The two truths that we see from the new Pal/Lebanese rights movement

Elder of Ziyon
29 June '10

Thousands attended a rally in Beirut on Sunday demanding the government giving Lebanese Palestinians their civil rights.

The arguments that Lebanese politicians are using to justify their endemic discrimination against Palestinian Arabs are hilariously specious. They will all claim to love the Palestinian Arabs, but then they add that big "but:"

For example:

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun stressed on Tuesday granting Palestinian refugees in Lebanon their rights, but noted that this requires funds that are unavailable.

He added after the FPM's weekly meeting that they cannot be granted right of ownership in Lebanon, and said that houses for Palestinians should be built in refugee camps, similar to those that were constructed at the Nahr al-Bared camp.

The MP stressed: "We cannot scatter the refugees throughout the Lebanese territories because if they lose their communication then they will lose their cause."

In other words, they must remain confined in squalid "refugee camps" and not be allowed to purchase land in the rest of Lebanon because if they are treated the same as other Lebanese, they would lose their Palestinian identities!

If Palestinian Arab nationalism is so weak that it cannot survive a nation treating its members like human beings, how strong was that nationalism to begin with?

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Several Thousand Palestinians Protest For Equal Rights--In Lebanon

"Lebanon has marginalized Palestinian refugees for too long. Parliament should seize this opportunity to turn the page and end discrimination against Palestinians."
Human Rights Watch


Daled Amos
28 June '10

While Hezbollah is preparing to put on a show on the world stage with its proposed Flotilla on behalf of the Palestinians of Gaza, the Palestinians of Lebanon continue to suffer--apparently out of fear that they will become naturalized citizens and stay in Lebanon:

Several thousand Palestinians and Lebanese civil activists converged on central Beirut on Sunday, demanding more rights for Palestinians, many of whom live in squalid and over-crowded refugee camps.

Dozens of buses transported demonstrators waving Palestinian flags from refugee camps across the country -- from the southern city of Tyre as well as from the northern city of Tripoli.

"As Palestinians in Lebanon we have no rights. We just want to live with dignity," said Palestinian Imtithal Abu Samra, 29, who lives in the Beddawi refugee camp in northern Lebanon.

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