Visit of the delegation of the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict to the refugee camps of Bourj Barajneh and Mar Elias.

A delegation from the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict, in cooperation with the Permanent Peace Movement, made a visit to the refugee camps of Bourj Barajneh and Mar Elias, and held meetings with representatives of associations and Lebanese and Palestinian cultural and social actors.

The tour began at ten o'clock in the morning with a visit to the refugee camp of Bourj Barajneh in the southern suburb of Beirut. The delegation toured the camp and got familiar with the date of its establishment, the population and the difficult economic and social conditions faced by Palestinian refugees in the Palestinian camps. And during the tour they witnessed the incorporation of electrical wires with water pipes that lead yearly to many deaths. They also passed by many of the roads that were dug for the maintenance work but had stopped before its completion.

After the field tour, the delegation met at the Center of the "Fraternal for Cultural Work" with representatives of the Palestinian Organization for Human Rights, Fatah Movement, the Embassy of Palestine, the Lebanese Association for Transparency, the General Union of Palestinian Women, in addition to Lebanese and Palestinian cultural and social actors.

The spokeswoman of the delegation, the Regional Coordinator of the Western Balkans in the Global Partnership, Dragana Sarengaca, welcomed the attendees in identifying the Global Partnership, consisting of a network of peace builders coming from 15 countries, with the aim of marketing and working for peace, in addition to working for a permanent dialogue with members of the community. Sarengaca thanked the Permanent Peace Movement, which gave members of the Global Partnership the opportunity to know the reality of the camps and representatives of civil society in order to exchange experience in resolving and preventing armed conflicts and peace-building.
After the introduction of the Global Partnership delegation members, the President of the "Brothers of Cultural Work," welcomed the attendees. The "Fraternal of Cultural Work" is an independent association established in response to the needs of people, young people and their suffering at the various health, educational and environmental levels. He pointed to the need to solve the problems seriously by civil society and meet the needs of the people by spreading awareness among young people. He stressed the importance to shed light on human rights and involve the movement of youth in decision-making, and hoped to open the door to cooperation between the institutions of civil society and the Global Partnership to prevent the armed conflicts.

Problems of the camp:

The first part of the meeting focused on highlighting the problems of the camp that the attendees considered rooted in the denial of the Palestinian to live in his country and his land. They noted that Palestinians in Lebanon suffer from the lack of acceptance of the Lebanese, despite the great efforts done by many associations. They considered that the problem is due to the diversity of the Lebanese people and its division into denominations as it is unready to accept a new party. They stressed that the programs that are now applied tend towards resolving the results of conflicts rather than prevention from them.

Exchange of experiences:

The representative of the Embassy of Palestine, Hisham El Debsi, considered that any dispute in detail occurs in any camp is due to the larger conflict between the Palestinians and Israelis. In referring to the experience of the PLO in conflict resolution, he said that the organization had raised a philosophy to resolve the dispute with Israel through the abandonment of most of the Palestinian territories in order to reach the establishment of two states, but the “Israelis have refused those initiatives and continued building the settlements.” He pointed out that the Palestinians carrying the weapon in 1969 was the result of the difficult situation they experienced what caused them to fight for their right, which led to civil war.

He also said that the Palestinians were the basic components of the war, as there were alliances between Palestinian factions, and some Lebanese parties in the face of other Lebanese parties. He considered that the fundamental shift toward a solution to the Palestinian- Lebanese conflict was when the Lebanese and Palestinian elite criticized what happened during the civil war.

He referred to "Palestine Declaration in Lebanon," released by the PLO to apologize for the mistakes committed by the Palestinians in Lebanon during the war, declaring their withdrawal from any internal Lebanese conflict. The declaration included a confirmation from the PLO that the Palestinian weapon inside and outside the camps is in the custody of the Lebanese state whenever and however it wants. He said it was important that the Lebanese society initiates to declare an apology for the mistakes he committed against the Palestinians during the civil war. He pointed to the open and honest meetings held between the PLO and all of the Phalange Party and the Lebanese Forces, in addition to visiting Bkirki as a goodwill gesture towards the Christians in Lebanon.

From its part, the representative of the Union of Palestinian Women said that women are most affected by the conflicts. She noted that the prevalence of different types of violence in the Palestinian camps, especially among children who are exposed to violence in their homes and schools. She believed that the response to violence is through the various programs that include training in different skills to resolve conflicts. It confirmed that the Palestinians seek to get their civil and social rights, and on its top the right of return.

