I left Beirut around 9 in the morning. At 10 am Ali Abou Hassan, head of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine [PFLP] political office promised to wait for me at the entrance of Ain el Hilwe camp in Saida. Ain el Hilwe is famous for being the most dangerous Palestinian camp. It remained unrivaled by the camps in both Jordan and Syria.
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Nothing has changed since I last saw Ain el Hilwe in 2005. Aside from the two main streets and the souk [market], the rest of the camp is in very poor condition. The signs of poverty, underdevelopment and carelessness are everywhere. Furthermore, the sight of teens with weapons alongside adults made me uneasy. I do not trust youngsters with weapons. I do not like weapons regardless of the age of those who carry them. It is a vicious circle. Those young men cannot afford to go to school, even to the public ones where one still needs money for books, transport, pocket money, and so on. Thus, they join a group for a salary. Little money is better than no money. However, the impact on their lives and the consequences are tremendous. Unemployment is one of the major social problems in the camp, and security jobs appear to be among the few available for anyone eager to get a paycheck, a broader access to weapons, and rarely if ever, to embrace a cause.
I went to Al Nour mosque to meet Sheikh Jamal Khatab. The Sheikh is fairly well known for promoting an ideology similar to some extent to that of al Qaeda. There are four main Islamic groups active in Ain al Hilwe: Hamas, Jihad Movement, Islamic Struggle Movement and Liberation Party. The Islamic Council meets weekly in order to discuss the new security developments, and there is also a follow up committee alongside the Palestine Liberation Organization [PLO] and the allied groups. There were only men at the entrance of the mosque, and being an uncovered woman, I raised some eyebrows. I was not sure if Sheikh Katab would be willing to meet me, but I made it clear that I was not about to leave without a dialog, even a brief one.
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Sheikh Katab is a graduate of the renowned American University of Beirut [AUB] and a charismatic interlocutor. “We are active in Ain el Hilwe, and our ideology is based on Islamic beliefs and Sharia. Our political background is the Palestine problem, and we struggle to liberate our country.” I asked the Sheikh how the Islamic groups were succeeding in their struggle to achieve whatever objectives they have regarding Palestine, while working in the camps. “In the past it was somehow different, because all Palestinians went to the South. The border was free. Now it's more of a struggle through political means.” Sheikh Katab used his diplomatic skills, but I insisted on knowing whether or not his group was helping Hizballah in any way. “We don't mind to do so, although Hizballah in these days has its own policy with regard to this aspect. It considers that sharing the struggle with other parties may cause some problems for them, for this reason it has monopolized it.”
Two of the Islamic groups are stealing the show from the others, namely Osbat al Ansar and Jund al Sham. Their names are often in the media, but this is not due to their adherence to some type of religious principles. Although they use religious principles as a cover along with their charitable, hospitable nature, these groups are most often mentioned in media reports for the clashes they start or are somehow involved in. “With respect to Jund al Sham, they were members of other Islamic groups and they were dismissed so they formed a new group. A faction of Fatah tries to assassinate, from time to time, members of Jund al Sham, without any clear reason for it…” Jund al Sham gathers when they feel in danger, to support each other.” In terms of numbers, I understood that Osbat al Ansar is more like Goliath, while Jund al Sham has approximately thirty constant members. Thanks to the PFLP protection, I was able to see the area controlled by Osbat al Ansar and Jund al Sham. If I hadn't known that I was at Ain el Hilwe I could have easily mistaken the place for Kabul. Armed men with beards, some with military-like trousers, others with shalvars, no children on the streets – this is a no-go zone for many in the camp, not to mention for outsiders. I remember seeing only one woman wearing a chador, head to toe, but she quickly entered one of the buildings at the sound of our car passing by.
There are groups, the Sheikh said, as well as intelligence services that try to use the Palestinians, but they do their best to stay isolated. Sheikh Katab named only the United States as a country that is no stranger to such attempts through their allies in Lebanon. However, he refrained from naming Arab or Muslim countries that might pursue similar objectives. “Especially in May when there were big events in Lebanon, the camps were isolated and we did not interfere, even though some groups, like Ansar Allah received support from Hizballah. When Palestinians are found in certain Lebanese groups, they will say that the Palestinians are destroying their country. We are aware of it, and we stay away.” It was a moment when neither the Sheikh nor I seemed to believe that his answer was more than circular language meant to hide the truth. I wondered why there is the need to hold on to weapons, taking into consideration the status of Palestinians as guests and the fact that no one is going to kill them. No one targets them in the country. “We don't know that… the Lebanese are killing each other; why not kill the Palestinians later? Some of them want to push us from this country, and we have to defend ourselves. However, wrong acts are done with these weapons from time to time, but we don't feel safe in Lebanon.”
Ahmad Abd el-Hadi is Hamas leader of all the Palestinian camps in Lebanon. I met him at the Hamas headquarters where the party also has a TV station. I learned that in Ain el Hilwe there are three TV channels, and apparently the one run by Hamas is quite successful. “After 2006 the relationship with Fatah was far from being good, and it reflects on the relations we have in Lebanon and elsewhere. There are contacts between us, but there is no cooperation inside the camp. We always demand to work together, to have a program that serves the rights of the refugees in Lebanon, but they [Fatah] refuse it. The security is the most sensitive issue in the camp. There are Islamic groups that we don't work with, like Jund al Sham, that create problems, and there is a conflict within Fatah between Sultan Abou Aynen and Abbas Zaki. Sultan wants to be strong in Ain el Hilwe and to have all the authority in his hands, and Abbas Zaki wants the very same thing; hence the tensions.” Hamas addresses the security problem in two ways: By cooperating with the official Palestinian groups and by having contacts with the Lebanese authorities. “We are doing what we can to prevent these groups from creating problems. There is a contact with Lebanese intelligence to pressure Fatah, both Sultan and Abbas Zaki and others not to add more problems to what we are already facing.”
The Palestinians' main concern – right, left and center – is not to have a second Nahr el Bared. In spite of the power struggle for influence – and I suspect some financial revenues are also involved – they know very well that their problems will at the very least double if Ain el Hilwe or Baddawi become the new Nahr el Bared.
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