Arabs’ Nightmare: Absorbing Palestinians

by Khaled Abu Toameh, Jun. 12, 2019

• Lebanon says it fully supports the Palestinians in their fight against Israel — but would like to see them leave the country as soon as possible.
• This is the modern-day version of Arab “solidarity” with their Palestinian brothers: discrimination and apartheid — no jobs, no citizenship, no health care and no social services.
• Nor do Palestinian leaders give a damn about the welfare of their people. If they did, it would be hard to justify their impressive efforts to foil an economic conference whose main goal is to lift their people out of the economic hell these very leaders created and vigorously maintain.

The Lebanese are worried that a new law for the management of Palestinian refugee camps will pave the way for the “resettlement” of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Lebanon. The prospect of “resettling” Palestinians is a nightmare that has been haunting the Lebanese for decades.

Like most Arab countries, Lebanon has long treated Palestinians as second-class citizens. It has been depriving them of basic rights, including citizenship, employment, heath care, education, social services and property ownership. The vast majority of the 450,000 Palestinians living in Lebanon do not have Lebanese citizenship.

In 2001, the Lebanese Parliament passed a law prohibiting Palestinians from owning property, and Lebanese law also restricts their ability to work in as many as 20 professions. Lebanon continues to ignore calls by various human rights groups to the Lebanese authorities to end discrimination against Palestinians.

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