Jumblat Slams Arabs for Building 'Delusive Towers' Rather than Helping Palestinians

Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat criticized on Saturday Arab leaders for building towers in the desert rather than helping the Palestinian people and the refugees.

“Arabs should dedicate a small amount of their huge resources to serve the Palestinian people rather than build in the deserts delusive towers that have no value and will turn into sand once oil is depleted,” Jumblat told As Safir daily.

The PSP chief urged the Lebanese government to consolidate the Higher Relief Council in providing assistance to Syrian refugees but lamented that only UNRWA deals with the Palestinian refugees at the camps.

“We also know that its budget is very limited and the contributions of Arab countries are worthless,” he said.

Jumblat's remarks came amid a hung influx of Syrian and Palestinian refugees to Lebanon after escaping the fighting between regime troops and rebels.

The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees announced in its weekly report on Friday that the number of refugees receiving assistance reached over 164,000.

Thousands of Palestinians who have fled the refugee camp of Yarmuk near Damascus have further complicated relief efforts, which will be discussed during an extraordinary cabinet session after the government makes an official assessment of the value of promised aid by donors.

The Palestinian ambassador, Ashraf Dabbour, told An Nahar daily on Saturday that Palestinians who had escaped the Yarmuk fighting have started to return to their homes.

“It's only a matter of days,” he said, adding that the situation in Yarmuk began to return to normal.

The refugees streamed back into their camp on Friday after a reported deal to keep it out of Syria's conflict, following fierce clashes earlier this week.