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?