Lebanese pass law to allow Palestinians to have jobs

From Naharnet:

Palestinian Ambassador to Lebanon Abdullah Abdullah on Tuesday lauded as "a progressive step forward" Lebanese parliament's adoption of a law granting full employment rights to Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, but said in a statement that the step "does not meet all of our demands."

He said Palestinians would continue to push for their rights, "primarily the right to own property."

The Lebanese constitution prohibits the naturalization of the refugees, but Palestinian officials have consistently said they refuse permanent resettlement in Lebanon.

Note that last paragraph: Palestinian "officials" say they refuse permanent settlement, but Lebanese Palestinians themselves would disagree strongly. As I have mentioned before, in the 1950s, Lebanon offered citizenship to many Christian Palestinians as well as Muslims who could prove Lebanese ancestry, and some 50,000 people jumped at the offer. A loophole that opened up in 1994 that offered citizenship was equally pounced upon and tens of thousands more became Lebanese citizens - many even falsifying papers - before that loophole was closed.


In other words, the Palestinian "officials" in Lebanon are totally at odds with what a great percentage of Lebanese Palestinians really want. 


Note also that the idea of Palestinian Lebanese owning land was taken out of the proposed bill.