Doc's Talk: Treatment of the Palestinians in Lebanon – Points of Interest for Comparison

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Treatment of the Palestinians in Lebanon – Points of Interest for Comparison

General: Lebanon, the Arab state whose constitution recognizes equal rights and whose responsibility for running the state is distributed among various minorities and sectors, prevents its Palestinian inhabitants, who represent 10% of the population in Lebanon, from receiving basic rights as required under international law. This paper is based on certified international sources.

Basic Statistics of the Conditions of the Palestinians in Lebanon – According to UNRWA:

· 425, 000 registered refugees

· 12 camps

· 75 schools (including 6 secondary schools) with 33,000 pupils

· Two vocational and technical training centres

· 29 primary health centres

· One community rehabilitation centre

· Nine women's programme centres

Statistics correct as of December 31, 2009.

According to Additional Overt Sources Including "Amnesty":

· The Palestinians in Lebanon were previously prohibited from engaging in 70 professions, but today they are 'only' prohibited from 20, but they are still forbidden to work outside their refugee camps:

http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?lang=e&id=ENGMDE180102007

· The Lebanese government does not issue the Palestinian refugees with Lebanese passports or travel documents.

· They have no health insurance or access to the most basic services

http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?lang=e&id=ENGMDE180102007

· The Lebanese Army has stationed checkpoints at the entrance to the Palestinian refugee camps that check every vehicle and person.

· Approximately three years ago, the Lebanese Army destroyed the 'Nahar Al Barad' Palestinian refugee camp, adjacent to Tripoli, while using artillery fire during battles in the Islamist faction 'Fatah Al Islam'. Scores of uninvolved citizens were killed during the battles, and all 27,000 inhabitants of the camp escaped.

http://www.unrwa.org/userfiles/2010011944826.pdf http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?lang=e&id=ENGMDE180102007

· The Lebanese government prohibits bringing building materials and restoring structures in the Palestinian refugee camps in its domain.

Breakdown:

Listed below are several examples as they appear in various organizations' public reports:

A. A Blow to the Freedom of Employment – from an UNRWA report:

http://www.unrwa.org/etemplate.php?id=65

"Around 425,000 refugees are registered with UNRWA in Lebanon, with many living in the country’s 12 refugee camps."

"Palestinian refugees in Lebanon do not enjoy several basic human rights, for example, they do not have the right to work in as many as 20 professions. Palestinian refugees are not formally citizens of another state, so they are not able to claim the same rights as other foreigners living and working in Lebanon."

"As a Palestinian, you study and pay fees then you can’t work"

Marwan

The restrictions on the rights of Palestinians refugees to seek employment (24) have direct negative consequences on their children’s enjoyment of the right to education. In many cases, Palestinian families interviewed by Amnesty International indicated that children dropped out of school as they believe that spending many years of education to finish school or university would be wasted as they would not be able to use such education to gain a living in Lebanon.

Amnesty International considers that the government of Lebanon should ensure that all Palestinian refugee children, including non-ID Palestinian refugee children, have access to education on an equal basis with Lebanese nationals, including access to free primary education.

B. Restrictions on Building

The Lebanese Government forbids the reconstruction of totally destroyed camps, and in other camps any reconstruction or building requires a special permit which is usually not issued. In some camps, Lebanese soldiers verify that the residents are not smuggling in building materials. Building without a permit is punishable by arrest and detention" (USCR Report, 1999)

.

…UNRWA was unable to contribute to the renovation of 3 camps located in the south due to the Lebanese authorities’ decision to ban the introduction of construction materials into the camps since 1998, which eventually lead to the deterioration of the situation of these camps due to limited areas and tremendous increase in the population size"

"I built [the wall of] a small room in 2003. The police came and pulled it down"

Khaled

Amnesty International considers that the government of Lebanon should remove all restrictions imposed on the entry of building materials to Palestinian refugee camps and gatherings and to allow Palestinian refugees in camps and gatherings to make improvements to their homes.

