Nepal: Opportunities and Challenges For Mobile Education
Compared to neighboring India and China, Nepal was a late entrant to the information revolution that swept the region in the 1990s. With limited infrastructure, an unstable political system and no skilled labor force, the country was forced to stand by and watch while others tried to make sense of the changes the new technology was pushing.
Now, two decades later, Nepal is no longer on the sidelines. From education to business, healthcare and entertainment, the country is enthusiastically embracing information technology, with young people leading the charge to make the country more technology-friendly.With the explosive growth in smart phone and mobile Internet market, more and more people are now connected to the information superhighway.
Although there are still many areas where Nepal could improve access to technology and make it easier and cheaper, the gains made over the years are encouraging and show that the country has significant untapped potential.
Basic Education
Nepal’s education sector has suffered years of neglect, inadequate funding and political meddling. Schools in poor, rural areas lack basic physical facilities and trained teachers. The government allocates and distributes funds for these schools every year.This year’s budget allocated US$ 8 billion for education – up 25% from last year, and 17% of the total budget. A great step forward, but lax oversight and an inability to root out corruption has meant that large amounts of funds simply disappear before being put to good use. In urban areas too public schools lack proper facilities and funding. In the capital Kathmandu, alongside gleaming private schools that boast of the highest quality education money can buy and teachers from the best univerisities stand dilapalated public schools whose students struggle to compete with their private school counterparts.
Private schools are limited outside urban areas and in any case are beyond the reach – or pockets! – of many families. This public-private school gulf further perpetuates the divide between the haves and have nots in the community. While the public schools wait for government and public attention, their students are denied quality education.
This is not to say that all rural public schools are poor performers or that private schools are always the best option. However, the disporportionate number of rural public schools that fail should set alarm bells ringing in Kathmandu.
Universities and Political Meddling
Public universities too are neglected in Nepal, their fate is similar to public schools. Students routinely complain of lack of adequate laboratory materials, too much politicization of university affairs and also that the curriculum does not keep pace with the new technology. Private universities are trying to fill the gap, but for the majority of students, these instutions are prohibitively expensive and their desire to stay urban-centered keeps them out of the reach of students in rural areas.
Among all the issues plaguing Nepal’s public education institutions, direct or indirect political meddling has perhaps had the most negative impact. Even primary schools are not left untouched. Political parties and their youth wings recruit students – usually those in high school and university- and use them as pawns to further their education and social strategies. Under-aged students are often forced to take part in political events without their parents’ or guardian’s consent.
Technology to the Rescue
According to the Nepal Telecommunications Authority, there are more than 6 million GSMmobile phone subscribers in Nepal. Take into account other kinds of service users and the country has about 7 million mobile phone users. This is much higher than the number of households with access to the internet (about 630,000, 2009 data).
The other interesting aspect of Nepal’s mobile phone users is that they are not centered in any one part of the country. The market has shown growth across the whole country, even in rural areas without proper roads and means of transportation, although compared to urban areas the rate of growth there is much slower.
This presents an opportunity for mobile education in Nepal. Education institutions – profit seeking or non-profit – can develop course materials and send them via text messaging to subscribers. Incoming messages are provided free of charge while outgoing messages are charged at less than a penny by most mobile phone service providers. Charging a flat rate fee for the course or selling advertising can generate revenue for the institutions.
The messages, 160 characters long (a typical tweet is 140 characters) may not be suitable for subjects requiring analysis or calculations like economics, pure science or mathematics, but for basic courses in English, civics, history, and geography, they can be a great boon. With the mobile internet – although this may not be feasible for those in rural areas or with financial constraints – the institutions can provide an option for students to take online courses, as a supplement to the text messages.
Educational messaging can be of great service, especially to students in rural areas who have little or no access to the internet or a library. The messages can supplement their outside reading and learning requirements. They can also be a way to spread awarness about diseases, social issues and natural disasters in hard to reach areas.
No More Strikes
In Nepal with its political uncertainities, strikes -known locally as banda – are a common occurance. Political interference in the education sector means that even schools and universities are victimized. Cathy Cavanaugh, associate professor at the university of Florida and a former Fulbright scholar, has noted that Nepali students are losing precious school hours due to frequent strikes:
“In recent years, dozens of strikes have brought school, work, and travel to a standstill around Kathmandu. It does not take many unanticipated days out of school to amount to a significant proportion of the school year. And it does not take many missed school days to noticeably impact student academic performance. American researchers recently studied this impact by investigating the effect of snow days on student learning outcomes, finding that as few as 4 days of school missed in a year because of snow storms reduced student exam scores.”
