Middle East Research and Information Project

Critical Coverage of the Middle East Since 1971

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Erling Lorentzen Sogge

Erling Lorentzen Sogge is a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Oslo.

Palestinian Refugee First Responders Rush to Aid Beirut — Volunteers and a Chilean rescue team dig through the rubble of buildings which collapsed due to the explosion at Beirut’s port, Gemmayze, Beirut, Lebanon. Mohamed Azakir/ReutersA member of the PCDL’s firefighting division rides a motorcycle fitted with a water tank. Photo courtesy of PCDL.Members of the PCDL on a hard-earned break in the Ashrafiyye district of Beirut. Photo courtesy of PCDL.

Current Analysis

Palestinian Refugee First Responders Rush to Aid Beirut

When the massive explosion in Beirut's port ripped through the city on August 4, 2020, members of the Palestinian Civil Defense Lebanon sprang into action. Although based in Lebanon's Palestinian refugee camps and despite entrenched suspicion and bias against refugees, the group immediately rushed t

Erling Lorentzen Sogge • 10 min read

MER Article

Managing Security Webs in the Palestinian Refugee Camp of Ain al-Hilweh

On May 31, 2017, Fatah commander Col. Bassam al-Saad was juggling three telephones—two mobile phones and one landline—at his office in Lebanon’s largest Palestinian refugee camp, Ain al-Hilweh. As the commander of the Joint Palestinian Security Force (JPSF), the defacto military police of the self-g

Erling Lorentzen Sogge • 9 min read