A stormy argument broke out yesterday, June 15, in the Lebanese parliament over several bills calling for expanding the civil rights of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. One bill concerned the refugees’ right to purchase property in Lebanon.In fact, the Lebanese treat Palestinian Arabs far worse than Israel ever did. The Lebanese literally keep the Palestinian Arabs in camps, they allow paramilitary groups to rule over the PalArabs there, they severely restrict their civil liberties and rights, and they steadfastly refuse to allow generations of Arabs born on Arab soil to become citizens of the only country they have ever been in.
The dispute was between Muslim MPs, who supported the bill, and Christian MPs – from both the opposition and the coalition – who vehemently opposed it, claiming that it would promote the naturalization of the refugees in Lebanon.
During the meeting, Lebanese Prime Minister Sa'd Al-Hariri, who supported the bill, called the issue a humanitarian one.
Al-Hariri warned that the day would come when the entire world would come to Lebanon to remove the siege on the Palestinians in Lebanon,just as today they are sending flotillas aimed at removing the siege on Gaza.
In the end, it was decided to postpone the vote for a month.
In Lebanon, however, party politics are incredibly complex, and the people who vote for or against rights for PalArabs could easily switch sides in an instant based on other alliances and considerations. Chances are, in this case, that the Christians are most concerned over the possibility of hundreds of thousands of new Muslim citizens further diluting the balance of power in Lebanon between different religious groups more towards Sunnis.
All Lebanese political parties agree that naturalizing Palestinian Arabs is anathema to the country, but some seem to be realizing that one day the West will wake up to their institutionalized bigotry. Right now they use Israel as a misdirection to keep the heat off, but all the world needs to do is ask a very simple question: Why do the Lebanese treat their Palestinian Arab brethren worse than Israel does? Exposing that hypocrisy is one of the many dangers to Lebanon.
(h/t Islamo-nazism blog)