Hosting over 30,000 inhabitants and governed by competing militias, 'Ayn al-Hilwe in the south of Lebanon is one of the most contested refugee camps in the Middle East. Known as the 'Capital of the Palestinian Diaspora', the camp has endured a long history of internal power struggles and external influence and intervention.

Based on extensive ethnographic research in the camp - focused on the actors who have shaped its modern political trajectory since the rupture caused by the 1993 Oslo Accords - The Palestinian National Movement in Lebanon places the attention on the role of exile leaderships, camp-based militia commanders and shape-shifting networks of patronage in the political landscape of the Palestinian movement in Lebanon. Offering original empirical and theoretical findings, this book will be essential reading for students of the Palestinian movement and refugee politics in the Middle East and beyond.

Erling Lorentzen Sogge is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Oslo, Norway where he was also awarded his PhD in Middle East Studies.

List of Illustrations
Acknowledgements
Note on Transliteration
1. 'Ayn Al-Hilwe and the National Movement
2. The Anatomy of a Palestinian State in Exile
3. The PLO's Return to Lebanon
4. 'Ayn Al-Hilewe's Islamic Forces
5. Armies of Outlaws, Sons of the Camp
6. Forming a Palestinian Police Force in Exile
7. Protest Movements and Voices of Dissent
8. Conclusion
Overview of the Palestinian Factions in Lebanon
Bibliography