Cavanaugh suggests implementing mobile or online learning to compensate for school hours lost due to strikes.
Given the fast growing telecom market in Nepal and the ready availability of trained professionals, mobile learning is not an impossible goal for the country. It is an investment in the country’s education sector and could produce great results - but is the Nepal’s physical infrastructure dependable enough?
The Roadblocks
Market growth and investment from the private and public sector in technology education has strengthened information technology’s soft side in Nepal while the backbone – the infrastructure – still remains on shaky ground.
Poor voice quality, frequent dropped calls, and technical problems plaguing the masts are the most common problems facing Nepal’s mobile phone service providers. The ten year long conflict also dealt a severe blow to the already fragile infrastructure. Now with the country’s industrial sector in shambles and the economy sliding, the country is slow to invest in strengthening existing structures and building new ones. On the policy level too there are roadblocks which can mainly be ascribed to the unstable political environment and lack of consistent leadership.
The Opportunities
Mobile learning through text messaging, and online courses present a broad window of opportunity for Nepal’s educational institutions and also for the government. It can supplement classroom instruction and also provide a way for students to minimize the loss of hours caused by frequent strikes. For the government, this could be a great way of strengthening public schools which could even sell advertising to raise extra revenue.
Private educational institutions too can use mobile learning to supplement classroom learning and as a revenue generator. It would be a great leap forward if the private and public sector enter a partnership and push mobile learning as a national priority, subsidizing the service for rural and financially disadvantaged students.
As the country’s history has proven, education is the best and most effective way to strengthen the people. Mobile education presents a fresh opportunity to focus on education, an opportunity Nepal must not ignore
For more than 30 years, the Karen people have been forced to flee their homes in Burma where they faced violence and persecution at the hands of the Burmese military, including torture, imprisonment, and village burning. Over 140,000 refugees have made it through the Burmese jungle to Thailand, where 9refugee camps have been set up along the Thai-Burmese border. However, the conditions in the camps are equally troubling. Sanitation, clean water and proper nutrition do not exist in the camps, and Burmese troops frequently cross the border to attack, burning what they can and killing the camps’ residents at random. Likewise, the refugees are legally confined to these camps, and therefore not permitted to find work or travel outside its perimeters. Life in the camps is difficult, though for many of the younger refugees, it is the only life they know.
The international community has taken notice of this situation, and in 2006 several countries, including Canada, pledged to resettle thousands of refugees. In November 2006, 110 Karen refugees arrived in the Lower Mainland to begin a new life while hundreds more are scheduled to arrive throughout 2007 and 2008. Nonetheless, the road has not been easy for these refugees who have struggled to adapt to life in a modern city. Basic skills like using electricity, public transit and banking have been a tremendous challenge. At the same time, learning to speak English is equally daunting for the refugees, many of whom are illiterate in their own language.
The Karen People
Karen refugees a 'forgotten story'
MAE SOT, Thailand (CNN) -- Nine refugee camps stretch along western Thailand's border with Myanmar, but Mae La, with a population of 43,000, is by far the largest.
I came to the camp 10 years ago after the army burned our village and took our rice," one young mother told me.
Most of the camp's residents arrived after being forced to flee their homes due to the violence in Myanmar, as documented by the United Nations.
The refugees' stories were often identical: Direct military attacks by the Myanmar army, forced labor, destruction of homes and food crops, and enslavement.
The camps are overseen and run by the Thailand Burma Border Consortium (TBBC), a union of 11 international non-governmental organizations that provide food, shelter and non food items to refugees and displaced people from Myanmar, also known as Burma.
The Mae La camp is situated about 60 kilometers (37 miles) north of Mae Sot, a Thai border town known for its cross-border trade in gems and teak, and more recently, as the home to the Sylvester Stallone movie character, John Rambo.
The first view of the camp is spectacular -- hundreds of wooden houses with roofs made from leaves dot the lush, hilly landscape, as limestone cliffs rise steeply in the background. 
