Sunday, January 17, 2021
Elder of Ziyon
Al Bayan reports that Lebanon has no plans to vaccinate Palestinians who have lived there for over seven decades.
Lebanon has been signing agreements with various pharmaceutical companied to obtain vaccines for its population, starting in early February.
Yet they have not announced any plans on how these vaccines will be distributed in Lebanon's overcrowded Palestinian "refugee" camps, which have become even more crowded since the Syrian civil war forced many more people of Palestinian ancestry to move in.
Palestinians in Lebanon only have limited access to Lebanese health services, and rely on UNRWA for their health needs. But UNRWA is not stepping up.
Lebanese officials told Al Bayan that they expected international organizations to vaccinate the Palestinians. UNRWA issued a vague statement that they expect the World Health Organization and the Lebanese Health Ministry to work on the issue. The Lebanese Health Ministry hasn't announced any plans, seeming to think it will be UNRWA's problem.
No one is making any concrete plans on distribution of vaccines in the 12 UNRWA camps in Lebanon.
UNRWA closed its 28 health facilities in Lebanon on Thursday as the nation went on lockdown, causing great anger among Palestinians. They plan to re-open tomorrow.
Nearly 4000 Palestinians have tested positive for COVID-19 in Lebanon, and 145 Palestinians have died so far.
There has not been a single article in The Guardian or Reuters or CNN or the New York Times about this situation. No "human rights" NGOs are up in arms about this. No one is castigating Lebanon for not taking care of the people who live in Lebanon.
In fact, no one in the West has even bothered to ask the question of how Palestinians in Lebanon will be vaccinated.
When Israel can't be blamed, no one seems too interested in Palestinian welfare.
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