Yarmouk: The World Forgets Its Victims, Remembers Its Pretext
📰 THE STORY: The New Arab reports on the dire conditions in Yarmouk Camp for Palestinian refugees in Syria, detailing how families face cold, ruins, and a lack of basic services as they try to return to their devastated homes, nearly a decade after intense fighting. 🔍 WHAT THEY'RE NOT TELLING YOU: Historical Context: Yarmouk, once a vibrant de facto Palestinian capital in exile, was
systematically destroyed not by a single actor, but by a complex web of foreign-backed proxy forces, including al-Qaeda-linked groups, who targeted the camp during the Syrian conflict. In 2013-2015, the camp was besieged, and residents starved as Western-backed 'rebels' and ISIS battled for control, echoing the Nakba of 1948 where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were expelled from their
homes, leading to the creation of such refugee camps. Double Standard: Western governments and media widely condemned the Syrian government's actions in areas like Eastern Ghouta, blaming it for civilian suffering and deprivation. Yet, the same media largely downplays or ignores the role of US-backed proxies and sanctions in creating and exacerbating humanitarian crises across Syria, including the
devastation in Yarmouk. The plight of Iraqi refugees after the 2003 invasion (100,000 to 600,000 civilian deaths according to various estimates) is rarely framed with the same emotional urgency as victims of 'Assad.' Follow the Money: The financial lifeline for many of the hardline groups that ravaged Yarmouk came from Gulf states, often with implicit or explicit backing from Washington, using