Mohammed Al-Aqad and his family members are pictured at their rented house in Jaramana, Damascus, Syria, June 19, 2024. (Photo by Ammar Safarjalani/Xinhua)
by Hummam Sheikh Ali
DAMASCUS, June 20 (Xinhua) -- The crowded Jaramana camp for Palestinian refugees in Damascus is currently the latest resort for 41-year-old Mohammed Al-Aqad, a Palestinian man whose life and that of his ancestors are marked by displacement.
Al-Aqad was born into a legacy of displacement. His family originally hailed from Khan Younis in Gaza, but like many Palestinians in 1948, they were forced to leave their homeland and sought refuge in Syria.
Settling in the Yarmouk camp south of Damascus, the Al-Aqad family managed to create a semblance of stability throughout the years and owned their own apartment building in Yarmouk.
Like in most areas across Syria, the outbreak of the Syrian war in 2011 brought chaos and destruction to the Yarmouk Camp. In 2012, the Al-Aqad family was forced to flee once again as their home was partially destroyed. The war brought back old memories and the tales of the grandparents about what displacement is like.
Since 2012, Al-Aqad's family has moved multiple times, seeking safety and stability. They relocated from Tartous province on the Syrian coast to the countryside of Damascus, then to the Khan Dannun camp for Palestinian refugees, and finally to the Jaramana camp.
Today, Al-Aqad lives with his wife and four children in a cramped, rented house in Jaramana camp. The house has a single room, a hallway, and a bathroom, far from enough for a family of six. With these harsh conditions, the man works as a street vendor selling sweets using a metal rack that he carries on his head in some of the poorest neighborhoods in Jaramana and its surroundings.
Before the war, Al-Aqad had a more stable job as a contractor selling household gas cylinders. The war has stripped him of financial security, forcing him to take his two eldest sons out of school to help support the family.
"Life was hard on us. I had to make my older two kids leave school, and even my wife now works in people's homes (as a cleaning lady) to help us make ends meet. The situation is so hard," he told Xinhua.
Al-Aqad took Xinhua correspondent to visit his family's apartment building in the Yarmouk Camp. The scars of war are still evident, with their building resembling a colossal wreck reminiscent of an old ship submerged at the bottom of the ocean.
Climbing up to what used to be the porch of his house, the man looked down at the seemingly irreparable building and said, "I hope one day I can live here again or have another home to shelter me and my family from the burns of displacement." ■
Mohammed Al-Aqad and his son stand on their war-damaged apartment at the Yarmouk camp in Damascus, Syria, June 19, 2024. (Photo by Ammar Safarjalani/Xinhua)
Mohammed Al-Aqad and his children look at their war-damaged apartment at the Yarmouk camp in Damascus, Syria, June 19, 2024. (Photo by Ammar Safarjalani/Xinhua)
Mohammed Al-Aqad and his son stand on their war-damaged apartment at the Yarmouk camp in Damascus, Syria, June 19, 2024. (Photo by Ammar Safarjalani/Xinhua)
Mohammed Al-Aqad and his children look at their war-damaged apartment at the Yarmouk camp in Damascus, Syria, June 19, 2024. (Photo by Ammar Safarjalani/Xinhua)
Mohammed Al-Aqad sells sweets in Jaramana, Damascus, Syria, June 19, 2024. (Photo by Ammar Safarjalani/Xinhua)
Mohammed Al-Aqad sells sweets in Jaramana, Damascus, Syria, June 19, 2024. (Photo by Ammar Safarjalani/Xinhua)
Mohammed Al-Aqad looks at his war-damaged apartment at the Yarmouk camp in Damascus, Syria, June 19, 2024. (Photo by Ammar Safarjalani/Xinhua)
Mohammed Al-Aqad and his family members are pictured at their rented house in Jaramana, Damascus, Syria, June 19, 2024. (Photo by Ammar Safarjalani/Xinhua)
