, with or without recognition at the Security Council.
“We don’t need a vote at the U.N. and we don’t need international agreement: Palestine is for the Palestinian people and we have our rights,” Ashwah said.
At 55 years old, Ashwah has never been to Palestine, but it is constantly in his thoughts.
“I was born in this camp, but I still tell my 12 grandchildren about Palestine every day, even those two who now live in Denmark. We are raising them on the principle of the right to return. Our right to return will never die. Every day I imagine it and think I have the right to that.”
However, many camp residents remained skeptical about the progress of Palestinian statehood, over 60 years after the foundation of Israel.
In Ain al-Hilweh, supporters of Hamas criticized Abbas for his enthusiasm for the U.N. which, many agreed, had never protected the Palestinians or returned them to their homes, as according to U.N. Resolution 194 they should. Some described the U.N. bid as risky, and a gamble.
Mahmoud al-Hassan called the U.N. bid an “uncalculated step. The Palestinian state that Abu Mazen is calling for is not a state and not a Palestinian dream as it is giving up on historic Palestine.”
In Rashidieh camp, the closest to Palestine at only 12 kilometers from the border, hopes for statehood were high among many residents, but others echoed Hassan’s sentiment.
A Hamas official there was not supportive of any Palestinian state recognized by the U.N. ‘“Is it a state or a municipality that Abu Mazen is calling for? Palestine is from the sea to the river, not the Palestine of 1967 borders.”
For Nadia Abu Hajj in Burj al-Barajneh camp, statehood is an undeniable right for Palestinians, but she is unconvinced it is more than just a “painkiller” designed to “calm us all down.” However, she said, statehood would hopefully improve her chances of gaining employment within Lebanon, and might help raise morale in the camps.
Hajj says she is resigned to the fact Palestinian statehood would not improve her day-to-day life.
“Since we were born, nothing has changed. In four generations, nothing has happened. We have been living in poverty all our lives. We work to eat and if we don’t work, we don’t eat,” she said. – With additional reporting by Reem Harb
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