BUOYANT YOUTH

Francesco Sonetti Fotografo

 

“You have something in this world, so stand for it. “

Ghassan Kanafani

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In Lebanon Palestinian refugees organizations and their governative representatives lack sufficient cohesion

for improving the living conditions in refugee camps. Pressure from the Lebanese government is preventing

the possibility of developing constructive proposals, for that reason the topic of Palestinian refugees is

regarded as an unsolvable problem, and tackling it is often a taboo on social and political levels.

Over 470,000 refugees are registered with UNRWA ( United Nations Relief and Work Agency for Palestine

Refugees in the Near East ) in Lebanon. About 45% of them live in the country’s 12 refugee camps.

Conditions in the camps are dire and characterized by margination, exclusion and stigmatization.

In this scenario, a new generation of Palestinians struggle to resist. The new technologies overcome the

physical barriers of walls and borders and allow young people to communicate with their peers and increase

their knowledge by overcoming religious and social taboos.

Tradition, the cornerstone of Palestinian culture, merges with new trends and gives life to movements and

original forms of art and emancipation. Sport unites young Lebanese and Palestinians, as well as music and

theater. From all this, the younger population derives the nourishment and willpower to mobilize and fight

against marginalization, in search of better living conditions, as they are now aware of the impossibility of

returning to their homeland.

The future of refugees remains one of the core unresolved challenges of the Arab-Israeli conflict.