Assuming the PM is sincere, and this observer does, then Lebanon "adhering to its responsibilities" can be quickly demonstrated by its Parliament granting Palestinians the half-century overdue elementary civil rights to work and to own a home granted to every refugee on earth by every country but Lebanon.
Why do many Lebanese politicians inflate the number of Palestinians in Lebanon?
Plenty of Lebanese and regional political lords have used the inflated Palestinian population figures seeking political advantage.
Lebanon's anti-Palestinian block that consistently mispresents the number of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon is led by more than one Christian militia who committed the 1982 massacre at Sabra-Shatila and by the Amal Shia militia that carried out the 1985-89 massacres at three camps which they servilely, on orders from the east, labeled "wars of the camps." There were no wars but rather massacres of Palestinian civilians who were without weapons to protect themselves since the PLO left Lebanon in August of 1982.
Among others with a long history of misrepresentation of the number of Palestinians, is Lebanon's Iran appointed President, Michel Aoun. When this observer last met with Aoun as part of a delegation of pro-Palestinian Americans, Aoun stressed the point as he has done dozens of times before and since, that there are 600,000 Palestinians in Lebanon who, he implies are sucking Lebanon dry. Sometimes Aoun, who this past week, 12/26/2017, was accused by Ashraf Rifi former General Director of the Lebanon's Internal Security Force (ISF) (2005-2013) and Minister of Justice (2014-2016), of stealing $ 26 billion uses the figure of 500,000 Palestinian refugees.
In Aoun's defense re the $ 26 billon theft charge by Rifi, to date its unproven and if he did it Aoun would by no means be setting a record for theft of public money among Lebanon's political lords, some of whom continue their decades work of bleeding Lebanon dry. Also accused by Mr. Rifi of the same crime as Aoun is his anti-Palestinian son-in-law Jebran Bassil , who Aoun, in Lebanese got appointed Foreign Minister despite Bassil having admitted he has no qualifications for the post but is close to Hezbollah and Iran like his father-in-law. This week Bassil is again facing calls to resign. This time for remarks he made this week about Israel being no threat to Lebanon. Speaking on Iran funded Al-Mayadeen on 12/26/2017, Bassil in his position as Lebanon's Foreign Minister, stated: "For Lebanon, [Israel] isn't an ideological cause. We are not against Israel existing in security. We accept it. We are not against it. We just want all people to live in peace and to recognize each other. This is not a blind cause." Adding "We are a people who accept and want the Other, despite our differences."
In response to Bassil's statements, former Environment Minister Mohammad Machnouk called on Bassil to immediately be fired, declaring: "If Jebran Bassil does not find an ideological difference with Israel and demands security for it, Cabinet should dismiss him because he violates the Constitution. "Is this Lebanon's position in international forums? This is shameful!"
As do some other anti-Palestinian politicians in Lebanon, including the former Minister of Education and Aoun partner, Elias Bou Saab as he a few months ago incited his Christian supporters with the 600,000 Palestinians in Lebanon gross exaggeration at an event at the American University of Beirut (AUB) which this observer attended. Mr. Saab knows that many of his and Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) political party supporters worry about Muslims swamping them politically and socially much as was the case in the run-up to the 1975-90 civil war.
Truth told Mr. Saab is probably not all that wild about this observer because at the above-noted event earlier this year in the presence of the UN's elegant Special Coordinator for Lebanon Sigrid Kaag and a number of officials and directors of NGO's and plenty of media, this no-account observer proceeded to deliver a short- well so it seemed to me- lecture with ample details and statistics to the then Minister of Education Bou Saad on the subject of inflating the number of Palestinians in Lebanon for political purposes. I also painstakingly addressed the subject of the right to work and home ownership for Palestinian refugees forced into Lebanon against their will seven decades ago. Despite the Ministers public assurance that he would meet with me and we can "fix the problem about the right to work" I still not heard from the gentleman.
But as life instructs us, there is plenty of good in all of us and during his three years as Minister of Education, Elias Bou Saab did, to his great credit, work to get a significant number of the 200,000 Syrian refugee kids now scattered across Lebanon into its public-school system employing a double session innovation whereby Syrian child could study using the same classrooms during split shift afternoon-evening time slot.
Some of the same political motivations have led to fake statistics regarding the number of Syrian refugees in Lebanon. As of the end of November 2017, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) tallied 997,905 Syrian refugees in Lebanon. A clear majority of them being women and children who fled their country to Lebanon from the outbreak of the civil war in March of 2011. More than 70% live in extreme poverty, struggling to eke out a living while sheltering in informal tented settlements or unfinished buildings because Parliament has refused to authorize refugee camps where they could receive more organized assistance.
The highest number of Syrian refugees who were ever in Lebanon from the ongoing war next door was 1,011,366. From 2011 until September 2017, nearly 49,000 Syrians departed Lebanon for third countries under the UN's resettlement program including the United States, Sweden, and France. Others left on their own, making the dangerous sea journey to reach Europe.
As with the
Palestinian refugee's count, the UN Syrian refugee tally has been shown to be
500,000 fewer than the 1.5 million scare tactic number some Lebanese
politicians and their media have hyped for political purposes. By buying food
and necessities, made possible with international humanitarian aid, partly in
the form of 'food stamp ATM cards' the Syrians are growing Lebanon's economy
and Lebanon shopkeepers are generally thrilled with them.
But Syrian refugees are not growing Lebanon's economy according to experts at
the International Labor Organization (ILO) as fast as the Palestinian refugees
would grow this country's ailing economy if they were allowed the elementary
civil right to work and home ownership as required by international humanitarian
law and Lebanon's constitution. Lebanese law targets Palestinians that denies
them the right to work, social security, or joining a union. There are at least
25 banned areas of work for Palestinians including medicine, law, engineering
and pharmacy. Also outlawed for Palestinian is ownership of land, property or a
home.
As Fathi Abu al-Ardat, a representative of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in Lebanon, noted this past week: "when Palestinians have the rights to work and can live a decent life, they will improve the country on the level of economics, on the level of community, even on the level of security and stability for the country."
Iran & Hezbollah know better but also use inflated Palestinians population numbers to keep the increasingly restive Shia population loyal by inflating the size of the Palestinian Sunni "Takfiri" threat to Lebanon. Approximately 92-96% of Palestinians are Sunni and many resent Iran's efforts at colonization for several reasons. One is that in Syria, Iran's funded and trained 12 militia including Hezbollah and the Al Quds force that have killed nearly four thousand Palestinians, and have targeted a majority of Syria's ten Palestinian camps. Including the destruction of Yarmouk in Damascus which before the civil war began was home to 120,000 and another Palestinian camp in Latakia last month. The most recent demolished camp, over the past two weeks, was in the Southern Ramal district of Latakia, which residents claim Iran wants to 'develop.' For nearly 70 years, Ramal has been located along Latakia city's southern coastline, on a strip of land that slopes down towards the Mediterranean Sea. The district was settled as an informal encampment in the 1950's by Palestinian refugees fleeing Jaffa and other coastal towns. Approximately 10,000 Palestinians in Syria have lost their homes in Ramal.
By slinging inflated figures for the number of Sunni Palestinians in Lebanon at the Shia community, Iran's leadership reportedly hopes to help Hezbollah whose primary bases, South Beirut, the Bekaa Valley, and South Lebanon increasingly believe that their sons, brothers and fathers are dying in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Afghanistan for no reason except the whims of Iran's Wali al-faqih. Iran also seeks to instill fear among its own population to quell the growing number of protests from its own population spreading across Iran.
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