In May 2007 Nahr al Bared Refugee Camp, home to over 40,000 Palestinian
refugees, became the site of a 4-month battle between the Lebanese Army
and extremist group Fatah al-Islam. During this time over 40 civilians,
167 soldiers and over 200 Fatah al-Islam members were killed. 40,000
refugees were displaced.
From the official end of the battle, in early September, until the 10th of
October the camp was under exclusive Lebanese army control.

When parts of the new camp were re-opened and the first thousand families
reurned to Nahr al Bared, they returned to houses that had been burnt,
looted and vandalised. Witnesses attest to what appears to be a systematic
pattern of burning and looting.
Racist graffiti written in many homes in the camp is signed with the names

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75023

BEDDAWI, 28 October 2007 (IRIN) - Souad al-Sayyed still camps with her children in a classroom strung with washing lines, two months after the battle for Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon ended.

Despite the stench from the neighbouring toilet and piles of rubbish in the corridors, Souad finds little comfort in the news that her time is up in her temporary home at a public school in Beddawi refugee camp, near the devastated camp.

“The school administration said they’re moving us out tomorrow, but nobody told us where we’re going,” she said, cradling her four-month-old son Hassan who was born during the army’s three-month siege of Nahr al-Bared, ending on 2 September.

AUB students shocked by conditions at Nahr al-Bared

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=1&article_...

By Christian Porth

Special to The Daily Star
Monday, October 29, 2007

BEIRUT: A group of AUB students traveled north to the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp near Tripoli over the weekend with the intention of helping to clean up the homes of refugees returning in the wake of the May-September battle between the army and Fatah al-Islam militants.

What the students found inside the camp was enough to "make their heads spin," said Tamara Qiblawi, a senior, who organized the trip in conjunction with Popular Aid for Relief and Development (PARD), a non-governmental organization.

Dear Mr. Siniora,

I write to you as a Lebanese citizen with pressing concerns. Today, on the 27th of October 2007, I, along with a group of ten AUB students, made the journey north to Nahr el Bared. We went there with the purpose of carrying out a clean-up campaign for the homes of returning refugees. What we found in the homes made our heads spin.

Over the course of 4 months of fighting, the Nahr el Bared Palestinian refugee camp (home to 25,000 people) was heavily bombed and its infrastructure destroyed. The Lebanese Army declared victory mid-September, but the camp’s residents (and so far only 200 families) weren’t allowed to return until October 9. They returned to mass devastation; entire neighborhoods are no longer recognizable. Not all the houses were destroyed; those that remain standing were vandalized, looted and burnt.

Without protection, and without a state to appeal to or a government to care for them, the Palestinians of Nahr el Bared are restarting life from nothing.

These days, the anarchist video collective "a-films" released a 20-minutes
film produced by refugees from the destroyed Nahr al-Bared Camp during a
video-workshop in Beddawi Refugee Camp near Trablous, North Lebanon. For
two weeks, a-films has trained a group of refugees in filmmaking.

"Tragedy Without Borders" focusses on the hard conditions that Nahr
al-Bared refugees are facing in their temporary exile in Beddawi Camp.
Many of them experience a Ramadan of hardship and sadness. Living since
four months in overcrowded schools, mosques and in overpriced flats
garages, they tell about their daily life and their memories of their
destroyed refugee camp. The refugees explain their perceptions of their
future and their hopes of returning to the ruins of Nahr al-Bared.

These days, the anarchist film collective "a-films" produced and released
a short video on refugees from the destroyed refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared
who stranded in Shatila Camp, Beirut. The war in Nahr al-Bared left tens
of thousands of Palestinians homeless. Under fire and assuming they could
soon return to the camp after their flight, most of them haven't taken any
of their belongings with them. Until now, none of the refugees are allowed
to return to the ruins of their camp. While Beddawi Camp near Trablous,
North Lebanon, is hosting the majority of those who fled, thousands of
people are scattered all over other Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon.

Until now there's no full quality version of the film available for
download. However, the film can be watched here:

http://uprisingradio.org/home/?p=1833

Nahr el Bared Relief Campaign

Published on 22 Aug 2007 at 11:10 am. No Comments.
Filed under Daily Programs.

