|
Talabani wants to make Kurdistan an Arab
nation ?
28.2.2007
By Zvi Bar'el |
|
|
|
February
28, 2007
Refugees, twice over
"Talabani wants to make Kurdistan an Arab nation.
Don't let him do it," a Kurdish blogger warned early
this month. His rage was provoked by a rumor that
the Iraqi president had approved a plan permitting
Palestinians to live in Kurdistan. Dozens of letters
to the Kurdish press made it absolutely clear that
Kurds object to "Arab" residents in their well-kept,
protected ethnographic region. "Arabs" include
anyone who is not a Kurd - Egyptians, Jordanians,
Saudis and Iraqis - but most of the current wrath is
directed at Palestinians.
The latest uproar began when Jibril Rajoub, former
head of the Palestinian Authority's Preventative
Security in the West Bank, met with Jalal Talabani
in early February. Rajoub's request that Talabani
protect persecuted Palestinians in Kurdistan was met
with a resounding Kurdish protest. After a few days,
an official announcement was issued in Talabani's
name stating that no promises were made to the
Palestinians.
"They are certainly invited to visit the Kurdish
region, but we will not let them settle there,"
Talabani explained. There are no clear figures
indicating how many Palestinians still reside in
Iraq. Some estimates state that about 35,000
Palestinian refugees lived in Iraq before the war.
Current guesses indicate that 15,000-22,000
Palestinians are still there.
This is not the nation's largest minority, but it is
apparently the most persecuted. Testimony by
Palestinian refugees to journalists and human rights
organizations paints a very grave picture: Iraqi
gangs break into Palestinian homes at night and
demand the residents leave within 24 hours. In
isolated cases, Palestinians have been kidnapped on
the street or at work, and their bodies have been
found several days later, in ditches or garbage
cans.
The Iraqi Interior Ministry grants Palestinians
little rest - reports indicate that severe
harassment of Palestinian families is a matter of
course.
Unlike the 2 million Iraqi refugees who have left
their homeland, Palestinians usually carry no
documents bearing witness to their Iraqi
citizenship, or anything that would permit them
entry into neighboring Arab states, like Jordan or
Syria.
Saddam Hussein absorbed Palestinian refugees and
granted them excellent conditions: free medical care
and education, choice employment options, and
mainly, relatively upscale housing in the former
homes of Shi'ites, who were expelled from central
Baghdad, or Jews, who lived in the Bataween
neighborhood. (Palestinians paid a nominal rent of
$2 a month for these homes.) But Saddam blocked them
from obtaining citizenship or any other permanent
residence documents. As far as he was concerned, the
shelter he provided via oral agreements was more
than enough.
Target for hatred
Saddam's overtures made the Palestinian community
the target of Iraqi hatred, and the backlash came
swiftly after the end of the war. First, the Shi'ite
homeowners came to expel Palestinians from their
homes. Later, when major terror attacks became
common, Palestinians were fingered as collaborators
with terror organizations, particularly Al-Qaida in
Iraq. This month, Sheikh Nasser al-Saidi, a Shi'ite
cleric who lives in Sadr City, Baghdad, called for
the expulsion of Palestinians from Iraq. "Go to your
own Palestine. Fight the occupation there," he told
them.
The Iraqi minister of displaced persons and
immigration also has failed to reassure
Palestinians. He explained in an interview,
"Palestinians are not wanted now in Iraq, because
they are suspected of committing acts of terror."
Palestinians who want to renounce this sweeping
accusation find themselves trapped between the
government and Sunni terror groups. Last week, an
organization that calls itself the Islamic State of
Iraq, and apparently includes a number of terror
organizations and Al-Qaida representatives, issued a
call to Palestinians: "Because of the current
hardship and suffering of our Palestinian brothers
in Iraq, we call on them to come and live in the
cities of the Islamic State of Iraq, where they will
be protected ... In the cities of Anbar, Diyala and
Salah al-Din, homes await them surrounded by rivers,
specially prepared for them by members of the
Islamic State. These homes were taken, with the help
of Allah, from the Shi'ites. Be glad, dear brothers.
Allah will replace your suffering with an easy life,
with the help of his power and the blood of the
martyrs."
Later in the proclamation, the group promises to
avenge the blood of every Palestinian killed. This
is the last encouragement Palestinians need. It is
not only considered "proof" of Palestinian terror
ties, it gives Shi'ite gangs and the government an
excellent excuse to promote Palestinian expulsion.
Forewarnings
The Palestinians' status did not change overnight.
Three years ago, at the Al-Awda tent city on
Baghdad's outskirts, home to many Palestinians
expelled from Bataween, a refugee told me that he
feared Shi'ites would take revenge against him and
his family for living in the home of a Shi'ite
family.
"Did you know the family whose home you received?" I
asked him. "No, no," he answered. "But they told me
that after the owners were expelled, the father of
the family was murdered - apparently by Saddam
Hussein's men."
Camp director Mohammed Salah once had a picture of
Saddam Hussein hanging on his wall, but this was
quickly replaced by a picture of the Old City of
Jerusalem and its holy mosques. He was not afraid to
speak of Saddam's assistance to Palestinian
refugees. Salah's only dream was "to go home." To
Palestine? "No, no; to the Bataween neighborhood."
But Shi'ite revenge was only a matter of time.
Palestinians know Iraq is not the only nation that
does not want them. There are now 700 refugees stuck
on the Syrian border, blocked from entering, and
another 200 are living in a miserable encampment on
the Jordanian border. It is not that Syria and
Jordan do not take in refugees. Jordan has about
700,000 Iraqi refugees, and Syria has an estimated 1
million. Buses and cabs leave Syria daily for Iraq,
and passengers pay $40 for a bus ride or $80 for a
luxury cab. But Palestinians are abandoned at the
border, due to their problematic documents.
Authorities are afraid to permit them entry because
they may not be able to supervise their movement.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA),
which aids Palestinian refugees, cannot help. Not
only does UNRWA need an additional $60 million to
support the refugee population in Iraq - the cost of
five hours of fighting - the UN agency is not
authorized to change Jordanian or Syrian regulations
on refugee status. Jordan has yet to consent to the
agency's request that it grant Iraqis refugee
status, and its laws are particularly firm regarding
Palestinians, some of whom are finding themselves
living in refugee camps for the second or third time
in their lives. They apparently will not be able to
exercise their "right to return" to their Baghdad
homes.
Iraqi refugees have begun purchasing pendants
bearing the map of Iraq as a symbol of their loyalty
to their homeland. Palestinians are taking part in
the trend, either to express their solidarity with
the nation or to persuade others that they are loyal
citizens. But this effort apparently is failing to
improve their plight.
"Gang members notice our accents - not what we wear
around our necks," a Palestinian recently told a
reporter from the London-based Al-Hayat. "As soon as
they notice that one's accent is not Iraqi - and,
even worse, is Palestinian - the victim has no
choice but to leave his home - that is, if they let
him leave in peace."
haaretz com
Top |
Kurd Net
does not take credit for and is not responsible for the content of news
information on this page
|
® 