The Jerash Palestinian Camp

The visit to the camp in Jerash was an awakening to the reality of the environment where Palestinian refugees live. It started with our discussion of the Palestinian refugee situation. The message of the deputy director was political in nature. He emphasized this population’s desire to return to their land, and the importance of solving the conflict. Although 83% of refugees live outside of the camps and may have more opportunities to integrate into the Jordanian society, he pointed out that the desire to return to Palestine is not lost in the collective memory of later generations and that they will hold on to their identity as refugees until they are able to go back. He also stated that he believed both Israeli and Palestinian human rights are important.

There was a moment when our discussion with the deputy director became escalated because of the sensitivity of the Palestinian/Israeli issue and because we were relying exclusively on interpretation to understand each other. It was definitely an eye opening experience to see the reactions of people when they are not understanding each other in a setting like that, and the difficulty of talking about a complex issue/reality that we don’t experience firsthand in our daily lives. This situation heightened my awareness of the sensitive nature of diplomatic relations.

While we walked around in the camp, Dr. Nesreen pointed out that individuals were able to build on and improve the lands that they had; it was evident that some homes were more developed than others.

But the camp had an open channel sewage system, which can pose serious health problems, particularly in times of flooding, and garbage was overflowing the bins. I saw the conditions of the camp and found it hard to understand why Palestinians who may have the financial means to move out of the camps, choose to continue to live there because they await their right of return. It made me wonder whether they are partially motivated to stay in the camps because they have been able to create a community (not environment) that resembles what they had before they fled. I got the impression that life in the camps perpetuates the collective memory of the Palestinian condition. If this is true, individuals may be choosing to stay in what was setup as temporary living situations to keep their memory and identity intact.

The experience at the camp also made me reflect on the sacrifices that individuals make when they chose to stay in camps, particularly those that the younger generations have to face. Let’s take education as an example. UNRWA provides schooling up to the 10^th grade but lacks adequate infrastructure and facilities. Public schooling is available until the 12^th grade. What about higher education? We were told that even public universities are cost prohibitive, and so many didn’t continue for that reason. And those students that can afford going to the university, how do they commute with such a limited public transportation system? Ex-Gazans have an even harder time because they only have a temporary Jordanian passport, and are identified as having higher illiteracy rates.

While the visit at the Jerash camp exposed me to the difficult realities of the Palestinian refugee condition, it did not fail to inspire me. I was able to see that the people lived in conditions where they were able to maintain their dignity. The home that we visited, for example, was incredibly clean and organized. The people were clothed, they had shelter, they had families, and they had businesses. The staff person we met at UNRWA, who was refugee that came from one of the camps, also exemplified the success that UNRWA has had in capacity building and empowerment.