As the the long-suffering Palestinian inhabitants of the Yarmouk camp near Damascus are caught in yet another round of fighting and another brutal siege, a heart-rending Facebook post has appeared:
Statement by the besieged people of Yarmouk:
Humanitarian situation in Yarmouk:
With the continuation of clashes between ISIS and Al-Nusra Front on the one hand and the renewed shelling by the Assad regime and Palestinian loyalist groups on the other, the suffering of the people of Yarmouk reaches a whole new level. The attacks have resulted in disintegration of the camp neighborhoods, where many families are unable to reallocate to safer parts of the camp. Those families and the rest of the people in Yarmouk were banned from access to drinking water from the artisanal wells first because of the ongoing siege by the regime for more than 500 days and now with the battles between ISIS and Al Nusra.
Since last Thursday, only two water tanks were able to move in the camp to fill in wells in three or four areas of the camp. The intensity of the situation in areas where there are wells made it impossible to distribute wanter in the camp.
We, the civilians besieged in Yarmouk, demand:
• Demand ISIS and Al Nusra stop its fight for six hours to allow trapped families to relocate and get their basic livelihood needs.
• We demand the Assad regime and the loyalist Palestinian factions not use water as a means of pressure or a weapon against innocent people, and we also demand they allow water into the camp, as this policy has not affected ISIS or Nusra, as they are well-equipped and have no lack in weapons or supplies. This policy has only affected us as civilians.
• We demand the PLO and its parties and the UNRWA act upon their responsibilities and not bury their heads in the ground. As of now we have not heard any response from those sides about the current tragedy of the camp.
• We demand the Palestinian and Syrian media and media activists be our voice, as thirst has exhausted our voice and that of our children.
• Finally, we emphasize that the Syrian regime’s policy which created this dependency of our people on the minimal aid supplies provided by the humanitarian situation has made the general conditions vulnerable and fragile, risking a new catastrophe in case of any political developments.
Return water to Yarmouk!
People of Yarmouk – Monday, April 11, 2016
Nearly five years ago we began reporting on the awful conditions– repression, bombing, starvation– faced by the people in Yarmouk. A year ago the Palestine Solidarity Campaign got around to recognizing the Yarmouk catastrophe while managing to avoid blaming anyone except you-know-who.
Sorry, folks. That doesn’t get you off the hook. Do you have a good answer to the above plea? If not, the evidence is overwhelming: You hate Israelis more than you love Palestininans. And you know it.