C. Preventing the Appropriate Development of Palestinian Children: A Lack of Suitable Structures, Education, Culture, Social Topics Etc. – From the Amnesty Report - Lebanon: Limitations on Rights of Palestinian Refugee Children: Briefing to the Committee on the Rights of the Child

http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/MDE18/004/2006/en/81144121-d43b-11dd-8743-d305bea2b2c7/mde180042006en.html

"Amnesty International considers that the issues presented in this document raise important human rights concerns in relation to Lebanon’s obligations under international human rights law in general, and under the Convention in particular

Amnesty International considers that the fulfillment of the human rights of Palestinian refugees, including the economic, social, and cultural rights discussed in this document, does in no way prejudice their right of return.

D. Educating the Children of Palestinian Residents – Amnesty – Even within the field of elementary education – Palestinians fare worse.

The educational levels of Palestinian [refugee] children is not comparable to that of Lebanese children or even to Palestinian [refugee] children living in neighboring Arab hosting countries. Out of three Palestinian children in Lebanon, aged 10 and above, one child leaves school before finishing primary or intermediate. The dropout rate is 39%, which is tenfold higher than for Lebanese students for male and female alike. As for those holding high-school degrees or higher education, they are few in number and they are twofold less in comparison to Lebanese students… Those opting to pursue their education, and they are few, try to get enrolled in free government schools. Furthermore, places are limited in these schools, and priority is given to Lebanese students whenever they are available.

In conclusion – from a review of the reports of the last few years of various independent organizations that tend to criticize Israel's policies, – one can learn that in several areas, the Palestinian residents of Lebanon do not receive the rights entitled to them under international law.

A variety of restrictions that the Government of Lebanon implements against the Palestinians in its domain – according to reports by Amnesty, UNRWA and the Department of Palestinian Refugee Affairs (DAPR) including (in the language of the reports and in the original terminology):

1. Residency, travel and travel documents

2. Right to Health Care

3. Right to Education

4. Right to Employment/Freedom of Association

5. Social Security

6. Restrictions on Building

7. Restrictions on Property Ownership and Transfer

8. Right to be Registered and Right to a Name

9. Naturalization (Tawteen)

Annex:

Details and Testimony Regarding the Restrictions on Building for Palestinians:

Palestinian refugees living in gatherings are particularly hard hit by the policies of the Lebanese government. Families have lived in these gatherings since shortly after Palestinian refugees arrived in 1948. Living conditions in gatherings such as Jal Al-Bahr can be precarious. Located on the outskirts of the southern city of Saida, Jal El-Bahr occupies a thin strip of land between a highway and the sea; children have to cross the highway to go to school in the nearby camp of Al-Bus. Residents reported that a number of houses were completely destroyed by flooding from sea water in the winter of 2005. A typical feature of many houses in gatherings is the corrugated metal sheets that are placed side by side to act as a wall or a ceiling; they do not provide adequate protection from the elements, letting in both rain and wind, and they become excessively hot during the summer. Replacing these metal sheets with brick would substantially improve the quality of housing for refugees; however, the Lebanese authorities do not allow the refugees to do this.

Amnesty International has recorded cases where Palestinian refugees living in such accommodation have attempted to replace ceilings or walls made of corrugated metal sheets by building bricks and have consequently been fined and had their recently built ceilings or walls pulled down by the local police. In one case, a woman was arrested by police and detained until the brick wall her husband had recently built was pulled down. In another case, a family had taken a private loan to rebuild their house, which was in a severely dilapidated state. This new structure was bulldozed by the Lebanese authorities, because they had not received permission to build. The family then had to rent a new house while at the same time paying back the loan they had received to build the demolished house, causing a substantial drain on their limited resources.

Another refugee, Khaled, has lived with his parents, then with his wife and children in El-Ma’shouk gathering in Tyre for 32 years after his parents moved from the Burj El-Shemali camp (Tyre) to a bigger house. He left school in fourth grade to support his family when his father was detained during the Israeli invasion of Lebanon. He now lives in a small house close to his parents, with his wife and children. His parents’ house has one room where the ceiling is made of corrugated metal while the other room has a ceiling made of bamboo sticks topped by mud. "To build bricks in the ceiling instead we need permission from the local authority. The local authority does not give authorization. We could go to the governorate but it does not give authorization either."

