Palestinian urge the Pope to help the refugees

A Palestinian demonstration urged Pope John Paul II yesterday to help the refugees return home.

The demonstration took place in Dheisheh camp in the self-rule areas, as the demonstrators raised signs with the names of 46 Palestinian villages that were destroyed by Israel during and after 1948.

There are at least 10,000 Palestinians living in Dheisheh refugee camp. They all have been living in the camp since it was established in the early 50s after they had been kicked out of their villages in Palestine with the creation of Israel in 1948. Unlike any other site the pontiff will visit, the refugee camp of Dheisheh has remained the same, without any cosmetic changes. The committee organizing preparations to receive the pope decided that no beautification works could be done in the camp. "We want His Holiness to see how exactly life is for refugees who yearn to return to their land," said Hassan Abdul Jawad, a journalist and member of the committee. Hassan said "we hope that the visit will bring positive results for our cause."

Some decoration, however, did take place in the camp. Young men and women have joined forces to draw paintings and graffiti on the walls along the road the pope will drive through the camp. "Sorry Your Holiness," read one graffiti, "We cannot name anything here after you because camps never exist forever." Other writings on the wall reiterated the demand to implement UN Resolution 194 that safeguarded the right of the Palestinian people to return.

The pope will deliver a speech in a school in the camp, then he will take a tour of the camp after visiting a monument for the refugees who were killed by the Israeli occupation forces.