Middle East Features
Palestinian refugees in Lebanon hope for better life
By Weedah Hamzah Jan 20, 2007, 19:12 GMT
Beirut - Hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, who live in overcrowded refugee camps, hope that the expected visit by their president, Mahmoud Abbas, to the country next week will bring a glimpse of hope for a better life.
'We hope that the visit by President Abbas will be a chance to discuss the situation of some 367,000 Palestinian refugees living on Lebanese soil without social rights,' Palestinian analyst Suheil al- Natour said.
Palestinians in Lebanon lack the basic human needs. They do not have the right to work in dozens of professions or receive social security, they also do not have the right to own or inherit property.
'Palestinians are banned from 70 professions and are only confined to cheap labour with minimum wages without any kind of social security,' al-Natour said.
Mahmoud Abbas is expected to arrive in Lebanon on Monday to hold talks with Lebanese officials on the situation in the Middle East and the conditions of Palestinians living in 12 camps scattered across Lebanon.
'We hope that the talks will tackle our miserable conditions especially among the young educated Palestinian who are sitting jobless inside the camps,' 20-year-old student Mohammed Shreidi said.
According to al-Natour the rate of unemployment among the Palestinians is 80 per cent. He attributed this to Lebanese laws which discriminate against the Palestinians.
'For example, a Palestinian accountant, medical doctor, hairdresser, pharmacist, engineer or lawyer is unable to practise their profession legally in Lebanon,' al-Natour said.
'Before a lot of officials came to Lebanon and no-one managed to ease or slightly improve our situation in order to have a respectable normal life like other refugees living in other Arab countries,' Shreidi said.
The Palestinian refugees were forced to flee their homes and lands at the time of the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948 and again when Israel occupied the West Bank and Gaza Strip in 1967.
Many of them took refuge in Lebanon, where they remain today, together with their descendents.
'Life inside the camps is harsh. We live in shacks. Sewage water runs in the streets, which makes it an unhealthy atmosphere for Palestinian children to live in. That is why our president should look into our situation and try to work with the Lebanese government to improve conditions for us,' Palestinian teacher Souad Hamad said.
Lebanon has repeatedly stated that it will not accept the permanent settlement of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon and that their presence in the country is temporary.
Lebanon denies the Palestinians any rights for fear that any settlement would destabilize an already fragile religious make-up of the country. Most of the Palestinian refugees are Sunni Muslims.
Al-Natour ruled out that Abbas' visit might change anything for the current living conditions but said, 'At least the refugees have hope that the discussions might tackle their issue.'
'Of all the Palestinians living in the diaspora, the Palestinian refugees living in Lebanon have the worst living conditions. At least if you live in another Arab state, you can own or inherit a property. In Lebanon you are barred from doing that,' said Amin al Khalil, a Palestinian merchant inside the Palestinian refugee camp of Mar Elias.
The Lebanese law also bars Palestinians from inheriting any property or registering property that they had already bought or were in the process of buying.
The law does not explicitly target Palestinian refugees, but bars those who are not 'bearers of the nationality of a recognized state' from owning property; in practice, this means only the Palestinians.
Most of the Lebanese officials admit that the laws against the Palestinian refugees are 'unjust,' but agree that an overall settlement of the Palestinian refugees should be found to solve the issue.
'If permanent settlement is not the solution for Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, this does not mean that adequate solutions that protect our fundamental rights to live a decent life should not be sought by our leaders,' al-Khalil said.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-AgenturCOMMENT
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Older Talkback
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did the Israelis really 'force them out' or did their leader lead them into this quagmire.
does Israel now prevent them from having 70% of the jobs in Lebanon, or require that they live in camps.
Is this just a PR farce, to breed Palestinians, keep them in camps to make Israel look bad? Clearly if blowing oneself up is admired, lesser forms of suffering like living in a camp and having as many children as possible could be a sympathetic cause in such an illogical system.
Israel deserves the pity, since half its population used to live in places like Syria, Egypt, Yemen and Iraq, but they were actually forced out, and now they are denied their history, property or right of return but the press simply can't cover that story, it would fit the sound bite system
Yes when Arabs have a H -bomb the situation will be change. Only need time. 10 20 -year's.
