Graffiti tells of revived interest in old conflict
The red inverted triangle is everywhere – stencilled on walls, sprayed on store shutters, a constant theme guiding visitors through the alleyways that dissect the Burj al-Barajneh refugee camp in Beirut. Appearing initially in combat videos released by Hamas in which its fighters target Israeli tanks in Gaza, the logo, with its new-found ubiquity in the camp 170 miles away, signals a shift in opinion favouring armed struggle.
“We feel pride and are more conscious about the cause,” said Nihaya Ayman Ibrahim, 25, an artist whose murals adorn the camp’s walls. One mural depicts parachuters, reminiscent of Hamas militants descending into Israel for its attack on 7 October last year. Another portrays Hamas’ military spokesperson, Abu Obeida. “We are with them,” Ibrahim said. “Despite everything that happened in Gaza, despite all the victims.”
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have languished in Lebanon’s refugee camps for decades – stateless, marginalised by their host communities and with no prospects. Until recently the walls of the camp’s dilapidated buildings bore faded graffiti, a testament to a cause gone stale. But Hamas’ attack on Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza have revived aspirations for Palestinian statehood and the dream to return to a homeland that has only existed in the memories of an older generation.
“It used to be that only the elderly who had been displaced spoke about Palestine,” said Ibrahim, who was born in the camp as part of a generation that had turned away from politics to focus on scraping a living. Now, her generation has been galvanised like never before. “You have young boys, 10 to 15 years old, who are talking about what’s happening in Palestine,” she said.
The war has consumed daily life in the camps. On a recent visit to Burj al-Barajneh, boys armed with plastic machine guns played war, running through the streets, ducking behind corners. Adults in a coffee shop played cards and watched live coverage of the war.
Tensions have vastly increased on the Israel-Lebanon border, with Israeli forces exchanging near-daily fire with the Lebanese paramilitary group Hezbollah.
While western nations designate Hamas a terror organisation, Palestinians tend to call it the “resistance”, a loose grouping of armed factions seen as waging a legitimate struggle against Israeli occupation. The events of 7 October are not regarded as an act of terror but an inspiring prison break. Symbols depicting the red triangle, parachuters and Abu Obeida appear on pins, T-shirts and mugs and are absorbed into popular culture.
Ibrahim said the support for the “resistance” was “moral” not political. While Abu Obeida’s picture aims to show solidarity with fighters on the ground, notably absent are images of Hamas’ political leaders who have based themselves in Qatar and Lebanon.
“The people differentiate very well between Hamas’ military wing and the political bureau,” said Marie Kortam, a researcher at The French Institute for the Near East, adding that the temporary surge in support did not necessarily translate into lasting change in political affiliations.
Palestinians in the camps have historically sided with Hamas’ rival, Fatah, which runs the Palestinian authority as well as the camps in Lebanon; its secular stance tends to be more palatable than Hamas’ Islamist doctrine.
But Fatah has faced a steady decline in legitimacy amid longstanding accusations of corruption and its failure to realise the promises of the 1993 Oslo accords.
Palestinian refugees in Lebanon say Fatah has not improved living conditions or helped secure basic rights, such as the chance to work or own property.
The Palestinian Authority allocates $15m a month for the Lebanese camps but much of it is spent on fuelling Fatah’s patronage networks rather than providing services to refugees, an official said.
The forlorn conditions in the camps, coupled with the Israel’s scorched earth military campaign in Gaza, have offered fertile ground for Hamas to chip away at Fatah’s status as the guardian of the Palestinian cause. “This was an excellent opportunity for Hamas to create a popular base in the camps,” said Kortam.
Hamas has kept recruitment under wraps to not alienate the Lebanese government or turn the camps into targets for Israeli bombardment. But behind the scenes the group has capitalised on the youth’s newly found zeal.
The southern city of Saida is home to Ain al-Helweh, the largest refugee camp in Lebanon. About 120,000 Palestinians are crammed into less than half a square kilometre of land. When the war in Gaza broke out, the camp saw “a general mobilisation”, one Hamas fighter said, with men lining up to join the Hamas ranks.
“They teach us about weapons, how to take them apart and put them together,” said a new recruit. “It would be an honor to go fight.”
The Lebanese government has tried to put a lid on recruitment. Bassil Al-Hassan, chair of the Lebanese Palestinian Dialogue Committee, said: “We’ve had discussions with Hamas here in Lebanon to stop. We’ve said that we have our sovereignty and also we have the burden of implications on the Lebanese situation.”
But Al-Hassan expects recruitment to continue. “The suffering is overwhelming and the public opinion among the Palestinian people is focused on this more than any other issue.”
‘Once only displaced elderly people spoke about Palestine, now it’s boys aged 10 to 15’
Nihaya Ayman Ibrahim Artist, Beirut