Скачать или смотреть A look at key issue of Palestinian refugees ahead of Arab Summit

(24 Mar 2002)

Rashidiyeh refugee camp, Tyre, southern Lebanon - March 16, 2002
1. Wide shot of camp
2. Overhead view of camp dwellings
3. Cars passing through entrance gate to camp
4. Close-up of portrait of Yasser Arafat above gate
5. Various of Palestinian checkpoint at entrance to camp
6. Various of sewers inside camp
7. Various of gunman from military wing of Fatah, Yasser Arafat's political party
8. Sultan Abul Einein, secretary general of Fatah in Lebanon, getting into car
9. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Colonel Sultan Abul Einein, secretary general of Fatah in Lebanon:
"We expect this Arab Summit to deliver the same level of sacrifice that our Arab brothers in Palestine have made over the last 18 months. We demand that the blood that was shed during this time will be our path and bridge to final salvation from all these insecurities, conflicts and differences."
10. Various od people on streets inside camp
11. Various of cobbler at work at workshop in camp
12. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Rashidieh cobbler:
"We hope that the Arab Summit will remind the world that there are refugees scattered all over the globe - in Lebanon, Syria and Jordan. We hope that those leaders attending the summit will take decisions concerning the return of these Palestinian refugees according to the U.N resolutions 193, 233 and 238 - we are not asking the impossible."

Ein el Helweh refugee camp, southern Labanon - File
13. Various of demonstration organised by Hamas

Beirut - March 16, 2002
14. Ussama Abou Hamdan at work in Hamas office
15. Cutaway of picture in office
16. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Ussama Abou Hamdan, Hamas representative in Lebanon
"What the Palestinian people today want - during this holy Intifada (of the last 18 months) - is an initiative that supports the resistance and the endurance of the Palestinian people and their struggle. Palestinians want the blessing of the Arab world that it is their right to continue their resistance until they get finally attain their full rights. This is the Arab initiative that we are looking for and are asking from this summit and I think that 10 years of a 'political settlement' (since the 1993 Oslo Accords) haven't offered anything to our people. What we demand today from the Arab Summit is to give us the chance to prepare a Resistance plan for at least the next 5 years and I think the results will be much better."

Rashidiyeh refugee camp, Tyre, southern Lebanon - March 16, 2002
17. Various of Fatah gunmen performing drill

STORYLINE:

One of the most contentious issues at the heart of any future Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations is the question of final settlement of the two million Palestinian refugees spread across Syria, Jordan and Lebanon.

Israel continues to refuse to acknowledge the refugees' 'right of return' - a refusal that has repercussions for those neighbouring Arab states where the refugees are living.

The future status of Palestinian refugees will be high on the agenda at Wednesday's Arab Summit in Beirut, Lebanon.

The refugee problem has long been regarded as central to the Palestinian question and an obstacle in the quest for a permanent solution to decades of Arab-Israeli strife. But effectively addressing the issue has proved problematic.

In the Lebanon alone, there are around 350,000 refugees in camps such as the Rashidiyeh camp near Tyre. Some have been living there for up to 50 years.



Such popular opposition has led Lebanon's government to oppose all policies and actions that could be understood as facilitating or accepting Palestinian integration.






Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter:   / ap_archive  
Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​
Instagram:   / apnews  


You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...