Take a video tour of the camp and listen to refugees »
Take a video tour of the camp and listen to refugees »
There were no guards and little fuss while entering the camp, which somewhat reflects the plight of these displaced people.
he conflict between the Myanmar government and the Karen and other ethnic groups such as the Karenni, Mon and Shan is considered by many analysts as the longest-running civil war in the world. Yet, according to TBBC director Jack Dunford, it has become a "forgotten story." Learn more about Myanmar's recent political history »
The recent storm that hit Myanmar's delta region, killing at least 78,000, has raised the question of whether border camps will be inundated with new refugees.
But Saay Tae Tae, a coordinator with the Karen refugee Committee, believes it would take months, if at all. Saay Tae Tae talks about the plight of refugees »
Saay Tae Tae talks about the plight of refugees »
"The Delta is where most of the Karens live, but it would be very difficult for them to get here. Travel is very restricted by the army, and the people have no money to pay for transport," Saay said. "It will take four or five months until we see the real picture."
Mae La, which sits about five kilometers from the Myanmar border, is huge -- one expression of its age; the camp has been running for almost 25 years.Watch an audio slideshow on Mae La »
The camp's population is mainly made up of families of farmers and low-income workers, while religious lines are more or less evenly divided between Buddhists and Christians.
Some of the violence has followed them, such as when the Myanmar army attacked Mae La in 1997. Since then, it's been peaceful, though according to TBBC, tensions rise every dry season -- the preferred time of activity by the Myanmar army.
But while refugees have escaped direct violence, other problems exist. There's little or no employment, education for children is minimal, and boredom is rife. Camp dwellers not only have to deal with the horrors of their past, but the grim outlook of their future.
Despite this, the people at the camp appeared stoic, and carried with them a sense of humor and pride. They welcomed strangers into their homes, openly told their stories and for the most part, seemed resilient.
Mawker Refugee Camp (Karen), Thailand
he Mawker Refugee Camp is located near the Thai town of Mae Sot which is across the Moei River from Myawaddy, Burma. The people here were Karen who had fled Burma's ethnic warfare. Subsequent to my visit, the Karen military headquarters (on the Burma side of the border) was sacked by the Burmese government forces making the plight of the Karen people even more unclear.
Such camps are tolerated by the Thai authorities but the existance of such camps is tenuous at best. A report published by the U.S. Committee for Refugees just prior to my visit in 1993 stated that Thai soldiers had entered several refugee camps and ordered the residents to pack up and return to Burma. The refugees were given 15 minutes. Some camps were set afire as the refugees scurried away.
Deep in the woods, the camp was a challenge to find. After meeting a camp resident in a neighboring village, I ditched my motorcycle and went with her by foot through the woods wondering how I'd ever get back. I needn't have worried as the people of Mawker were very hospitable and made sure I was provided with a ride back to my motorcycle.
| My favorite shop along this, the main street of Mawker, was a cassette stall where I purchased tapes of Karen revolutionary songs. |
Home place
Home is a place of love, peace, happiness and strength. Being forced to leave home permanently means that such love, peace, happiness and strength are being swept away. This is perhaps the last thing anyone ever wanted to happen because it means a life with unfamiliar people and unknown culture. No one knows what lies ahead, and a sense of security seems to be lacking in the mind of those individuals who spend countless nights in a state of sleeplessness.
Refugees from different corners of the world are suffering from these conditions.
In April 2011, we got a message from a Peace Rebel Kadio who mentioned that he was a Liberian citizen working for a center for asylum seekers “Samus Social” in Brussels (http://www.samusocial.be). The center provides food and shelter for people who seek to become political refugees with the right to live in Belgium.
On 6 May 2011, Peace Revolution representatives visited the Samus Social center. There were about 150 people from different parts of the world. However, we were surprised and impressed beyond our expectation by this place for asylum seekers. Samus Social really did a good job. Once or twice a week, a psychologist would come to give consults to the migrants there. Unsurprisingly, the most common problem found was insomnia, and the doctor had to prescribe more and more sleeping pills. It seems that the only thing the center could not provide was the peace of mind for those asylum seekers whose future remains uncertain.