As for his own house, Khaled "built [the wall of] a small room in 2003. The police came and pulled it down"; he had to pay a LL230,000 fine.

The actions of the Lebanese authorities, in preventing Palestinian refugees from carrying out improvements that would make their accommodation safe, habitable and adequate, violate the duty to respect the right to adequate housing without discrimination, including the right of Palestinian children to enjoy adequate housing conditions and an adequate standard of living. Amnesty International believes that this practice is in violation of Lebanon’s obligation under article 27 of the Convention to "take appropriate measures to assist parents and others responsible for the child to implement… [the right to an adequate standard of living] and… in case of need provide material assistance and support programmes, particularly with regard to nutrition, clothing and housing."

No comments:

The IDF’s Minorities in Numbers and Pictures

In honor of IDF Diversity Week, we present diversity through numbers and pictures. Each year, more and more Muslims, Christians, Druze, Bedouin and immigrants from around the world take on the responsibility of defending Israel.

MUSLIMS:

Muslim Arab Israelis are not required to draft in the IDF, but there are many who volunteer. In 2013, there were over 200 Muslims serving in the IDF and over 300 in the reserves.

Bedouins:

Bedouins are nomadic Muslims who were in Israel when modern borders were set in place and are now considered Israeli citizens. They are not required to draft but a growing number choose to enlist. In 2012, there were over 1,400 Bedouin Muslim soldiers doing regular IDF service and almost 1,500 in the reserves.

Read more:http://www.idfblog.com/2014/02/27/truth-idf-numbers-pictures/#more-34027

Are you aware that in 2013, Middle class taxes go up-significantly?

In January of next year, the federal income tax rate for middle-class taxpayers is scheduled to rise from 25 percent to 28 percent, and the payroll tax is scheduled to rise from 13.3 percent to 15.3 percent… This drives the marginal tax rate based on the aforementioned three taxes to 48.12 percent. Add in state and local property, corporate, excise, and other state and local taxes, and the percentage of each additional dollar that is taxed hovers around 50 percent… When half of each additional dollar earned is taxed away, taxpayers experience a disincentive to start businesses or expand existing ones. This leads to fewer jobs being created.

Why is HAMAS Inside Tampa Schools?

Clare Lopez

Kelly Miliziano, who teaches history classes at Steinbrenner High School in the Tampa, Florida area apparently thinks it’s perfectly OK to invite a senior official of a HAMAS-affiliated organization into her classroom to discuss Islam with her students. According to local media reports, not only has this been going on for years, but in spite of the civil and criminal proceedings that could result from such reckless negligence, the Hillsborough County school superintendent, Mary Ellen Elia, and the chairman of the school board, Candy Olson, also expressed approval for students under their responsibility to be exposed repeatedly to guest speaker, Hassan Shibly, who is the Executive Director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in the Tampa area.
More...

Did You Know... Ignoring the Call to Islam will Bring Jihad

‘Conquest through Da’wa [proselytizing] that is what we hope for. We will conquer Europe, we will conquer America! Not through sword but through Da’wa.’
-- Yousef al-Qaradawi , Muslim Brotherhood spiritual leader The Arabic word ‘Da’wa’ means the “call to Islam.” But do not think that Da’wa is the same thing as an invitation to an optional holiday event. The classical Islamic doctrine of jihad mandates that enemies must be given the opportunity to convert to Islam or pay the jizya tax before it is permissible to attack them.
Clare M. Lopez

Who is being discriminated-facts tell the truth

Religious bias

Hate crimes motivated by religious bias accounted for 1,409 offenses reported by law enforcement. A breakdown of the bias motivation of religious-bias offenses showed:

65.4 percent were anti-Jewish.
13.2 percent were anti-Islamic.
9.5 percent were anti-other religion, i.e., those not specified.
4.3 percent were anti-Catholic.
3.8 percent were anti-multiple religions, group.
3.3 percent were anti-Protestant.
0.5 percent were anti-Atheism/Agnosticism/etc.

