The forgotten People
- With a French Delegation I visited two Palestinian Camps in Lebanon
: the overpopulated Aïn-el-Héloué and the Chatila, destroyed
by the 1982 massacres.
- In 1998, the fiftieth anniversary of the expulsion of nearly one million Palestinians and the plundering of their lands will be remembered.
- The elder recall - In 1948 they lived in Nazareth, Acre and Tiberiade - from where they had to fled, on foot, with their children, abandoning their homes, their olive groves and - everything they owned. They however hoped to be back in a few weeks after the trouble had subsided. But, fifty years have already gone by and their hope to return home, remains as strong as ever.
- An 84 year old man who, with tears in his eyes and pain in his heart spoke to us in our French language for us to understand and convey their message to the world.
- These Palestinians do not ask for medicines, schools or hospitals - but they plead for Justice and the right to return.
- I have spoken to young Palestinians who, although already born in the camps, have been taught by their Parents and Grand Parents to treasure the memories of their Palestinian Land. And they live by those teachings keeping Palestine alive in their hearts.
- The Palestinian Cause remains a symbol for many people around the world. And a symbol as well for those who robbed them of their rights.
- But unfortunately, the Palestinian Cause will continue to be the "bad consciousness" of those committed people who will never move an inch to do justice on behalf of those that History has forgotten.
- The Palestinians that I have met in the Lebanon are today facing the same disadvantages as they did yesterday. They now live under even more precarious circumstances. Their hopes for the future have been destroyed. But, something beautiful is still deeply installed in their hearts, something that no one should ever loose : Hope.
- The hope and the joy of one day returning to their Home Land.
Jacques Gaillot