CONTEMPORARY EURASIA VOLUME VIII (1) ContemporaryEurasia81 | Page 10

PALESTINIAN REFUGEE CAMPS IN LEBANON: GOVERNANCE AND VIOLENCE
the International Information survey, if a Palestinian state were declared
without acknowledging the right of the Palestinian refugees to return to their
homeland, 36% of respondents would prefer resettling in a Western country,
about 11% moving to an Arab country, whereas about 32% would prefer to
remain in Lebanon. 17
Typically, young people expressed anger and pessimism toward the
Lebanese and Palestinian polities. They considered the popular committee
lacking in relevant experience to manage the camps, and felt that the
committee members had “lost contact” with their constituency. Many of the
Palestinians felt that the unpopular Palestinian political authority reflected a
crisis of substantive moral purpose. They asserted that it demonstrated the
ways in which the Lebanese authorities undermined the popular committees.
Yet a few of them believed that Islamic conceptions of good governance
were not being followed. Many felt unrepresented by the political factions.
When the International Information survey asked respondents which
“Palestinian factions live up to their expectations”, 37.4% of surveyed youth
named Fatah, 25.5% named Hamas and the more marginal secular and
Islamist factions got only 18%. The remaining 19.1% of the respondents
stated that none of the factions were performing according to their
expectations. 18 Young people are not necessarily “depoliticized”, but rather
disillusioned with the fragmented and factional political structure (except for
Hamas, which is considered an alternative to the traditional Palestinian
factions).
Violence in the camps: Attacks on property and individuals
Investigating social and political violence in the Palestinian camps in
Lebanon is not an easy task as there are very few statistics on the subject.
The only statistics are in the report on violence monitored by the Palestinian
Human Rights Organization (PHRO). 19 Additionally, other reports provide
indicators of violence, such as the annual reports of the Palestinian
Association for Human Rights 20 and the “Najdeh” Association 21 , which
17
International information Survey of Media and Communication Channels, Actors and
Messages in Palestinian Camps. Unpublished report, 2009.
18
Karma Nebulsi, Palestinians Register: Laying Foundations and Setting Directions,
(Oxford: Nuffield College, 2006).
19
Palestinian Human Rights Organisation. Report on Violence. January-May 2010.
Unpublished report, 2010. Palestinian Human Reghts Organisation. Report on the Lebanese
Restrictions on Freedom of Movement: Case of Nahr al-Bared, November, (2010).
20
Palestinian Association for Human Rights (Witness). 2009 Annual Report Unpublished
report, 2009.
21
Association Najdeh, Domestic Violence Program Annual Report January-December 2007.
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