Palestinians Fleeing Iraq Receive Little Sympathy From Arab States
According to a report in Haaretz on Nov. 9, 2007, 2000 Palestinians fleeing Iraq are stranded in refugee camps on the Syrian border. Once favored by the regime of Saddam Hussein, Palestinians have become the targets of violence by fellow Iraqi Arabs. According to the report, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has
made a global appeal for somewhere to resettle the children, but so far only Chile and Sudan have indicated they might host some of them.
Apparently, the plight of these Palestinians has not elicited much sympathy from brethren in Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Syria or any other Arab country. This is not the first time Arab countries have ignored Palestinian refugees from Iraq. Human Rights Watch reported in 2006, that Jordan and Syria had closed their borders to Palestinians fleeing the violence in Iraq.
The Haaretz story reminds us of how the plight of Palestinian refugee issue receives so much attention when connected to conflict with Israel, but raises little interest or sympathy, even among fellow Arabs, when Israel cannot be blamed.
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