by Khaled Abu Toameh • July 24, 2020 at 5:00 am
Lebanon's anti-Palestinian sentiments show that it has no intention of helping the Palestinians who are living there. On the contrary, the statements of Bassil and other Lebanese politicians demonstrate that Lebanon is eager to rid itself of its Palestinian residents, the sooner the better. Like most Arab countries, Lebanon cares nothing about the suffering of the Palestinians. Other than lip service, it is not prepared to make the slightest effort to assist them.
"Palestinians in Lebanon do not enjoy several important rights; for example, they cannot work in as many as 39 professions and cannot own property (real estate)." — United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), unrwa.org.
Lebanese law considers Palestinians workers as "foreign workers" and bans them from working in professions such as medicine, law, and engineering, and even as barbers and taxi drivers.
The international community evidently has no problem with Arab racism and discrimination against the Palestinians. Indeed, why should the international community, specifically the UN, care about this -- after all, it is a situation about which Israel cannot be held responsible.
Earlier this year, a prominent Lebanese politician, Samir Geagea, was accused of promoting "racism" and hate" after he called for "isolating" Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon in order to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by Aldo Ayoub/AFP via Getty Images)
From time to time, Lebanese officials and politicians like to take a shot at the Palestinians by reminding them that they are unwelcome in Lebanon, an Arab country that has long been subjecting them to apartheid and discriminatory laws, policies and measures.
The latest Lebanese official to spew "racist" remarks against the 475,075 Palestinians living in 12 refugee camps in Lebanon is Gebran Bassil, leader of the Free Patriotic Movement, a political party whose support base is overwhelmingly from Lebanon's Christian community.
Bassil, a former minister of foreign affairs and emigrants, is married to Chantel Aoun, the daughter of Lebanese President Michel Aoun.
Palestinians are now accusing Bassil of waging a "racist and malicious campaign of incitement" against them after he was recently quoted as saying that the presence of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon threatens its security and stability.
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