The 70,000 Palestinians Caught in Refugee Limbo (1999)

Arafat's End Game (1999): We examine the declining support for Arafat in Lebanon's Palestinian refugee camps.

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In battle fatigues, marching in military quick step, Fatah's new recruits sing old PLO songs. This is the only footage of Arafat's first batch of freshly trained soldiers. They've been pressed with the task of renewing PLO support amongst the 70,000 Palestinians crammed into Lebanon's largest refugee camp, Ain Helweh. "Our chairman Arafat has instructed us to ease the economic and social conditions of our people in the camps," explains Abu Adham, Fatah's most senior official. Yet most of their budget is being spent on arms. The refugees of Ain Helweh are wary of Arafat's power plays. He's regarded as the betrayer who failed to address their plight in the 1993 Oslo peace accords. Denied Lebanese citizenship but also denied the right of return to their homeland, they have been condemned to a miserable existence in Ain Helweh's slums. Most people here have no time for Fatah, whose troops did nothing when the Lebanese recently demolished refugee homes to make way for a road. The refugees want a future. They don't want to be a political football in Arafat's end game.

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For similar stories, see:
Attempting Diplomacy In The Middle East (1997)
   • Attempting Diplomacy In The Middle Ea...  
Can Symbolic Boycotts Make A Difference For Palestine?
   • Can Symbolic Boycotts Make A Differen...  
Living On The Israel-Lebanon Border
   • Living On The Israel-Lebanon Border  

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Flint – Ref. 0668