The meditation workshop went for three days with about 40-50 participants. Our meditation instructor led four half-hour guided meditation sessions that were well received by these new students. The instructor recommended his students to meditate for half an hour before going to bed as this exercise would help them sleep at night. Most people reported that they had very relaxing meditation experiences. As the workshop continued, those who attended at least 6 out of 8 sessions, reported to feel much happier and more relaxed. Most of them said that they did not use sleeping pills for two nights during the workshop.
Asylum Seeker A from Pakistan said …
“… Since those three days (after he tried meditation), I start loving people. I start listening to people. I start to give them love. I start to share things with them, and I start smiling again.
… For 10-15 years, whenever I try to think of one plan I cannot concentrate on that for more than one minute. But today (during meditation), I felt that more than 20 minutes my mind was still there. I was never even for one second unaware of [the center of the body]. I thought it would be darker and darker, but what I felt was surprising. Slowly and slowly, it became shinier and shinier. … This is a big achievement for me.”
Asylum Seeker B from Sierra Leone said …
“… Meditation is good for everyone because it is the beginning of peace. Rejuvenation is from peace within yourself before you can experience peace in another mind. If you don’t have peace, you will never have peace for your friend. I forgive everyone. Since I obtain this peace, I even forgive my father who had treated me poorly.
… Because today in my first meditation, I felt the bright meditation (object) in my stomach. I felt beautiful. I felt I didn’t have bones or veins. I just felt like I had lots of freshness. I believe the meditation will help me more in forgetting about my problem. ”
Asylum Seeker C from Senegal said
“… All people need sport to stimulate the physical body. Meditation is the sport for the mind. We need to take time to meditate; otherwise, our behaviors just resemble those of other animals. Meditation can improve a lot of things and everyone has his method to meditate. We learned here a special method and I felt good with that. The result is good. I felt different as I could get rid of my problems. At some point I could almost not hear the monk anymore, as I was absent …
… Please continue with teaching meditation, as it is very good. I felt very comfortable with your people (Peace Revolution Team) and we were treated as a person. The way you talked to the people is with respect. This is the way you act to me and to the others. Not everyone is treating us like that.”
These are the words of refugees who were forced to leave their homes. Meditation is a tool that helps them find love, peace, happiness and strength back in their lives. Even though they live so far away, they can find love, peace, happiness and strength from inside. They will be able to cope with any situation from now on. With meditation, they have found a new home … so close.
We are happy to learn that our visit in Brussels gives refuge to those who seek security in their lives in faraway lands. We hope to expand this possibility of bringing positivity in people’s mind all over the world, regardless of race, nationality and belief. Our dream will never become true without support from our Peace Rebels and Peace Agents. Thanks to them for making our campaign “Peace In, Peace Out” possible. What about you?
he Shan lunar calendar puts the New Year in December, so we marked the occasion well before the end of our program year. But it didn’t seem too early to celebrate with some of our beneficiaries.
CPI AID IN THAILAND AND MYANMAR REACHED NEARLY 300 LANDMINE SURVIVORS IN 2007 Lobke Dijkstra, our Thailand Country representative, and I traveled to a remote refugee camp on the Thai border with the Shan state to observe New Year with many of the camp’s 2,000 residents Last year was very successful for our Thai-Burma border initiative which has already served more than 500 landmine accident survivors since its inception in 2002. In 2007, thanks to Lobke’s tireless coordination, management and fundraising, we served 298 Karen, Karenni and Shan survivors in five different locations along the Myanmar border. Most of our beneficiaries, 278, received new or repaired prostheses, plus we provided full-time nursing care to about 20 severely disabled survivors at a UNHCR refugee camp at Mae La. Forty-one technicians and medics received training and compensation for their aid activities from prosthetics fabrication to physical rehabilitation. We received funding for this effort from the Dutch rehabilitation hospital Groot Klimmendaal in Arnhem, the Dutch charity Mensenkinderen, Bainbridge Community Endowment, Susila Dharma UK, Susila Dharma USA and Susila Dharma Netherlands, Grace Episcopal Church and Cedars Unitarian Church both on Bainbridge Island. For its relatively modest budget of $53,000, the program has had great leverage in the field thanks to its volunteers, including Lobke and two prosthetics students from British Columbia, Duane Nelson and Jody Riggs, who spent their summer making 18 Monolimb prostheses for survivors at a Shan camp. This year, we hope to expand the breadth of our services with income-generating projects, such as pig breeding, mechanics training and other skills instruction at or near two Shan border camps while we continue to support prosthetics fabrication, physical rehabilitation and full-time care for severely disabled survivors. With our partners, the Mae Tao Clinic, the Karen Handicap Welfare Association, KNPLF (Karenni) and the Shan Health Committee, we expect to provide services to more than 400 survivors at seven locations along the border in 2008. Groot Klimmendaal, Lobke’s employer, has been encouraging its other employees to volunteer in the area. Neeltje Rosmalen, a psychologist and cognitive trainer helped train medics and counselors in psychological treatment of new and existing accident survivors.  