Think, if you can, about this: Several hundred thousand people, held in camps, because why?
They might buy land?
They might be successful?
Might they become the dominant ethnic group?
Wouldn't any reasonable nation grant them asylum and citizenship?
Is it because they are, as the Israelis contend, plain trouble?
Or is it ethnic hatred by the Lebanese?
Why wouldn't Syria treat them better?
The high road says they might help rebuild a poor nation. I suspect they are hated by other groups as much as they are hated by the Israeli's.
Certainly, several hundred thousand folks don't pose a threat in a nation run by terrorists, do they?
Then why the camps?
Is it because the camps illustrate an issue with Israel?
Are the Lebanese i.e. the Syrians/Hizbo's using these people for their political value?
Do they keep them to provide a terrorist resource?
Many interesting questions...Just don't try and tell us how bad the Israelis are...
Good to see news coverage on the fact that 'Palestinian refugees in Lebanon hope for better life'.
In accordance with international law, and UN Resolution 194 from 1948, I think full respect for full Palestinian return to original homes and lands - plus reparations- should be the highest priority. But in the meantime please don't persecute and insult and impoverish Palestinians anywhere.
When Palestine returns in full- and it will, it is only a matter of time, all the many people who have been forced into exile for whatever reason will bring back with them all the many gifts and values of the many cultures and countries they have been living in during the interim. The Palestinians can not help but use what they know to rebuild Palestine. Surely opening up gainful employment for them now will help shape a better - and more realistic future for us all, no matter where we might live.
They Should not be where they are. They should be returned to their rightful homeland which is in Palestine. It is Israel who fears their betterment,the possibility of their buying land, and the possibility of their reclaiming land that they once owned. Just as Israelis are free to come and go into and out of Israel, the Palestinians too should be able to go and come from within their borders to be with relatives and friends long lost.It should not be a concern of Israel in regards to right of return in Palestine. Doctors,Lawyers,Teachers,Businessmen/women and others will return to their homeland from all over the world to start rebuilding. Its only been because of the oppressive policies that these people left. They will and should be allowed back to their homeland. They do not belong in Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, Syria or Iraq, they are Palestinian.
Mabus then will soon die, there will come
Of people and beasts a horrible rout:
Then suddenly one will see vengeance,
Hundred, hand, thirst, hunger when the comet will run.
Century II, Quatrain 62
'It is Israel who fears their betterment,'
I don't think anyone has to worry about their betterment, never have a people so consistently shot themselves in the foot as the 'Palestinians' have. Give them an opportunity and they will blow it to pieces.
We should all support the Right of Return and not the Law of Return. Jews are not a race but a collection of various groupings thread together by some religious identity. Zionism, which is a relatively new ideology, aimed to bring together the Jews and make them colonists. The Palestinians have been long term sufferers in this tragedy. They were ethnically cleansed by the emergent Zionist entity-- read Pappe's latest book-- to neigbouring Arab countries and the recipient countries never allowed them to integrate. Sad but the true outcome of their miserable lives has been to keep moral pressure on Israel and highlight the grave and immoral difference between the Right of Return and the Law of Return.
Not the Ottomans, not the British, not the Egyptians, not the Jordanians, not the Lebanese, not the Syrians but the Israelis were the first to give Arabs of the region (who in 1964 re-named themselves Palestinians to confuse people into thinking that they have been in the area since time immemorial)autonomy with Oslo in 1993 and last year in Gaza. To this day, the Lebanese, the Jordanians and other Arab countries discriminate against the Palestinian Arabs - giving them nothing - as depicted in this article.
The Palestinian Arabs would still be living in their homes if they accepted the UN Partition agreement in 1947. But they wanted it all. Along with neighboring Arab countries, the local Palestinian Arabs attempted to destroy the nascent Jewish state in a war in which they invoked genocide and lost - clearly forfeiting their claim to the land.
page: 1
LRRPJan 20th, 2007 - 19:45:19
You palestian's must be dumb or blind,there will never be peace as long as all the hate and fighting go on,and i guess that's as long as Israel is a round and that's going to be a long time.When your leaders except Israel and it's people then there can be peace,don't pack your bags just yet,come to think of it don't even buy bag's for a long while yet......
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