CONTEMPORARY EURASIA VOLUME VIII (1) ContemporaryEurasia81 | Page 16

PALESTINIAN REFUGEE CAMPS IN LEBANON: GOVERNANCE AND VIOLENCE
groups such as al-Jamaa al-Islamiyya, the Muslim Brotherhood and various
Salafist preachers have been competing for new bases of support. This
conservative Islamic ideology has also been aided by the growth of satellite
media, especially Saudi ones like Iqra, al-Majd, Annaas etc. This religious
transformation has at times also featured elements of sectarian rhetoric,
which takes aim at Shia Hizballah in order to foster a sense of unity within
the Sunni community. Additionally, the Lebanese authorities’ discrimination
against refugees and the lack of a coherent refugee policy have left the camp
residents in a state of poverty. Finally, there is growing bitterness at the
retreat from the Palestinian national project due to the infighting between
Hamas and Fatah in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, as well as the
American occupation in Iraq in 2003 and their military and political
intervention in the region.
The research work of Laleh Khalili concerning Palestinian
commemorative practices widely illustrates these changes. 46 According to
her, in the 1970s these practices were related to transnational ideologies and
world events. At that time, the PLO was a liberation movement connected to
other world liberation organizations. However, from the 1990s onwards, the
collapse of the communist bloc and the rise of Islamism interacted with the
fragmentation of the Palestinian national movement to modify
commemorative themes. The guerrilla hero melded with the image of the
martyr, and heroic battles were replaced by massacres, which demonstrated a
lack of hope and a prevailing retreat from the development of the national
project.
In an attempt to understand to what degree Islamic movements are
supported by young Palestinians in the camps, the International Information
survey asked them “which of the main Islamic movements” projects per
formed up to their expectations”. The majority of the youth (74.7%)
responded that no one group lived up to their expectations, while a tiny
percentage opted for the Islamist groups. 47
In contrast to the picture transmitted by the media, the vast majority of
the youth do not believe violence against civilians to be “always justified”.
However, about 70 % maintain that they consider what is referred to as
Palestinian suicide bombings to be martyrdom operations against their Israeli
enemy and thus always justified. A smaller number (about 20%) find
martyrdom operations to be “sometimes justified”. Based on the latter two
findings, it is obvious that the youth distinguish between resistance and
terrorism. While the majority rejects indiscriminate violence, they consider
martyrdom operations legitimate. 48
46
Laleh Khalili, Heroes and Martyrs of Palestine: The Politics of National Commemoration,
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007).
47
International Information Survey of Media and Communication Channels, Actors and
Messages in Palestinian Camps.
48
Ibid.
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