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/hate-crime/2010/narratives/hate-crime-2010-incidents-and-offenses.

On March 31, 1977, the Dutch newspaper Trouw published an interview

with PLO executive committee member Zahir Muhsein. Here's what he said:

"The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct "Palestinian people" to oppose Zionism.

For tactical reasons, Jordan, which is a sovereign state with defined borders, cannot raise claims to Haifa and Jaffa, while as a Palestinian, I can undoubtedly demand Haifa, Jaffa, Beer-Sheva and Jerusalem. However, the moment we reclaim our right to all of Palestine, we will not wait even a minute to unite Palestine and Jordan."

In March 1977, Zahir Muhsein, a PLO executive, said:

"The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct Palestinian people to oppose Zionism."

"For tactical reasons, Jordan, which is a sovereign state with defined borders, cannot raise claims to Haifa and Jaffa, while as a Palestinian, I can undoubtedly demand Haifa, Jaffa, Beer-Sheva and Jerusalem. However, the moment we reclaim our right to all of Palestine, we will not wait even a minute to unite Palestine and Jordan."

The Arab Apartheid

Ben-Dror Yemini
In 1948, the Arab countries refused to accept the UN partition proposal and they launched a war of annihilation against the State of Israel which had barely been established. All precedents in this matter showed that the party that starts the war - and with a declaration of annihilation, yet - pays a price for it. Between 550,000 and 710,000 Arabs fled because of the war and a larger number of 850,000 Jews were expelled or fled from Arab countries (the "Jewish nakba").
Population exchanges and expulsions were the norm at that time, occurring in dozens of other conflict points and affecting about 52 million people. In all the population exchange precedents that occurred during or at the end of an armed conflict, there was no return of refugees to the previous region, which had turned into a new national state.
Only the Arab states acted completely differently from the rest of the world. Instead of assimilating the refugees, they crushed them despite the fact that they were their coreligionists and members of the Arab nation - instituting a regime of apartheid. So the "nakba" was not caused by the actual dispossession, which had also been experienced by tens of millions of others. The "nakba" is the story of the apartheid, oppression, abuse and denial of rights suffered by the Arab refugees at the hands of the Arab countries. (Maariv)

International Law and Military Operations in Practice - Col. Richard Kemp

"Islamist fighting groups study the international laws of armed conflict carefully and they understand it well. They know that a British or Israeli commander and his men are bound by international law and the rules of engagement that flow from it. They then do their utmost to exploit what they view as one of their enemy's main weaknesses. Their very modus operandi is built on the correct assumption that Western armies will normally abide by the rules, while these insurgents employ a deliberate policy of operating consistently outside international law. "

Lost Historical Moments

What Rabin’s last Knesset speech really said:repudiation of a Palestinian state

Rabin ruled out a fully sovereign Palestinian state :

“We view the permanent solution in the framework of State of Israel which will include most of the area of the Land of Israel as it was under the rule of the British Mandate, and alongside it a Palestinian entity which will be a home to most of the Palestinian residents living in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. We would like this to be an entity which is less than a state, and which will independently run the lives of the Palestinians under its authority.”

Rabin ruled out a total withdrawal from Judea and Samaria and thus a return to the pre-June 1967 borders :

“The borders of the State of Israel, during the permanent solution, will be beyond the lines which existed before the Six Day War. We will not return to the 4 June 1967 lines.”

Rabin ruled out withdrawing form the Jordan Valley:

“The security border of the State of Israel will be located in the Jordan Valley, in the broadest meaning of that term.”

Rabin ruled out uprooting settlement blocs, like the Gush Katif bloc in Gaza (which was subsequently uprooted by former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon):

“The establishment of blocs of settlements in Judea and Samaria, like the one in Gush Katif.

