Wednesday, February 20, 2019
Elder of Ziyon
By any objective measure, Palestinians in Lebanon are treated far worse than those who live under "occupation" - even in Gaza.
They are banned, by law, from holding jobs in dozens of fields including law and medicine.
They are banned from owning property.
They are forced to live in terrible "refugee" camps, in pitiful conditions, and they need a permit to leave their camps.
Even within the camps, they are banned from building new buildings or additions on buildings.
They are banned from owning businesses.
They cannot ever become citizens.
They have a 67% poverty rate.
This is all institutional discrimination. It is so bad that over half of the Palestinians registered by UNRWA as living in Lebanon have left to live in Europe or elsewhere.
The Palestinians who cannot leave say that living in Lebanon is like living in prison.
The European Union claims that "human rights are at the heart of the European Union's external action and the EU reaffirms its role as a leading global proponent of the promotion and protection of human rights. "
Last year it issued a report on the human rights situation in Lebanon - and it did not mention one of the facts listed above.
Its summary of the human rights situation in Lebanon says "Lebanon generally upheld and preserved respect for human rights and the rule of law and undertook some important key reforms."
The EU, of course, doesn't hesitate to condemn Israel when it is perceived as doing something that the EU disagrees with, like cutting payments to the PA that go to terrorists or allowing Jews to build houses in their homeland.
The hypocrisy is only fully seen when we compare how the EU describes Israel's human rights record towards Palestinians and how it ignores the blatant discrimination and oppression of Palestinians in Lebanon.
It isn't only the EU, of course. No one calls on artists to boycott Lebanon because of how it treats Palestinians. No one says not to buy Lebanese products.
Based on this EU report, one can say that there is a conscious effort to suppress news about how Lebanon mistreats the remaining 200,000 Palestinians who live there. This is more Palestinians than the number who live in Area C, under Israeli rule, who are in the headlines constantly.
Lebanon's direct oppression of Palestinians is consciously downplayed and ignored. Israel's much better treatment of Palestinians is highlighted and condemned, daily.
The only conclusion one can come to is that the people screaming about human rights for Palestinians aren't really concerned about human rights for Palestinians.
They only want to use that issue as a bludgeon to go after Israel.
What is the reason why they are obsessed with blaming Israel beyond all logic and facts while ignoring the abuses that Palestinians undergo in Lebanon and the rest of the Arab world?
Apparently, those who pretend to care about human rights of Palestinians are really more concerned about denying the human rights of another people.
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