A story from Balata refugee camp

22nd July 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus team | Balata, Occupied Palestine

The Abu Leel family are refugees, who fled from Haifa to Balata refugee camp in Nablus in 1948.

Asma Alshmeer gave birth to 10 healthy children, five of whom have been killed by the Israeli military.  The first was killed when he was a child during the first intifada. A soldier came to the family home and knocked on the door.  When the family did not open the door, he threw a tear gas grenade inside the house, and child died from gas suffocation.  The second son was killed during the second intifada.  A soldier stopped his car and ordered him to pick up a stone.  When he bent down to pick it up, the soldier executed him.  The third son was killed by an Israeli rocket attack during the second intifada when he was praying in the souq (market) during a protest in support of Palestinian prisoners. Asma was unable to fully speak about the last two stories, due to devastating pain of the loss.

Of the remaining five children, four have spent considerable time in prison; one for two years, three of them for five and a half years and the last one is still in prison serving a life sentence. This story is a typical experience of Palestinian refugees living in Palestine. Almost every family living in the refugee camps has had family members killed, imprisoned or badly injured by soldiers, and many have had their homes damaged or destroyed.

There are many refugee camps both inside and outside of Palestine. The refugee camps were built following the Nakba (catastrophe) in 1948 when Palestinians were forced from their homes. In the beginning all the refugee camps were build in small areas made of tents as people initially believed this to be a temporary situation.  However, as time progressed, the number of refugees living in the camps has only increased, particularly following the 1967 war and Israel’s subsequent occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. Due to land confiscation and the oppression of the occupation, more and more Palestinians have been forced into the camps, which have been ill prepared to deal with this influx.

Refugee camps all around Palestine therefore suffer from difficult conditions, including lack of adequate infrastructure and severe overcrowding.  30,000 residents live in an area no bigger than 0.25 square kilometers in Balata. Streets are narrow, and daylight limited. These difficult conditions and trauma of the occupation have caused social problems including unemployment, drug abuse, domestic violence, and lack of formal education.

However community organizations are working hard to respond to these difficulties.  For example the Children Center in Balata Camp arranges activities with the children to help them deal with the trauma of domestic violence.  The center is also planning to conduct interviews with young boys who have been in prison, to write about their experience and to offer support as they attempt to recover.

Askar refugee camp, which is also in Nablus, has a population of 31,629 people. There the local Women’s Center provides support to women to support their independence both economically and in terms of education.

Some members of the Women's Center in Askar refugee camp (photo by ISM).
Some members of the Women’s Center in Askar refugee camp (photo by ISM).

They cover issues of gender equality and provide support in the context of domestic and marital difficulties. The center also offers a kindergarten and a fitness room and provides vocational adult education.  Courses include cookery, cosmetology, sewing and embroidery. Due to their lack of funding, the two centers are in search of organizations that are able to provide support.

Movements restricted for Askar refugee camp

by Eva Smith

16 September 2012 | International Solidarity Movement

The main street from Askar Refugee Camp leading to Nablus is closed off three times every week by the Israeli army as around 1,000 illegal settlers make their way to “Joseph’s Tomb.” Each time, the street is closed for up to seven hours, leaving the camp essentially under curfew, unable to leave or enter the area.

Some of the surrounding illegal Israeli settlements are visible from the edge of the Askar Refugee Camp, as well as the road that is closed off three times a week. (photo credit: Ellie Marton)

Joseph’s tomb in Nablus has been a source of controversy since its discovery, as many Palestinians assert that it is in fact the tomb of an Islamic patriarch due to its Islamic architecture.

In the camp there are three checkpoints, which are often arbitrarily closed by the Israeli military. The refugee camp, in which 6,000 people live in one kilometer space, is technically under international legislation; however, armed Israeli soldiers still patrol the road closures and have been known to arrest residents. There are one hundred and five people from Askar Camp in Israeli jails today. This includes children as well as adults.

Eva Smith is a volunteer with International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed)

Askar Refugee Camp: “Our dream is to visit Jerusalem”

By Hakim Maghribi

21 July 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

Walking through Askar Refugee Camp | Alex Marley

A short distance from Nablus one finds the community of Askar camp. What appears as a suburb or cut-off of the city, is actually a refugee camp. Established in 1964, it today houses some 6,000 people in 1 square kilometre. The inhabitants are both descendants of and those themselves that were once pushed off their lands by Israel. This year, it has been 20 years since the first solidarity funding showed up in the camp, and 10 years since the camp was devastated by the Israeli army during the second intifada.

The secretary of the Social Development Center (SDC) for children and the disabled, explains the dire situation in the camp. Most of the week, water is only available 2 hours per day. 30% of the inhabitants are unemployed and lack a real income. The camp finally established a medical clinic, but it has only one doctor for the 6,000 residents of the camp.

Some improvements have been made. Swedish workers arrived in 1992, and the following year, a three-year support package of 30,000 dollars arrived. Buildings and buses have been acquired, and international volunteers still work with the SDC.

For the residents of the camp, one fact remains. No amount of money or construction will bring a solution. The refugee camp is a temporary home for a people who were forced from their true homes. True solidarity lies in the fight for the right to return.

A teacher at the SDC showed members of the International Solidarity Movement a second attraction that the camp has to offer visitors. At the site of an old kindergarten, 7 white tombstones makes up a monument for victims of the second intifada, ensuring some of what occurred in April 2002 will not be forgotten.

The 7 tombstones include a man shot in the head by the Israeli army while going to his neighbour to ask for food, three men killed by a missile that struck their residential area, the daughter of one of the missile victims who was shot and killed, and another who was very ill and died when an ambulance coming for him was denied entrance to the camp by Israeli forces.

The tombstones of victims of Israeli military violence during the second intifada | Alex Marley

The Israeli military machine devastated Askar Camp during the second intifada. The road at the entrance of the camp was trafficked by tanks instead of cars. From the mountain top across the valley, Israeli forces were able to shoot directly into the camp. Many houses were razed and badly damaged. In total, Askar Camp lost 33 lives during the second intifada. Many were arrested and 50 residents remain to today in Israeli prisons.

Although much has changed since then, a resident of the camp, Naser, can still identify big problems for the refugee camp.

Medicine and equipment for care of children with disabilities is very expensive, and must go through Israel, which further complicates its arrival. There is a lack of assistance from both the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), and the Palestinian Authority. Both are represented in the camp, but do not offer enough to the inhabitants.

The entire camp falls under Area C, meaning it is under full Israeli civil and military control. Thus, Israeli soldiers and armed settlers are known to enter the area and harass its residents. Extremist settlers use the presence of the Tomb of Yousef as a premise to invade the area and increase their influence.

For the children of Askar camp, their minds and memories are saturated with the trauma of living under Israeli military occupation.

The Social Development Center has its own girls team in football. Naser explains how they have travelled to a number of countries in Europe to play games and meet other teams. In the end, they all return to a reality of soldiers and restrictions on movement.

While the children are able to secure a 20-day visa to visit Europe, they are not allowed to visit their own capital city, only 45 minutes away.

“Our dream is to visit Jerusalem.”

Hakim Maghribi and Alex Marley are volunteers with the International Solidarity Movement (names have been changed).