BEIRUT, Lebanon, April 28 (UPI) -- Palestinian refugees living in Lebanon are concerned. Whenever the political situation in Lebanon changes, they find themselves pulled into the morass.
The accelerated political developments following the Feb. 14 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and the ensuing Syrian withdrawal is raising concern among Lebanon's 300,000 long-time "guests" who mostly live under difficult and harsh conditions in 12 refugee camps - originally meant to be temporary -- set up in 1948.
Palestinians were a major player in Lebanon's 1975-90 civil war. Although in the past Palestinian groups have been dragged into politics, this time they opted to stay on the sidelines. Like most Lebanese political factions, they appear to have learned from history.
Fears that Palestinian guerrillas in Lebanon could be used by third parties to disrupt Lebanon's security were quickly dismissed. This time, the Palestinians wanted to engage in dialogue with the Lebanese authorities to ease their conditions until a final settlement over their future was reached as part of a Palestinian-Israeli peace settlement.
Refugees in Lebanon's camps seemed more concerned with the political process that will decide their future -- and over which they have no control.
"These are positive concerns that don't prompt people to carry guns, but rather makes them careful to deal in a reasonable way (with Lebanon's developments)," Ousama Hamdan, spokesman of the Palestinian Hamas movement in Beirut, told United Press International.
Hamdan recalled being stopped by an old Palestinian woman while he was touring the Ein el-Helweh refugee camp, the largest shantytown housing 70,000 refugees on the outskirts of the southern port city of Sidon.
"She asked me: 'Son, are they going to kill us?'" I assured her that she will be safe and nothing will happen," he said.
Memories of the Sabra and Shatila massacre, when some 2,000 Palestinian refugees and Lebanese Muslims were killed by Christian militiamen during the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon, are never far.
Hamdan believes Palestinian concerns emanate from "the nature of the U.S. political role" in Lebanon after the Syrian pullout and from the possible outcome of the new Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Additionally, the issue of "the right" of Palestinian refugees to return to homes they left in 1948 when Israel was created, is close to their hearts.
"I prefer a dialogue with the Lebanese government concerning the refugee issue rather than discussing this matter under a U.S. umbrella," Hamdan said. "A positive initiative from the Lebanese government will ease the situation. The Palestinians need to feel that they are respected in Lebanon, have the right to work and own a house."
Unlike many Arab countries where Palestinians live, refugees in Lebanon face numerous working and social restrictions.
Ahmed Abul Koul, a 60-year-old Palestinian farmer in Ein el-Helweh, said the Palestinians wanted "to return to their homeland," but until this happens, the Lebanese authorities should grant refugees more social rights.
Mariam Shehade, a 30-year-old housewife, said "life in Ein el-Helweh was extremely bad and complicated" after the U.N. Relief and Work Agency decreased its work there because of funding shortages.
Like 17-year-old Mustafa Shreidi, many unemployed Palestinians spend their day loitering around the camps.
"I wonder why we go to school since whatever education we can get, no one would employ us," said Shreidi who is hoping to leave Lebanon for job opportunities abroad.
But even that is not easy. The prospects of a Palestinian obtaining a visa are limited. His other option is to join the ranks of Palestinian militias and carry a weapon, a choice that carries a paycheck.
The mainstream Fatah movement, the group founded by late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, controls Ein el-Helweh. Other groups such as the Muslim fundamentalist Asbat al-Ansar and Jund al-Sham are present in the camp but their numbers do not exceed a few hundred.
Both Islamist groups have been blamed for bombings and assassinations in and outside the camp. Some of their followers are among some 3,000 Palestinians wanted by Lebanese authorities.
"Asbat al-Ansar and Jund al Sham have no big presence in the camp and can be absorbed," a Palestinian official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told UPI. "We should put an end to this phenomenon."
The official said about 150 people wanted by Lebanese authorities faced "minor charges" and proposed a general amnesty similar to the one issued after the Lebanese war ended in 1990 to pardon militiamen.
"Such an amnesty would help pacify the situation in the camps," he said.
The official denied reports that more weapons were distributed in the camps and said though it was a possibility, "no Palestinian party would want to provoke a confrontation (with Israel) in Lebanon as hundreds in the camps would stand against it."
However the danger that "someone initiates a war remains if there is really a decision to do so," he said, adding "it needs only 10 people to start shooting and drag the others into fighting."
Palestinian handed in their heavy and medium weapons after the Lebanese army besieged Ein el-Helweh in 1992.
"We only retained our light weapons that give some assurances to our people," said Khaled Aref, a Fatah official in south Lebanon. "We don't mind at all to negotiate with the Lebanese government over these (light) weapons."
Now that the Syrian forces have completed their pullout from Lebanon in line with U.N. Security Council Resolution 1559, the focus will fall on Palestinian guerrillas and Lebanon's militant group Hezbollah. The resolution calls for the disarming of all Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias.
Disarming would need to be done peacefully in order to avoid plunging the country into another round of violence.
While disarming Hezbollah is an internal Lebanese issue, Palestinians say they would be reluctant to hand over their remaining weapons without political guarantees.
Brig.- Gen. Sultan Abul-Aynain, representative of the Palestine Liberation Organization in Lebanon, told UPI earlier this week the Palestinian people "refuse to hand over their light weapons until they return to their homeland in line with (U.N.) Resolution 194."
Abul Aynain has been confined to the refugee camp of Rashidiyeh near the southern port city of Tyre since he was sentenced to death by a Lebanese military tribunal in 1999 on charges of leading an armed group.
In addition to the armed presence in the camps, one pro-Syrian Palestinian group, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command run by Ahmed Jibril, is believed to still have bases in Naameh, a town south of Beirut, and in the eastern Bekaa Valley. Lebanese authorities, and perhaps the U.N. team dispatched to verify Syria's withdrawal might also have to see if PFLP-GC has kept its bases, from which Syrian intelligence officials could operate.
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(Abdel Mawla Khaled in Sidon contributed to this report.)
