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Life Onboard |
LAST UPDATE
May 18, 2006
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| May 3, 2006 |
Abdulkarim Abulhaija |
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| Abdulkarim Abulhaja (center) talks about his experience working as the Director General of Palestinian Affairs for the Jordanian government. |
Abdulkarim Adulhaija has dedicated his life to resolving the Palestinian refugee issue. “I am a refugee myself, of Palestinian origin... I was born in the north of Jordan in 1950,” said Abdulkarim. “I used to hear from my late father and mother what kind of problems they faced through the transfer of their lives … from their homeland.” During the establishment of Israel, his family was displaced in the first wave of refugees. A second wave occurred in 1967 when Israeli forces occupied the Palestinian territories of Gaza and the West Bank. |
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Abdulkarim now heads the non-profit organization the Orient House for Forced Migration, which provides aid to Palestinian refugees in Jordan. For the previous five years, Abdulkarim worked as the Director General for the Department of Palestinian Affairs in the Jordanian government. He was also a member of the Jordanian Peace Process Team from the early 90's until 2000, negotiating with Israelis regarding the refugee issue. Commenting on the peace process with Israel, Abdulkarim said, “Until now, we have failed to get the approval from Israel to build and establish an independent [Palestinian] state, a sovereign state which has control over its sky, land and water, like all sovereign states in the world.” He shares the same dream as many Palestinian refugees—to one day return to their homeland and live freely without occupation.
Today, 1.7 million refugees reside in Jordan alone, while others live in the surrounding Arab countries of Syria, Lebanon, and Egypt. Within Jordan, many of the Palestinians live in one of the 13 refugee camps supported by various governmental and non governmental agencies. Even now, Palestinian refugees living in camps continue to suffer from extreme poverty and unemployment. “When we talk about refugees, we are actually talking about suffering, about people who lost their livelihood, who lost their property, they lost the things very dear to their heart ,” said Abdulkarim.
During his time as the Director General of Palestinian Affairs, Abdulkarim worked closely with UNRWA , the United National Relief and World Agency for Palestinian Refugees. UNRWA has been providing assistance for Palestinian refugees since 1950. As the largest humanitarian organization in the Middle East, it provides services of education, vocational training, and health care. For all 1.7 million refugees, there are only two vocational training centers, 23 primary health care facilities, and 21 women's program centers. Many programs UNRWA's lack adequate funding and the desperate need to build new schools and hire additional doctors are going unfulfilled.
Abdulkarim has found that the greatest challenge of the Palestinian people is getting the United Nations to enforce their resolutions. The United National General Assembly Resolution 194 states “refugees wishing to return to their homes and live in peace with neighbors should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date.” Though it was written in1948, the UN has done little to enforce it. Abdulkarim believes what is necessary now is pressure from the international community. “Expressing hard feelings and sympathy towards the Palestinian people is not enough, it will not solve their problems, their problem will continue for the rest of their lives,” said Abdulkarim. He urged Peace Boat participants to organize groups to put pressure on the Israeli Government. “[It's] a very difficult situation that we are living in. I don't think that the Israelis will agree and approve [of] the establishing of an independent state which is sovereign. The Palestinian people need you as a nation now, your groups, your NGOs, everybody, every human, all who believe in peace, believe in humanity, to stand beside the Palestinian people to enable them to regain their rights to be a nation like all others in this world.” Abdulkarim worked with Peace Boat to coordinate their upcoming visit to the Ba'qa Palestinian refugee camp in Jordan, and continues working with his NGO to help the people living there. |
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