Can PLO help protect Palestinian refugees in Syria?

Ahmad Melhem

Jul 29, 2016

Residents and Palestinians who fled the Yarmouk refugee camp wait in line to receive parcels of humanitarian aid from the United Nations Relief and Works Organization (UNRWA) in the beseiged southern outskirts of Damascus May 23, 2015. REUTERS/Ward Al-Keswani - RTX1E8VS — Residents and Palestinians who fled the Yarmouk refugee camp wait in line to receive parcels of humanitarian aid from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency in the besieged southern outskirts of Damascus, May 23, 2015. — REUTERS/Ward Al-Keswani

عربي

RAMALLAH, West Bank — On July 19, the Syrian armed opposition faction Nureddin Zengi Brigade slaughtered Abdullah Issa, a 12-year-old Palestinian from the Handarat camp in Aleppo, thus raising the ire of Palestinians and prompting the PLO to call for the international prosecution of the murderers.

After the crime raised questions among Palestinians about the PLO’s role when it comes to protecting Palestinian refugees in Syria, the PLO declared in its statement that it is working on providing protection for refugees while “contacting Arab and international authorities in a bid to prosecute criminals by all legal means before international courts.”