On Friday, March 11th, hundreds of Palestinians protested outside of UNRWA's Lebanon Field Office Headquarters. The official catalyst behind the demonstration was the death of ten-year-old Mohammed Nabih Taha, a former resident of Ein al-Hilweh. Having suffered from severe respiratory difficulties throughout his life, Mohammed was given a hospital referral from one of UNRWA's clinics on March 7th, and was transferred to Saida Governmental Hospital's emergency room. There, he was given emergency resuscitative care, but was forced to relocate to Dallaa Hospital due to a lack of available respirators. While waiting in Dallaa's emergency room, Mohammed passed away.
Following Mohammed's death, his father carried his body back to one of UNRWA's Health Centers in Ein al-Hilweh. There, a confrontation between Mohammed's father and Health Center staff spilled out into the streets. Hundreds of people quickly surrounded the Health Center, which forced UNRWA to shut down both of its clinics in Ein al-Hilweh. Although UNRWA acted fully within its scope to save Mohammed's life, Palestinian refugees have no choice but to take their anger out on UNRWA when a tragedy happens; UNRWA is the lifeline for Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, especially those that live inside the camps.
At around 9:30 am, dozens of buses arrived outside of UNRWA's headquarters. By 9:45, the buses had emptied and hundreds of refugees from a variety of refugee camps had congregated outside of UNRWA's main gate. Initially, they were chanting, "al-sha3b yurid isqat al-nitham," the same words to which millions of Egyptians marched in unison as they forced Mubarak out of power (in English, the chant translates to: the people want the collapse of the system). After a few minutes, however, the chant changed to, "al-sha3b yurid isqat al-mudeer," which translates to, "the people want the collapse of the director."
Contrary to some reports, protesters did not try and storm UNRWA's facilities. Rather, at one point during the demonstration, popular committee representatives were allowed onto the premises and they spoke with several UNRWA officials and security personnel. Although the protest was peaceful, the refugees that gathered on Friday were definitely upset, and their anger did not go unnoticed (Director Salvatore Lombardo's memorandum about the incident reflected the organization's deep sadness over Mohammed's death, and an understanding of UNRWA's responsibility to respond to protesters' feelings with empathy and compassion). An investigation has been launched into the circumstances surrounding Mohammed's death, and hopefully Mohammed's family will be able to find peace in the coming days and weeks.
Below is a short video of the protest. I am trying to upload two more, but am having problems with my internet browser:
Well isn't this sadly representative of the Palestinian cause?
ReplyDeleteOriginally, it was a big quest for Palestine.
Now, it is a small quest for Gaza.
the movement to end the siege on gaza is definitely part of the larger movement to liberate palestine. where do you see a connection between protests over a boy's death and the stagnation/deterioration of the free palestine movement?
ReplyDeleteThe connection is not between the two events that you point out
ReplyDeleteThe connection is between moving from "iskat al nitham" to "islat al mudir"
Between moving from the grand ideal of regaining Palestine, to now, simply bartering for a small piece of land - is it really part of the larger movement to liberate Palestine? The Cause has been sold by the ones who wore it on their chests
Falling low, and sadly forgetting the key essence of the problem that caused the boy's sad death (al nitham), to just asking for what is sadly accessible to the (much deprived Palestinians) (al mudir)
When one settles for the crumbs as opposed to the main meal, there is a problem I think.
paloma,
ReplyDeletei guess you could interpret the story that way. being there, though, i did not get the sense that the protesters were demanding anything less when they changed the chant from "isqat al nitham" to "isqat al mudeer." because the protest was directed at unrwa, it seemed appropriate that they would chant for the "collapse of the executive" rather than the "collapse of the system" (a system over which unrwa has no control).
but, your point is well-taken nonetheless. the system is what indeed caused the boy's death, not any malfeasance on unrwa's end. the problem with lebanon, however, is that the system is fragile. while it should be dismantled, it will have to be done so carefully. otherwise, another civil war could very well take place.
Andrew,
ReplyDeleteCareful - I am not trying to say that they should have kept on going and pushing for an "iskat nitham" in this case. Far from it.
I would have thought, metaphorically speaking, that you were hinting through your article to how sadly the Palestinian Cause has dropped down from a capital "C" to a small letter c. Simply.
My comment goes beyond the sad episode of the the death of the boy. We have been witnessing a sad Palestinian deaths since God knows when. But the "C"ause keeps on falling down from one level to another, as you and I know.
I just like the article and the sarcastic change from "nitham" to "mudir". And that was the way I had understood it - at least, I thought that was what you had intended it to look like.
Paloma,
ReplyDeleteyou're spot-on. apologies for misunderstanding you initially. my commentary on the change from "nitham" to "mudir" did indeed include a hint of sarcasm.
thanks for your comments.
andrew