The representative of the Lebanese Association for Transparency gave an explanation about the training program for mid-level leaders in the various Lebanese parties, where meetings were organized between them and a group of Palestinian youth in the camp of Bourj Barajneh, which resulted in recommendations related to the right to employment and the right to ownership of the Palestinians. This program aims to train the leaders on the skills of conflict resolution and dialogue.

While the representative of the Palestinian Organization for Human Rights considered that there is a single state monopolizing violence and claims it wants the peace, i.e. the United States of America, as it is trying to impose solutions on the states. He believed that the meaning of conflict resolution is to reduce or avoid losses that result from any conflict. He said that our communities see that the United States of America impose its vision of peace that does not look like or corresponds with our ideas and our culture. He asked the delegation members about how they can approach the concept of peace in our society after its misuse by powerful countries.

The representative of the Embassy of Palestine also referred to what he called "the non-armed conflicts” that are imported to the Palestinian refugee camps to destroy the youth such as drugs. He said that young people in the camps do not need workshops and conferences to develop new ideas, but the means to put pressure on officials to give the Palestinians their rights.

One of the participants drew attention to the impact of violence and conflict on children and said that work must be done to make them aware about their duties. She noted that children receive violence from their schools and their surroundings, so they must be given their right to live in peace.

Questions raised by members of the delegation:

- How do the armed actors deal with civil society organizations?

- How to raise children and make them aware about their rights based on their view of future conflict?

- What makes people persist in the struggle?

- How can people live in the light of this diversity of views on resolving the conflict?

- Their assessment to the role of the European Union in conflict resolution and prevention, and what recommendations they propose?

This question has been raised after hearing the criticism of UNRWA people and its failure, although the EU funds are of significance to UNRWA. Members of the delegation of the global partnership noted that the EU is pressed for peace, but the interests of companies selling weapons do not make the task easy.

The representatives of local associations said that children are raised to know their villages in Palestine and what makes people persist in the struggle is their faith in the justice of their issue. With regard to their assessment to the role of the European Union, the representative of the Embassy of Palestine said that the Liberation Organization has studied the services provided by UNRWA and its rehabilitation of the infrastructure in 2004. He said that the European Union has funded UNRWA to carry out the rehabilitation of infrastructure in all the camps in Lebanon, but it turns out that only 5% of the amount spent on rehabilitation work, while the remaining amount is lost in the maze of bureaucracy, delusional contracts and thefts that occur blatantly. He expressed the readiness of the embassy to put the study and reports at the disposal of the delegation members.

The Palestinian researcher and writer, Tayssir Khatib, said that the Palestinians and the Arabs are responsible for what is happening to the Palestinians, in addition to the responsibility of European Nations that have created the monster (Israel) after World War II. He said that all Palestinians want the truth, after the facts were manipulated by the Israelis. He said that the international community knows the truth of what happened in Palestine, but it does not want to do something about it. He considered that any of the

solutions is unachievable as a result of the new realities imposed by the Israeli occupation on the ground. He said that the solutions proposed are:

-          Establishment of two states, Israeli state and Palestinian state on the historic land of Palestine.

-          Removal of the State of Israel, and the establishment of the Palestinian State on the historic land of Palestine.

-           The establishment of a secular state on the historic land of Palestine, to ensure the livelihoods of Palestinians and Israelis together.

The delegation arrived to the camp of Mar Elias at 2:30. It visited a member of the Beirut PLO factions, Khaled Abadi, who briefly introduced to the delegation the establishment of the camp on the land belonging to the Orthodox Church in 1949. He also said that most of the displaced from the camps that were destroyed during the civil war, fled toward the camp, which was regarded then as "political capital" for the Palestinians, as it included the basic offices of the Palestinian organizations and associations after its neutralization of hostilities, especially in the war of the camps between 1985-1987. Abadi said that all conflicts and wars that occur are caused by Israel, which wants to impose itself as part of the region.

He pointed out that the Palestinians are in need of political help and not of financial assistance. He answered questions of the delegation about political Lebanese parties that put pressure on the government in order to establish the rights of the Palestinians, and said that those parties only talk and do not have any actions on the ground. He stressed that all Palestinians are still committed to the right to return to their land, even if they get their civil and economic rights. He said that the Lebanese do not give the Palestinians their rights fearing the issue of resettling and receiving Lebanese nationality, despite the fact that Palestinians reject the settlement altogether.

After the meeting, the delegation made a field tour in the alley ways of the camp, where they were introduced to the office premises of basic associations and the only UNRWA clinic, which is not doing its duty as said by the Group Advisor. And also that only one doctor works there and the clinic is not open on a full-time basis, in addition to the suffering of people waiting for the bureaucratic transactions of money that takes a long time, even if in an emergency case.