Sunnis want Palestinians out of Iraq

Source: IRIN

Palestinians living in Iraq’s Anbar province have come under increasing pressure from militants to leave or be killed, NGOs and Palestinians say. Palestinians in the capital, Baghdad, have long been threatened by armed groups and harassed by authorities but threats to them in other provinces are a new development, aid workers say. Sunni-dominated Anbar used to protect Palestinians, who are predominantly Sunni too, but times have changed.

“At least 17 families have fled Ramadi after militants gave them a week to leave their homes or become the next victims of violence in Iraq,” Ahmed Muffitlak, a spokesman for PMA, said.

Palestinians have nowhere to go

“But they don’t have anywhere to go. Some families told me they are going to try to reach the al-Waleed camp near the Syrian border. Others expect to be accepted in Baghdad’s Sunni neighbourhoods,” he added.

In Baghdad, Palestinians - especially those in the mainly Palestinian neighbourhoods of Baladiat, Hurriyah and Iskan - continue to be discriminated against and continue to receive threats to leave the country.

Read more: http://www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?id=9156

:sarcasm:

It's weird that such a lengthy, in-depth article fails to answer this incredibly basic question, no?

Given that Palestinians are generally Sunni, and especially in light of their conflict with Israel (not exactly a popularity-contest winner in the Middle East), why do Sunni Iraqis loathe them so?

One of the most important, or most recent, anyway, is that Palestinians received some favored treatments from Hussein, as an emblem of his status as an anti-Israel champion, and this was resented locally, not only by people who feared Hussein, but also by people who saw this as poaching on their prerogatives as local leaders.

By no means all the Palestinian residents are of recent, or post Israeli arrival. In the period of the Mandate, the English exiled a great many Palestinian rebels to Iraq, where they formed a volatile element in the politics of day, and pursued their own internal feuds, as well as clashed with established local politicians over the issue of collaboration with the English.

:hi:

the Palestinians are not salafists. There are many strains of Sunni Islam, and even in salafism. Many Palestinians are fairly moderate, while some salafis in E. Jordan adn W. Iraq believe that Wahhabis are downright lax in their observance of Islam.

Moreover, the Palestinians are strictly outsiders. While they may been subject to positive discrimination under Hussein, they have no ties to any clans or tribes; they are interlopers. No clan or tribe will defend them, and xenophobic tribe members will regard the Palestinians as consuming resources they have no right to.

Fire sweeps through Al Tanf camp, injures 28 Palestinian refugees
25 Apr 2007 17:25:09 GMT
Source: UNHCR
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Background
Israeli-Palestinian conflict
Iraq in turmoil
More AL TANF REFUGEE CAMP, Syria-Iraq border, April 25 (UNHCR) – A fire swept through the Al Tanf refugee camp in no-man's land desert area between Syria and Iraq on Tuesday night, leaving 28 Palestinian refugees injured and seven tents destroyed.

"Within one minute the tent was a fireball. We had seconds to pull our families out of the surrounding tents, which are one metre apart," said Khaled* a Palestinian refugee working as a teacher who lost everything in the fire.

"There was no time to take anything. Our children were sleeping. My neighbour has serious burns because he went into the burning flames looking for his child who had already run out of the tent. Everything is lost, including our hope in life," Khaled added.

The fire was apparently caused by a spark from an electric cable in a tent which ignited a diesel can and gas cylinder. The flames spread rapidly, fanned by strong winds. Border guards two miles away said they heard several loud explosions as gas cylinders and televisions exploded in the flames.

Three refugees were severely burned and 25 others, mainly children, suffered from minor burns and smoke inhalation. The Palestinian Red Crescent ambulance crew, on 24-hour standby to deal with any potential emergencies in the hazardous environment of the camp, arrived at the scene within minutes.

more:http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/UNHCR/f1bbb0de89edcc0d6ab0339f0bda8c57.htm