• A young Palestinian refugee carries her sister outside their family's house in Gezirat al-Fadel village, Sharqiya.
    A young Palestinian refugee carries her sister outside their family's house in Gezirat al-Fadel village, Sharqiya.
  • A barefoot Palestinian girl stands by a mud wall in Gezirat al-Fadel village.
    A barefoot Palestinian girl stands by a mud wall in Gezirat al-Fadel village.
  • A boy stands outside one of two bedrooms in a house of Palestinian refugee Khadra Mohammed, 52, where she lives with 19 people in Gezirat al-Fadel village, Sharqiya.
    A boy stands outside one of two bedrooms in a house of Palestinian refugee Khadra Mohammed, 52, where she lives with 19 people in Gezirat al-Fadel village, Sharqiya.
  • An elderly Palestinian refugee sits at the entrance of her house in Gezirat al-Fadel village.
    An elderly Palestinian refugee sits at the entrance of her house in Gezirat al-Fadel village.
  • A Palestinian refugee prepares food as her children sit next to her in their house in Gezirat al-Fadel village.
    A Palestinian refugee prepares food as her children sit next to her in their house in Gezirat al-Fadel village.
  • Palestinian refugee Sulaiman al-Namodi, 92, sits outside of his house in Gezirat al-Fadel village, Sharqiya, about 150 kilometers east of Cairo, Egypt.
    Palestinian refugee Sulaiman al-Namodi, 92, sits outside of his house in Gezirat al-Fadel village, Sharqiya, about 150 kilometers east of Cairo, Egypt.
  • Palestinian refugees sit in front of a bicycle repair shop in Gezirat al-Fadel village, Sharqiya.
    Palestinian refugees sit in front of a bicycle repair shop in Gezirat al-Fadel village, Sharqiya.
  • A Palestinian refugee sifts wheat for making bread, in her house in Gezirat al-Fadel village, a refugee camp, about 150 kilometers east of Cairo, Egypt.
    A Palestinian refugee sifts wheat for making bread, in her house in Gezirat al-Fadel village, a refugee camp, about 150 kilometers east of Cairo, Egypt.
  • An elderly Palestinian refugee woman feeds a baby suffering from heat rash in a house in Gezirat al-Fadel village.
    An elderly Palestinian refugee woman feeds a baby suffering from heat rash in a house in Gezirat al-Fadel village.
  • Young Palestinian children sit on plastic sacks of garbage outside a house in Gezirat al-Fadel village.
    Young Palestinian children sit on plastic sacks of garbage outside a house in Gezirat al-Fadel village.
  • Two Palestinian refugee girls lean on the wall of a house in Gezirat al-Fadel village, Sharqiya.
    Two Palestinian refugee girls lean on the wall of a house in Gezirat al-Fadel village, Sharqiya.
  • Palestinian refugee children play next to a house in Gezirat al-Fadel village.
    Palestinian refugee children play next to a house in Gezirat al-Fadel village.
  • Palestinian refugee Ahmed Sameer, 10, poses for a photograph in Gezirat al-Fadel village, Sharqiya.
    Palestinian refugee Ahmed Sameer, 10, poses for a photograph in Gezirat al-Fadel village, Sharqiya.

The forgotten Palestinian refugees of Egypt

James O'Hara

May 21, 2013

  • English
  • Arabic

As Palestinians around the world recently marked the 65th anniversary of their mass displacement during the war over Israel's 1948 creation, the refugees in Gezirat al-Fadel say they have it worse than others who fled to Jordan, Syria or Lebanon. Unlike the millions who live in refugee camps in those countries, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) does not have offices in Egypt and so does not offer Palestinian refugees in Egypt assistance.

Photo edit and sequencing by photo editor, James O'Hara

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