Shaath visit sparks camp residents’
patriotism
Refugees pledge support Hala Kilani
Daily Star staff
The Israeli threat to Palestinian President Yasser Arafat’s life united
Palestinians in Lebanon from different political sides Friday and created the possibility
of an explosion at refugee camps.
As the Israeli Army bombarded the Palestinian leader’s headquarters in the West Bank
city of Ramallah, the mood in Beirut’s camps boiled like “a volcano ready to
explode,” as described by Mohammed Afifeh of the Shatila camp.
Thousands of refugees kicked off spontaneous demonstrations, starting at Shatila Mosque
and ending by the mass grave of Sabra and Shatila massacre victims.
On his way out of Beirut after participating in the Arab summit, Palestinian International
Cooperation Minister Nabil Shaath stopped at the mass grave for Palestinians at the
Shatila Roundabout, where he laid wreaths and prayed.
As news of his presence spread through the camps, dozens of Palestinians converged on the
cemetery chanting: “Onward to Jerusalem, even if its takes millions of martyrs,”
and “Our blood and souls we sacrifice for you, Abu Ammar (Arafat).”
Shaath’s words led nearly every Palestinian woman, man and child to call for going to
the Israeli-Lebanese border with plans for peace encampment and suicide bombings.
“We demand that Arab governments open the borders,” Afifeh said. “We
don’t want money, we don’t want arms. All we want is to be able to connect with
our people living inside the occupied territories. It’s our right to connect with
them.”
The refugees made it clear that in the worst case scenario - if Arafat is killed by the
Israeli Army nothing could contain them inside the camps, “not even the tightest
security measures,” as a man who gave his name as Abu Omar said.
Such sentiment was shared by every Palestinian that The Daily Star encountered in Shatila,
even those belonging to factions opposed to Arafat such as the Popular Front for the
Liberation of Palestine and Al-Saiqa.
“We don’t want to be martyrs because of martyrdom in itself,” Afifeh said.
“We want to be martyrs for the sake of life, to secure a better life for the
Palestinian people.”
A woman who gave her name as Umm Wissam brought her 10-year-old son forward and said:
“See this child? I am ready to use him as human bomb right now if I have to.”
The least that Afifeh and the others said they envisioned was a gathering on the border
where they would set up tents as “a way of showing our people inside support,”
Afifeh said.
The security around the camps, where patriotic songs reinforced the revolutionary mood,
was tightened for the Arab summit and continued due to the events in Palestine.
“Since the beginning of the Arab summit, we have felt as if we were in large jails
with the military surrounding us,” Afifeh said.
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