These are notes for a talk given at the Nauset Fellowship, Chapel in the Pines in 2008. They are based on the books listed in the Bibliography and several web sites, particularly Wikipedia. The talk was an attempt to offer an even-handed account of the Arab-Israeli Conflict. As this is not a scholarly article, no references are given.
Introduction
Remember: Both Arabs and Jews have lived in Palestine continuously for thousands of years. They were probably once the same people, the Canaanites. Neither has priority.
I ended the preceding talk, Palestine to 1948, an illustrated Chronology with the following summary points: 1) By the late 19th century European Jews believed they needed their own state in order to survive. They were fortunate in their leadership, they had much help from outside, and they achieved their goal. 2) Palestinian Arabs appear to have awakened to a national consciousness only in the 1920’s and 1930’s. They were much divided, had poor leadership, and received little help from other Arab countries. 3) Had Jews and Palestinian Arabs cooperated over the past 120 years, Palestine today might be a peaceful and prosperous modern nation with an Arab majority, or the states of Israel and Palestine might exist happily side-by-side, making the desert bloom.
Over the 60 years from 1948 until today, Israel has grown in size and strength but not in security. Polls indicate that the majority of Israelis and Palestinians would prefer peace at almost any price. Many leaders on both sides have worked tirelessly for an agreement. And yet a number of Arab and Muslim leaders have continuted to call for the destruction of Israel. In response, Israel has developed a powerful military and weapons of mass destruction, has occupied all of Palestine, has settled permanently in much of it, and has greatly oppressed the Palestinian Arabs. A small but growing minority of secular nationalist or ultra-conservative religious Israelis want the State of Israel to annex all of Palestine. The Israeli parliamentary governments have depended for some years on coalitions with conservative minority parties which can generally block any action. Many of the new West Bank settlements are funded and staffed by American ultra-Orthodox. A once socialist egalitarian Israeli society has become a capitalist economy with as deep divisions between rich and poor as in the United States or and other country and as much corruption.
Tremendous diplomatic efforts were made during these 60 years by men of good will on all sides. Dennis Ross's book, The Missing Peace: the inside story of the fight for Middle East Peace, makes this clear in great detail for the 1990's.
Neither a unified Palestine nor independent Israeli and Palestinian states existing side by side in peace are impossible dreams. But either will be difficult to achieve. -- For additions, corrections, and problems, please send a Comment from the Home Page.
1949
Cease Fire.
A bi-lateral ceasefire with all parties was reached early in 1949 with the help of Dr. Ralph Bunche, UN Mediator for Palestine. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1950.
Israel's Borders.
The border with Egypt was restored to its previous line, with the exception of the Gaza Strip where Egypt continued in control. The borders with Lebanon and Syria were restored to their previous line. The West Bank and the Old City of Jerusalem were under Jordanian control. Jordan guaranteed the Israeli Jewsaccess to the Wailing Wall, but this didn’t happen until 1967. The "1949 Armistice Line" became known as the "Green Line".
After the 1948 War of Independence, Israel controlled 77% of Palestine. The State of Israel was a humiliating fact for the Arabs. The despised Jews had beaten them soundly. It was called al-Nakba, the catastrophe, the colossal failure, and they correctly blamed it on their leaders.
There was to be no peace. The Secretary of the Arab League said, “Our secret weapon is time. As long as we don’t make peace, the war isn’t over. If we recognize the State of Israel, we are conquered.” Any peace effort would be betrayal. Israel was boycotted by all Arab nations. Many Palestinians later acknowledged that not accepting the situation and working with the Israelis was an historic mistake.
