A Dispatch from a Syrian Refugee Camp | Political Violence @ a Glance: Eighth, idleness remains a problem. There is little work available. Many refugees pass the time by playing video games or watching television. They stand on each other’s shoulders at the highest point in the middle of the camp – an area called “Mount Syria” – and can receive a cellular signal from Syria. Za’atari has its own Facebook page. But most of the news travels by word of mouth. The camp is only a few miles from the border. When news arrived of the chemical attacks outside Damascus, the camp went quiet. “They felt powerless,” said Blom. “They wanted their own way of mourning.” The attacks were announced over a loudspeaker, shops were closed, and the UNHCR canceled all outside visits by journalists. Many younger men fled the camp to return to Syria and take up arms.
Finally, every refugee I spoke to favors US intervention. Every refugee aid worker I met, however, was against the idea of US military involvement in Syria.