Mohamad Chakaki

Mohamad Chakaki

Mohamad Chakaki
My time in the camp taught me who wins in this face-off between sustainable development and the Palestinian refugees’ vision of their homeland. In a deep subconscious sense Neirab Camp is not home to these refugees and it will never be.

2005 Urban Fellow

Research Topic: Socio-cultural and Ecological Interactions

Faculty Advisor: Internship

Can Tears and Blood Sprout Olive Trees?

After more than fifty-five years Palestinian refugee camps now look more like townships than tent-sites. There is much talk of sustainability in the camps, and I went to one of them—Neirab Camp—thinking that increased greenspace could help contribute to this. Yet with vision blurred by tears and blood and the right to return to their homeland who can speak to these refugees of environmental sustainability?