cocoric

Hi there. I'm a Lebanese who temporarily worked in the Beddawi camp close to Tripoli, in Northern Lebanon. I got a good idea of how things were run (terribly) and the general sense of despair in the refugees.

My question is, how prevalent is "militia" culture in the camps? The Lebanese media likes to blame terrorists in the camps for every little disturbance, not understanding that the way refugees are treated only enable this behaviour.

Also, what do you think is the Fatah/Hamas proportion of support in the refugee camps?

Thanks for doing this mate, it really needs more publicity. If the Lebanese government was better equipped to serve its own citizens, perhaps we could work towards improving the quality of life in the camps as well.

They can certainly start by expanding the number of jobs Palestinians are allowed to work as. Also they can scrap the law that says that Palestinians can't own property. But beyond that, I'd have to say that we're badly served as a nation either way :/

I would also like to know the answer to this. I don't know how profound your relation with Lebanon is, but many Lebanese (who admire your work) feel some measure of pride.

Thank you for responding! Many more liberally-minded Lebanese also feel somewhat attached to a Levantine identity, though its fragmentation into modern states is perhaps inevitable and irreversible at this point.

I'm looking forward to reading more of your work in the future!

Is the Lebanese border that poorly protected? Or did you go through checkpoints and/or bribe people? How easy was it?