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Palestinian Doctrine of Resistance

Abou Dawoud and his Family, a story to be told!

Photo by Farfahinne

The Muqawama Doctrine

Gretta and Dries will be surprised!
The problem of the Palestine refugees is an open sore and a cause of much worry. At present there are almost 4.5 million refugees living in temporary huts, waiting to go to Israel. The problem can be traced back to Israels independence in 1948. At the time, the Arabs living in Israel fled en masse, even before the fighting started, fearing the bloodbath that their Arab brethren wished to bring about. The censuses of 1947 and 1949 lead to the conclusion that 660,000 Arabs left the country. Of these, 472,000 were given refugee status, according to the report made at the time by the UN Mediator for Palestine. Thanks to a high birth rate plus a net annual gain of 18,000 Arabs coming from neighbouring countries, just before the outbreak of the Six Day War in 1967 there were 1.35 million refugees in camps. The crown prince of Jordan, Hassan bin Talal, published a book on the problem in 1981 entitled: Palestinian Self-Determination. He states that the number of refugees increased by 234,000 as a result of the Six Day War. He also indicates that by the end of 1980 there were 1.8 million people in refugee camps. A calculation tells us that in the period between 1967 and 1980 an average of 34,000 people per year left, as they should, since refugee camps are presumed to be temporary. Now comes the interesting part of our story. In 1980 the Netherlands had a population of exactly 14 million. If we compare that with the increase in the camps from 1.8 to 4.5 million, there should now be 35 million inhabitants in the Netherlands rather than 16.5 million. This calls up questions. The 4.5 million with refugee status, for whom the UN and UNRWA have some responsibility,

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can only be explained by a net influx of an average of 16,000 individuals per year, taking into account a natural population growth of 3.2% per annum, which is comparable to the natural growth figures of Jordan. Jordan serves as a base of comparison, since it shares many characteristics with the refugee camp population. In the period from 1948 to 1967 the camps were enriched with 19 x 18,000 inhabitants, and from 1980 up to 2006 with 26 x 14,000. These are averages, but unfortunately rigorous statistics are lacking. This comes to a total of 1.2 million Arabs who have nothing to do with the Palestinian question, as of 2006. Based on the refugees registered for 1948 and 1967, the influx of foreigners has led to a 26% thinning out of the Palestinian contingent. Thus 1.2 million Arabs in the camps are of foreign origin or their descendants! Two great supporters of the Palestinian cause, Gretta Duisenberg, widow of the one-time President of the European Bank, and Dutch ex-Premier Dries van Agt will be surprised. They have persisted in placing all the blame for the problem on Israels shoulders. I believe that Israel, like all other nations in the world, has the right to its own corrupt politicians and businessmen, but that does not mean that I blame them for everything, however much I may feel for the terrible conditions in which the refugees are living. This is a typical case of something for which Israel cannot be blamed. It is scandalous that these people have not been taken in by the Arab countries and that the problem is still there after sixty years. As early as in August 1958 Ralph Galloway of the UNRWA remarked: The Arab States do not want to solve the refugee problem. They want to keep it as an open sore, as an affront to the United Nations and as a weapon against Israel. Arab leaders dont give a damn whether the refugees live or die. It is clear that until the Six Day War, when it was hoped that Israel would be quickly destroyed, many Arabs moved into the refugee camps with the expectation of rich rewards from Israels confiscated possessions and meanwhile they were able to profit from the payments made by the UNRWA. The latter saw no problem as to looking after the stream of refugees because the Arab countries maintained an extremely strange definition of the term refugee. As Bin Talal expressed it, the number of refugees must also include those who have never registered but are in fact refugees. Some vague family connection or other with the former inhabitants of present-day Israel must thus be sufficient to have yourself registered! Particularly after the Yom Kippur War of 1973, all hope was dashed of a rapid conquest of Israel. At the time, the Arab leaders developed a new strategy known as the Muqawama Doctrine, at present generally accepted. The doctrine explains the spectacular growth of the refugee camps over the last few decades. Muqawama means resistance in the sense of a war of attrition. People speak of a struggle lasting thirty years or more. And here the following principles apply: 1) it is not necessary to gain an immediate victory, meaning that territorial considerations are of subsidiary importance; 2) weakness is regarded as strength, whereby loss and suffering are seen as symbols of glory and death a sign of pride; 3) an armistice is acceptable as long as the notion of the destruction of Israel is maintained; 4) it is not a nation-against-nation struggle because the true motive is religious; 5) in consequence of the above, cross-border movements such as Hezbollah and the Muslim Brotherhood are of greater importance than government bodies, which contributes to flexibility. This sombre description does not mean that peace with Israel is impossible. What is certain is that in the Arab bazaar results are gained only when one knows what are the thoughts of the opposite number. Diplomacy requires a grasp of reality. Only with this as basis can progress be made. I would not advise sending Gretta and Dries to the negotiating table Hubert Luns
See also: The Palestinian Refugee Problem Who belongs to the refugees?

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Bedawi Palestinian Camp, photograph by Nulla Dies Sine Linea

Abou Dawoud and his Family, a story to be told! Abou Dawoud is head of the family. He is now, in 2007, 75 years old. He has 11 children and 31 grandchildren. He originates from Al Saffoury- al Jalil, which he calls the occupied territories [occupied by Israel]. He and his family came to Lebanon in 1948 after the Nakba [catastrophe]. They settled in Naher al Bared. He told me that the refugees at that time [in the 1950s] lived in tents, and refused to build the camps with cement because they thought it would be the first step towards naturalisation in Lebanon. With the passing of the years the tents were worn out and the UNRWA gave them Zinco [steel plates], so that the refugees could start to build their own houses. In the 1980s, Naher al Bared succeeded in becoming an economic centre for the north of Lebanon with 41,000 refugees living there [inside the camp]. It succeeded in defying the embargo that the Lebanese authorities imposed on the rest of the camps [Palestinians are not allowed to own lands and homes and they are not allowed to work]. But that did not last long In July 2007 the camp was demolished by the Lebanese army under the pretext of cleaning up terrorism [in order to get rid of Fateh al Islam]. The refugees were forced to leave the camp, leaving behind their homes, properties and memories. Abou Dawoud lost everything, everything he had worked for all his life. His house was destroyed and his furniture stolen. Leaving the camp this time was harder than the previous time in 1948, he said.
Story: Farah Kobaissy, from Flickr under Bedawi Palestinian Camp