THE SYRIAN REFUGEES IN BEKAA

This is the fourth and last article from my visit to Lebanon in late February 2019. This time I want to share my impressions from a visit to the Bekaa valley, an area where more than 340 000 Syrian refugees were living at the time of my visit. 

It´s the last week of my stay, and I have just left my friends in the Palestinian refugee camp Rashidieh in southern Lebanon, to join a group of young Palestinian volunteers on a relief supply mission to a Syrian refugee camp (or rather an informal settlement) in the Bekaa valley. As you may understand from reading my previous articles from Lebanon, my feelings after getting a glimpse into the daily life and struggles of the Palestinian refugees are quite mixed to say the least, but by the end of this day, I will experience conditions even worse. But I´ll start with a bit of context information...

IN THE SHADOWS OF WAR - "THE CHANGEMAKERS"

This is the third blog article in my on-going mini series “In the shadows of war”, from my visit to the Palestinians in Lebanon in February 2019. In fact it has been a piece of writing quite hard to put in words due to the complexity and divergent views about the situation, political solutions and even some factual information. I have called this post “The Changemakers”, even though the word “change” has to be interpreted in context and with some reservations. 

After more than 70 years of occupation, armed conflicts and for thousands of Palestinians being forced to live their lives as refugees and denied the right to a homeland, one could argue that all the change that has come these years has been mostly for the worse. As Israel is constantly expanding the settlements, building more walls, and bombing and killing demonstrators and innocent civilians, and while the war in Syria adds yet another tragedy to thousands of Palestinians, and exploitation and absence of basic human rights are what Palestinian refugees are facing in Lebanon. It´s really hard to keep up hope and believe in any change for the better. The absence of a functioning, united, political leadership, internal conflicts within PLO and repeated corruption accusations, make things even worse.  

However, to deny anyone hope, or to refuse to recognise and celebrate the hard work of thousands of young and old Palestinians struggling long hours, day in and day out, trying to make life better for their people in so many different ways, would be yet another assault, and in my opinion deeply unfair. So, while the word “Changemakers” only to a limited extent is pointing at significant or potential political, lasting change, I am convinced that the people I introduce to you in this article make a real difference for many of the people they are trying to help.