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Palestinians in Syria Caught between Regime and Rebels

(Ha'aretz) Zvi Bar'el - Before Syria's civil war began, the bustling Yarmouk refugee camp on the outskirts of Damascus was home to 150,000 Palestinians who led normal lives, complete with schools, hospitals, and nonstop traffic. Today, it stands mostly in ruin. Only 20,000 Palestinians remain, most of whom are poor, elderly, or children. The camp was closed off by the Syrian regime six months ago, after it served as a primary base of operations for the Free Syrian Army and other radical Islamist militias. Roughly half a million Palestinians lived in Syria before the war. Their civil status was better than Palestinians in Lebanon, where until about four years ago they were forbidden from working in 68 different professions, from living outside of refugee camps, owning property, or leaving the country.
2014-01-02 00:00:00
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