The UN General Assembly voted for an internationalized City of Jerusalem, but West Jerusalem was incorporated by Israel in December 1949. Some Israelis would have preferred the economic advantages of an internationalized Jerusalem, but they couldn’t buck Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion and public opinion. Ben-Gurion’s Mapai Party began its 30 years of domination in Israeli politics.
The Knesset proclaimed West Jerusalem the Capital of Israel, the only nation that had made Jerusalem its Capital since the Kar Kochba Revolt in CE 125. The Knesset met in Jerusalem to elect Chaim Weizmann the first President of Israel (a largely honorary position). Most foreign governments kept their embassies in Tel Aviv.
Palestinian Refugees.
The Zionists had assumed before the 1948 War that a large Arab minority would remain in Israel, but over 700,000 Palestinians left their homes and villages.
This is a subject of vigorous dispute. Israel claimed that the Arab military leaders told Arab civilians to leave their homes temporarily, so that their armies could drive the Jews into the sea. They said thousands of Arabs fled needlessly in fear, without ever seeing an Israeli soldier.
The Arabs claimed they were driven out by force and by fear of massacres such as Deir Yassin. But almost everyone had publicly forecast a quick victory, and some Arab broadcasts did assure refugees they would shortly be returning to their homes.
There’s truth on both sides. Perhaps half of the Arabs were forced out. The “right of return” to their former homes in what is now the state of Israel has been a demand of the Palestinians for 60 years. It has never been seriously considered by the Israelis.
Refugee Camps. The surrounding Arab countries didn’t absorb the refugees from the 1948 war but kept them in miserable camps where many of their numerous descendents still live 60 years later. The Arabs didn’t want them in their countries, and the camps served as a permanent political weapon against Israel. Within a decade after World War II, tens of millions of refugees from around the world were successfully integrated into other countries
1950’s
The Zionists were right. The Jews in Europe had been in deadly danger. The Holocaust had happened, and “what has happened,” said Aristotle , “can happen again.” The Arabs were seen as trying to finish Hitler’s work. This was used to justify a position of implacability. Behind the Holocaust lay two millennia of persecution by the entire Gentile world.
In 1950 Anwar Sadat published a letter in which he said Hitler was right about the Jews.
Over 700,000 Jewish refugees came from Europe. Jewish population of Israel doubled to nearly 1.5 million from 1948 to 1951.
Jordan annexed East Jerusalem and the West Bank to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. They saw any independent Palestinian organization as a threat. Palestinian political activity went abroad. Few major Palestinian families now played a role. Younger educated Palestinians took over. There was hope for an agreement with Jordan’s King Abdullah, but he was assassinated in 1951 by the Grand Mufti’s men. No Arab leader could safely negotiate with Israel.
Oriental Jews.
130,000 Jews were allowed to leave Iraq in the early 1950’s if they left their possessions and renounced their citizenship.
Nearly a million Jews left or were driven out of all the other Middle-Eastern Arab countries, including Kurdistan, Yemen, and Morocco. Oriental Jews, the Sephardim, now formed more than half the population of Jewish Palestine. They were more strongly anti-Arab than the European Jews. – For the million Jews in the Arab world, assimilation had never been a remote possibility
Unit 101.
There were many Palestinian guerrilla attacks during the 1950’s and many murderously effective reprisals by the Israel Defense Force’s Unit 101, which was commanded by Major Ariel Sharon. Abba Eben said “The idea that Arabs could kill Israelis without any subsequent Istraeli reaction was close to becoming an international doctrine.”
From the early 1950’s on, the Soviet Union sided with the Arabs against Israel. Israel allied itself with the United States. American Jews did much for Israel. Israel provided American Jews with an “old country” actually on the map, and Jews became like other U.S. immigrants, more human, less strange
1956
1956 War.
In 1956, Egypt closed the Straits of Tiran to Israel. As the straits were in international waters, this implied that Israel was not a nation and that any country that acquiesced in the closing was in agreement.
