Osaily takes part in the Conference on Decentralization in the Middle-East and meets with Al Baddawi Refugee Camp residents

Hebron Mayor Khaled Osaily affirmed that Hebron municipality’s participation in international and Arab events has put the city on the map of numerous fora and ensured its place in all regional and international events.

Osaily took part in the Conference on Decentralization in the Middle-East organized in Tripoli under the sponsorship and attendance of Lebanon’s President General Michel Suleiman and Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, and with the participation of international experts, political figures and mayors representing many Middle-Eastern cities. According to Osaily, the “Tripoli conference has paved the way for us to exchange experiences and to discuss our Palestinian cause and day-to-day issues. We shall thus be able to convey Palestine’s reality to international and regional personalities”.

On the margin of the Conference, Osaily met at his place of residence in Tripoli, with a delegation representing the residents of Al Baddawi refugee camp, accompanied by the mayor of Al Baddawi Mr. Majed Ghamrawi. The delegation extended an invitation to Osaily to visit the camp and get a first-hand look at the living conditions there and to convey the picture to the Palestinian leadership.

During his visit to the camp, Osaily was greeted by Fatah’s representative in the camp Abu Salim Ghneim and representatives of all Palestinian factions there. They expressed their appreciation “to inland Palestinians who gave a helping hand to our distressed people in Nahr Al Bared refugee camp despite the difficult conditions they are enduring under Israeli occupation. They have taken it upon themselves to show this noble initiative”. They also asserted that “the steadfastness shown by Nahr El Bared residents was thanks to lessons learned from our people in the West Bank and Gaza”.

Ghneim explained the “ongoing plight of Nahr El Bared residents”. He asked Osaily to “convey this painful picture of the plight of Nahr El Bared residents in particular and that of all Diaspora Palestinians in general to President Mahmoud Abbas and to Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, so that they may help relieve our population of its suffering”. He asserted “Diaspora Palestinians’ insistence on the right of return and their refusal of naturalization under any aspect”.

Osaily stated that “Palestine bleeds for its displaced people and totally rejects the concept of naturalization”. He affirmed the need “to establish communication between resident Palestinians and the Diaspora, to exchange experiences, and to work towards relieving the plight of our people in refugee camps and awarding them civic rights, thus helping them reject all naturalization and displacement schemes”. He asserted that he shall “faithfully convey what he has seen and heard to the Palestinian leadership, especially concerning the suffering of Nahr El Bared residents, so that swift action might be taken to find solutions to their problems.”