JOUSOUR ARTICLE
A refugee story: Abu Hassan: I am not the only Lebanese in the camp
He is a Lebanese citizen from Tyre. She is a Palestinian refugee from the Rashidieh camp, south of the city. Abu Hassan met his wife more than six years ago, and soon a love story began culminating in marriage, despite the objections of many of their family members, especially that they decided to live in the camp. But “without this decision, I would not have been able to get married in the first place, especially under the difficult economic and living conditions.” He said., “I am not the only Lebanese here, and the proportion of intermarriage between the camp and the vicinity residents is relatively high. Many Lebanese families have been living in the camp for decades.”
Life in the camp is safer
Abu Hassan feels safe in the camp, as the security situation here, as he sees it, is less dangerous than outside the camp, especially that many Lebanese areas are witnessing a significant increase in looting, robberies and assaults, but in the camp there are no such incidents so far, as he put it. The UNRWA, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, and several social institutions and charities that provide services and assistance to many families are reducing the burden on the camp residents.
But with the ongoing repercussions of the Covid 19 crisis, the deteriorating economic and political conditions in the country and the staggering increase in prices, the fathers’ fears for his family have grown, as his modest salary is barely enough to cater to the necessary needs and necessities.
“I will never let my daughter marry a Palestinian”
To avoid this imagined future scenario, or until things are straightened out, Abu Hassan only wants one thing today, emigration from a country where both citizens and refugees suffer injustice.
To the camp
She contemplated his picture hanging on a wall in the living room where she spends most of her time with her grandchildren, and commented, “I have never regretted my decision to marry him., and if I had to do it all over again, I would not have changed anything.”
Alienation outside the camp
After her husband’s death in 2002, her family got in touch with her and begged her to leave the camp and live with them, but she refused to leave her home. The camp environment is that of her daughters’ father and there she feels comfortable and reassured. According to her, she feels alienated outside the camp. Alienation increases with the continued denial of her right to confer her nationality on her daughters. Here, her youngest daughter highlighted her suffering from job search, simply because she is Palestinian, despite the fact that she holds a university degree. She sarcastically said, “I am like mom. The Palestinians consider her a Lebanese, while the Lebanese consider her a Palestinian.”