Everyone in Iraq is suffering these days, but the Palestinian community, most
of whom have been born here (their families having fled Palestine in 1948), are
among the lowest of the low. They do not have Iraqi citizenship and have to
extend their residency permits (a complex process) every single month. Because
Saddam exploited the Palestinian cause to try and gain prominence in the Arab
world, Palestinians are often (incorrectly) viewed as having supported and
benefited from his regime and as a result are persecuted.
In fact Saddam did very little for
the 23,000 Palestinians in Iraq. In addition, as a result of fears of foreign
jihadists, any non-Iraqi Arabs are view with suspicion. There is no evidence
that any of the Palestinian community in Iraq has been involved in terrorist
activities, but none the less they are frequently harrassed and detained.
Things have got so bad that Iraqi security forces have been turning up at the
Palestinian ghetto in Baladiat (Baghdad) almost every evening. This is the
reason that Palestinians are beginning to take the ultimate step of leaving
their homes once again in search of a genuine place of refugee.
One of the Palestinians said: "By our action we want to make the UN aware
of our situation and to be registered as refugees with UNRWA which provides
assistance to Palestinian refugees in the West Bank, Gaza and other Arab
nations but not in Iraq." I've been doing my best to alert people in the
UN to the situation, and they are taking it seriously, however the decision on
permitting them to enter Syria rest with the government.
For updates see the CPT_Iraq
Yahoo Group. Their plight has been covered in the Canadian
Globe and Mail (although this article exaggerates the support Palestinians
recieved from the former regime).
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