Gathered on Yarmouk Street, residents begin hurrying to reach the distribution point, January 2014. (Photo by UNRWA)
Yvonne Ridley’s excellent article on Yarmouk highlights the hypocrisy of the west that has largely ignored the suffering of Palestinian refugees trapped inside a camp just 3 miles south of Damascus, Syria. The residents numbered around 18,000 though 2,000 are said to have been evacuated in the last 5 days according to a BBC report. Inhabitants are repeatedly barrel bombed by Bashar al Assad forces and are now living under the control of the Islamic State along with the al-Nusra Front. There are ongoing battles all around with Syrian military and Palestinian fighters making it very difficult for refugees to leave safely. Ridley writes,
“the situation for those living in the refugee camp is so bad that back in October 2013 Islamic scholars issued fatwas (legal opinions) allowing the occupants to eat dogs, cats and donkeys in order to survive. The drastic rulings were given during Eid Al-Adha as Muslims around the world were sacrificing goats and sheep to celebrate the religious festival. For the starving Palestinians in war-torn Yarmouk refugee camp, what was once haram (forbidden) for Muslims suddenly became halal (acceptable).”
(see “Links” section for full article)
The situation is now so desperate there is a very real fear Yarmouk could become another “Siege of Leningrad”. Beginning in 1941, the Russian city was surrounded by German soldiers meaning starving inhabitants were unable to access much needed food supplies and were reduced to 125 grams of bread per person. Last year 95 year old Russian writer Daniil Granin reminded the world of the horrors in the hope such scenes would never be repeated, he stated,
“the blockade was sudden and unexpected, as much as the war itself was unexpected for the country. There were no reserves of fuel, no food… Then one after another catastrophic event started to occur, power supplies were stopped, there was no water, no sewerage system operating, no central heating in place…”
Photos of Seige of Leningrad
The siege lasted for 2 and half years with 1.5 million deaths mostly from starvation. Russia Today reported on the Siege of Leningrad for International Holocaust Memorial Day stating,
“people were forced to eat rats, cats, earth and glue. Some resorted to cannibalism, Granin told the parliament. He said he met a mother who fed her 12-year-old daughter with the remains of her dead three-year-old daughter, to save at least one child. The writer recalled how dead bodies littered the streets of Leningrad for days as the survivors were too weak to bury the dead.”
Although the numbers in Yarmouk are far less than Leningrad, the conditions are horrific and getting worse by the day. The U.N. Security Council has called for safe passage and evacuation of civilians as at present those trying to leave risk being hit by snipers, bombed and shelled. A young Palestinian speaking to the Telegraph whose identity was withheld said “there is no food, no drink, no medical care. The doctors have left the camp.”
Yarmouk where situation is described as “beyond inhumane” Dr Basem Naeem posted photo of Farouk Mohammed who allegedly died due to lack of food
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) stated,
“never has the hour been more desperate in the Palestine refugee camp of Yarmouk, in Damascus. As the fighting intensifies, UNRWA strongly appeals to all armed actors to cease hostilities that place civilians in acute danger and to withdraw immediately from civilian populated areas.
We demand that all parties exercise maximum restraint and abide by their obligations under international law to protect civilians. In addition, we demand humanitarian access and the establishment of secure conditions under which we can deliver life-saving humanitarian assistance and that enable civilians to be evacuated.”
Links
“Christopher Columbus and the history of the Palestinian struggle”
Carol Anne Grayson is an independent writer/researcher on global health/human rights and is Executive Producer of the Oscar nominated, Incident in New Baghdad . She is a Registered Mental Nurse with a Masters in Gender Culture and Development. Carol was awarded the ESRC, Michael Young Prize for Research 2009, and the COTT ‘Action = Life’ Human Rights Award’ for “upholding truth and justice”. She is also a survivor of US “collateral damage”.
Carol Anne Grayson (Radical Sister) blog 