Listen to this segment | the entire program

GUEST: Dr. Marcy Newman, Co-founder of the Nahr el Bared Relief Campaign and a Professor of English at Boise State University

Our work with the campaign continues on a daily basis on Bourj al Barajneh, Mar Elias, Shatila, and Badawi refugee camps. We continue to distribute hygiene kits to families every week in the Beirut-area camps and are the only group who has consistently kept up the pace with this work. Our food distribution has been streamlined to alternate among the other various Beirut-area camp organizations providing food parcels to families; this week we will pack and distribute food as well in Beirut. In Badawi we continue to work with our partners who are giving out clothing, medicine, and fresh fruits and vegetables to families from Nahr el Bared.

Please join us for the opening of our new children's activities center

& for the exhibition of Lebanese artist Randa Mirza's "Abandoned Rooms"

(http://www.randamirza.com/)

Friday, August 10th at 6 PM

Bourj al Barajneh refugee camp

For more information & directions please call Fadi Dbajeh 03.758.225
or fadi_dabaja[at]hotmail.com

Shefa' Clinic in Badawi needs an ultrasound machine for monitoring heart problems and pregnancy; they also need a heart beat recorder.

*****************
Dear Volunteers,

Here is a recap of the planned children's activities.

Monday
Lama works the kids with her soccer skills

Tuesday
Sara's tree building session (She is a fairy thus explains her obsession with trees); Fidal assists
Nat's house making session, part 2!. Spencer assists
Ziad, Tope and Grace run around the centre with the remaining kids i.e. kids games

Wednesday
Spencer is in charge of Box ball (sick of being an assistant he decided to take charge) Ziad assists.
Fidal, Sara and Tope are jobless and really need to come up with something soon.

Thursday

http://flashpoints.net/index.html#2007-07-25

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Today on Flashpoints: Author and National Lawyers Guild President Marjorie Cohn takes on the Administration's claims of executive privilege; also, a report from Beirut on the continuing attacks by the Lebanese army on the Nahr el Bared refugee camp; JR and the Block Report speak with Hip Hop legend, poet and actor Mos Def about the case of Aaron Patterson; plus, Israeli occupation forces swarm into Gaza while soldiers and settlers beat Palestinians in the West Bank; and the Knight Report.

01:00 The Knight Report
An Iraqi soccer celebration turns sour
Robert Knight

Cowboy RePublic by Marjorie Cohn
06:00 Assessment of Empire and War: Executive Privilege

Please join us for a general assembly meeting, Tuesday, July 31st at 6PM in the Palestinian Youth Center in Shatila for a discussion about how we can improve the relief efforts of the Nahr el Bared Relief Campaign. We are looking forward to meeting with all of you and hearing your ideas about how we can improve the lives of people displaced from Nahr el Bared.

In solidarity,

Marcy Newman
General Coordinator
Nahr el Bared Relief Campaign
+961.70.977.812
www.nahrelbaredcampaign.org

Fri, 13 July 2007

This week on Crossing The Line, no time in the recent history of the Palestinian people have things been so devoid of hope. The Palestinian national movement is arguably at its lowest point. Osamah Kahlil will speak about the need for a revamped PLO and a radical change in course to save Palestinian unity.

Also this week I'll speak to Sami Abdelshafi a Gaza resident and businessman about life after the Hamas takeover and what might lie ahead for the strip's 1.5 million residents.

Plus, Rania Masri joins me to discuss the latest news from the troubled Palestinian camp of Nahr el-Bared in Tripoli Lebanon.

And, from Cottage Grove, OR The War's Toll compiled and read by Scott Burgwin of The Stand Independent news Service.

Fri, 20 July 2007

This week on Crossing The Line, Ali Abunimah, co-founder of electronicintifada.net breaks down the hegemony of Israel and The United States in regards to supporting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Fatah in the aftermath of Hamas' takeover of Gaza.

Plus, Dr. Marcy Newman updates us on the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared.

Then later our weekly commentary by Mumia abu-Jamal

Direct download: July_20th_Podcast.mp3

Category: podcasts -- posted at: 4:55 PM

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