Nadene Goldfoot
Syria's President Assad lives in Damascus. In his backyard, about 5 miles from his home lies Yarmouk Palestine Refugee Camp, which is really a well established town today from what it was in 1957.
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| Free Syrian Army Rebels |
During Syria's Civil War that started in 2012, it became a scene of intense fighting between the western backed rebels of
Free Syrian Army and their Palestinian ally,
Liwa al-Asifa, Palestinians formerly loyal to Syrian President Assad, have defected to the rebels, sources told Lebanese press in 2012.
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| PFLP Terrorists |
They have been fighting against the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC terrorists) who were supported by the Syrian Army government forces. The PFLP has been considered as a smaller terrorist group, founded in 1967. They are located in Judea-Samaria, Gaza, Syria and Lebanon and are not as religious, being more Marxist/Leninist and are a revolutionary nationalistic terrorist group that believes in using armed insurrection. They refuse to recognize Israel as a legitimate state. They broke off from the PLO in 1974 believing in a different way to liberate Palestine, but later united with them again.
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| Al Nusra Terrorists took Yarmouk Palestinian Refugee Camp (city) with others which covers 0.81 sq miles. It has actually become a city. |
The Syrian Army of Assad had besieged the camp causing many to flee from there. Conditions have deteriorated for the 18,000 Palestinian refugees and other Syrians inside the camp. CNN reported that they were subsisting on 400 calories a day where a human needs about 2,000 to be healthy. "
"There is no wood, we are burning furniture and clothes to keep warm. People have burned their bedrooms, chairs, living rooms. We are burning things which are not purely wood, which has caused many health problems." - Ra'eda.
Yarmouk has been better than Palestinian refugee camps in other parts of Syria before this fighting started. Cement block homes on narrow streets had sprung up and shops were lining 2 main roads and were filled with service taxis and microbuses that run through the camp. There are no tents or slums here. It is a residential area with beauty salons and internet cafes. Many professionals came here to live, such as doctors, engineers and civil servants, casual laborers and street vendors. They have 4 hospitals and many government-run secondary schools. UNRWA opeates 20 elementry schools and 8 preparatory schools in the camp and sponsors 2 women's program centers. UNRWA also has 3 health care centers here. Canada donated money for an upgrade in 1996. The USA gave money in 1997 to upgrade 6 schools. Australia donated money for a kindergarten.
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| ISIS Taking Yarmouk Camp |
ISIS terrorists entered the camp on April 1, 2015, which was last Wednesday; 6 days ago. They came to blows with the
Aknaf Beit al-Maqdis and the
Free Syrian Army. Initially, ISIS took over much of the camp but were later pushed back from some of the places before regaining control. By the next day, ISIS was in control of the Yarmouk camp and was handing out bread to the refugees. Later reports are that the Palestinian fighters along with local rebels managed to push ISIS terrorists out of Yarmouk. Fighting against ISIS are the
Palestinian militiamen opposed to the Syrian government and some Free Syrian Army fighters.
Still and all, ISIS is in Damascus. The UN is demanding access to Yarmouk.
Update: 4/8/15 11:17am The reason supply trucks cannot enter the camp is that IS is in control and is fighting against Assad's forces. This is why the Palestinians are hungry. They had run out of food. IS has beheaded a few of the soldiers fighting them. It seems that none of the civilians in Damascus know what is going on in this camp, and the UN, if they gained entrance, would find themselves in the middle of a dangerous battle.
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| Safed (Tzfat), Israel-on top of a mountain, about as high as Jerusalem's altitude |
The distance to Safed, Israel, where I lived for 5 years is only 60 miles from Damascus. Safed is in the northern Galilee.
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| My Safed apartment building #213 |
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| Old City of Safed, built on a mountain with a lot of steps |
Resource: Yarmouk Camp-Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-32210437
http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Capturing-Yarmouk-camp-another-Syrian-rebel-gain
http://www.unrwa.org/crisis-in-yarmouk
***http://www.israelandstuff.com/isis-beheading-syrian-palestinians-in-damascus-suburb-of-yarmouk#.VSBw0SJLm2Q.facebook
http://www.smh.com.au/world/syria-besieged-yarmouk-refugee-camp-a-test-for-international-community-20150407-1mfjjr.html
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/isis-accused-of-beheading-captives-in-palestinian-refugee-camp-yarmouk-as-advance-towards-syrian-capital-damascus-continues-10158061.html
