Palestinian Refugees in Light of the Coronavirus Pandemic: Solutions and Questions
Tamara Abu Laban
Palestinian refugee camps have transformed, over decades, from being temporary shelters mainly composed of small tents into crowded areas full of multi-storey buildings; whereby poverty and overcrowding are considerably concentrated. Notably, Palestinian camps are considered one of the densest urban environments in the world. With the rapid acceleration of global changes, from natural disasters to pandemics, the human looks around themselves to find that the return to nature might carry a certain solution. It is possible that the main issue behind this may stem from the universal patriarchal system since we live in an inseparable and very interconnected world, contrary to our false beliefs. It becomes evident that the urban, capitalist, and patriarchal system of life crushes independence and dignity of the individual, in addition to reinforcing the vulnerability, tension, and anxiety feelings that tend to be specifically associated with the person within a post-modern society. In the light of the ongoing pandemic of COVID-19 and its consequent accumulated crises and challenges on Palestinian, it is thereby worth asking: Why do we not think of solutions for what we are currently in? Why don’t we just go back to being farmers like our ancestors?!
There has always been an interaction between humans and their surroundings of various spatial spaces, which contained many plants and animals alongside humans in all civilizations. Almost all civilizations were formed by sources of water, such as rivers, and if we listen to our grandparents’ stories regarding the geography of Palestine, we would find that Palestinian villages had been popularly known for their many springs and wells, long before Israel put its hand on this wealth and stole it. Since water is essential for the growth of crops and the preservation of their life, the grains of wheat, barley, and other rain-fed crops substantially benefited from rainwater in their growth.
If we compare the aforementioned theories with the current structure of the Palestinian refugee camp and the correlation of variables together, it can be observed that rivers and springs have been replaced by water tanks placed on the roofs of almost every house. Each house is topped by five to ten water tanks; the number of which is directly related to the number of family members. At the same time, this particular number is also in an inverse correlation with the quantity of water that reaches the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) by the Israeli occupation, which is in control of all water supply in the area.
Shall we keep watching what is currently happening in our lives with considerable shock and dejection? I want to search, even if in my inner imagination, for solutions to what we have been stuck in from this dark cave that is locking us. It seems to me that the ideal solution for this would be to go out to light and follow my grandmother’s path, who used to walk in Zakaria village alongside her friends and gather water from the village’s spring. The sun would paint their lives with a golden hue that adorns their hypnotic beauty with the increased redness of their cheeks, which appear similar to the color of the silk on the red collar of the Palestinian embroidered dress.
It is not necessarily a matter of nostalgia for the past, but of my deep belief that, the further we drift away from the land, the more complicated our lives become; the more chemicals found in our food; the less movement of people; and the increased exacerbation of anxiety and mental disorders, which emerge from laziness and a wrong lifestyle that conflicts with what the human was created upon.