Egypt nationalized the Suez Canal. Israel conspired with Britain and France to invade the Sinai and re-take the canal. This upset Washington’s policy of enlisting the Arabs against the Soviets, so Eisenhower forced Israel to withdraw before Britain and France could move effectively. A UN peace keeping force was placed in Sinai, and the US guaranteed right of passage for Israeli shipping. Subsequently Israel had 10 years of valuable peace with Egypt
1952
Gamal Abdel Nasser held power in Egypt from 1952-1970. A supporter of pan-Arabism, he later helped found the Palestine Liberation Organization. In 1955, a representative of Nasser’s government said, “Egypt will erase the shame of the Palestinian war even if Israel should fulfill all U.N. Resolutions.”
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In 1957, Yad Vashem, the memorial to victims of the Holocaust, was opened on Mt. Herzl. The name is from Isaiah and means “a place and a name.” “Even unto them will I give in mine house and within my walls a place and a name...I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off.”
1958
In 1958, Iraqi nationalist army officers overthrew Britain’s client, King Faisal. The Baghdad Coup undermined the pro-Arab influences in the British Foreign Office and the U.S. State Department and strengthened Israel. The U.S. began to view the people and the government of Israel as pro-Western and trustworthy. This close relationship has largely been maintained ever since.
Turkey: Angelina Jolie Meets Syrian Refugees
The UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador travelled to the Turkey-Syria border to hear the stories of Syrian civilians forced to flee their country.
Iraq: Harsh Living
There are more than 350 settlements for internally displaced people in Iraq.The living conditions in most of them are dire.
Al Tanf Camp Closes
After years in a bleak no man's land, the remaining residents of the Al Tanf camp are transferred with UNHCR assistance to a more hospitable site inside Syria.
End of long ordeal for Palestinian refugees as desert camp closes
DAMASCUS, Syria, February 1 (UNHCR) – The UN refugee agency closed the Al Tanf refugee camp between the borders of Syria and Iraqi on Monday and relocated the last of the Palestinian refugees who had been stranded in the bleak no-man's land for nearly four years.
UNHCR, working in cooperation with the Syrian authorities, transferred the last 60 camp residents on Monday morning. They will be housed temporarily at another refugee camp, Al Hol, inside Syria.
"I am very happy that this is finally over," said Abu Mohanned, one of the relocated refugees. "We have been waiting for this for such a long time and yet we are anxious about what's next. We have suffered a lot and have been forced to leave with no document in hand after living 60 years in Iraq. We just want a place that welcomes us and recognizes us as human beings."
Al Tanf is a makeshift camp located on a narrow strip in no man's land between the Syrian and Iraqi borders. It was set up in May 2006 for Palestinian refugees fleeing persecution in Iraq as no country in the region would accept them.
Their stay was intended to be temporary but lasted nearly four years, during which the residents had to face harsh desert conditions: extreme temperatures, sandstorms, floods and several risks of fire with difficult access to medical services.
UNHCR and its partners – mainly UNRWA (UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East), UNICEF, the World Food Programme, the Palestinian Red Crescent and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent – had provided assistance to the refugees to alleviate their suffering. Meanwhile, UNHCR has been actively seeking humanitarian solutions for these refugees by requesting states give them a chance to start a new life.
"Today we were able to close this camp and this is a very important step and achievement in responding on a humanitarian basis to the situation of people who were stranded there as a result of fleeing persecution. This is the result of joint efforts with the Syrian authorities and the resettlement countries," said Philippe Leclerc, UNHCR's deputy representative in Syria.
"However, there are still hundreds of Palestinian refugees from Iraq who are in Al Hol camp in the north-eastern province of Hassake and they also need the same compassion and understanding," he said.
The last moments were filled with emotion and hopes for the future. Families gathered next to the camp's main entrance, taking a last look at the desert site where they had lived. They were relieved to be leaving, but tense about their uncertain future.
Out of the 1,300 Palestinian refugees who had lived at different times in the camp, more than 1,000 were relocated to third countries, including Belgium, Chile, Finland, Italy, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
Although the living conditions in Syria's Al-Hol camp are slightly better, circumstances are not sustainable and a solution is still needed for more than 600 Palestinians from Iraq currently living there.
The exact number of Palestinian who fled Iraq is unknown. Al Tanf is one of three camps that received Palestinian refugees from Iraq. Currently, there are around 2,000 in Al Hol and in Al Waleed camp, which is on the Iraqi side of the border. UNHCR will continue to advocate for a dignified solution for all those Palestinian refugees stranded in camps in 2010
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