AND

Rabin ruled out removing any settlement before coming to a full peace agreement with the Palestinians:

“I want to remind you: we committed ourselves, that is, we came to an agreement, and committed ourselves before the Knesset, not to uproot a single settlement in the framework of the interim agreement, and not to hinder building for natural growth.”

Rabin insisted on Israel retaining full security control of the borders with Egypt and Jordan, contrary to Israel’s relinquishment of the Philadelphia Corridor on the border with Egypt:

“The responsibility for external security along the borders with Egypt and Jordan, as well as control over the airspace above all of the territories and Gaza Strip maritime zone, remains in our hands.”

Correcting Oslo Myths-Part 2

3) Kuttab laments that the post-1993 Oslo process resulted in a Palestinian Authority "whose ministers and legislators are not guaranteed passage between Gaza and the West Bank ...."

Before free passage or other perquisites, PA leaders were obligated, among other things, to eliminate the terrorist infrastructure in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, end anti-Israeli, antisemitic incitement in schools, mosques, and communications media, and resolve all outstanding issues through peaceful negotiations. They met none of these commitments, sometimes bolstering terrorism and greatly increasing incitement.

4) Kuttab complains that under Oslo the PA got "lightly armed police ---- but no real sovereignty over the land or contiguity between our communities in Gaza and the West Bank."

Oslo agreements repeatedly were revised, regardless of Palestinian non-compliance, until the authorized number of police grew from 8,000 to 40,000. Though they were to be the only armed forces in the territories, Israeli estimates early in the second intifada put the number of gunmen - police, "security services," terrorists, and armed gangs - at 85,000. Their armament reportedly included not only heavy machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades, but also anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles.

Sovereignty was to be negotiated in the envisioned 1998 "final status" talks - after a five-year period of confidence-building. Palestinian leadership chronically undermined the process. Palestinian terrorism made the 1993 - 1998 Oslo period more deadly for Israelis than the 15 years preceding it.

The United States doesn't have contiguity between the lower 48 states and Alaska and Hawaii; territorial contiguity between the West Bank and Gaza Strip - that is, through the 20 miles of Israeli territory between them - was never promised and would destroy Israeli contiguity.

5) "Palestinians have been made to endure hundreds of checkpoints in the West Bank, an eight-foot wall deep in our territories, and tight Israeli control over borders."

The security barrier is not "deep in Palestinian territories," but rather encompasses less than 8 percent of Judea and Samaria, and is mostly a fence, rarely a wall; the land in question is not "our [Palestinian] territories" but disputed territory to which, according to the authors of U.N. Security Council Resolution 242, Jews as well as Arabs have claims; and there are no international borders, only the 1949 armistice lines with Jordan. Under 242, borders remain to be negotiated. As for checkpoints - like the security barrier and "tight Israeli control" - Palestinian Arabs precipitated these measures themselves. No terrorism and there would be no fence or tight Israeli control and few checkpoints - like before the first intifada.

Correcting Some Oslo Myths

1) In Oslo "Israeli, Palestinian and other world leaders promised that ... Palestinian sovereignty would be solidified."

No, they didn't. The 1993 Declaration of Principles and subsequent Oslo agreements outlined a process by which final status negotiations about the West Bank and Gaza Strip would be reached. The process required an end to anti-Israel terrorism and incitement and a commitment to peaceful negotiations. The PA, Fatah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and other terrorist groups, sabotaged the process from the start.

2) "The reality is that, in defiance of U.N. Security Council Resolution 242, which states that it is inadmissible to occupy land by force, Palestinian territories are still under foreign military occupation."
Wrong again. Resolution 242 (1967) does note "the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war." It also affirms the right of every state in the area "to live in peace with secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force." There were no "Palestinian territories." Jordan occupied the West Bank, Egypt controlled Gaza. Israel did not have "secure and recognized boundaries," so retention of some of those territories was possible under 242. Israel is not a "foreign" military occupier in the West Bank but, pending final negotiations, the lawful military administrator as a result of a successful war of self-defense.

Doc's Talk