In Lebanon this month,
like spring flowers,
proposals to give Palestinians
the right to work
are bursting out all over

Part III of a six part series
on securing Palestinian
Civil Rights in Lebanon

By Franklin Lamb* (Shatila Palestinian Refugee Camp, Beirut) | Sabbah Report | www.sabbah.biz

This year, the Merry Month of May in Lebanon includes Labor day, the May 15 anniversary of the Nakba, the month long Lebanese municipal elections and the May 5 elevation of Lebanon to the Presidency of the United Nations Security Council. Yet, for most Palestinians wiling away their lives in Lebanon's 12 fetid refugee camps and 27 gatherings, May will pass anything but Merry. The festive Labor day and month long elections, held in the 26 municipalities in Lebanon, with the participation of more than 650 glad-handing vote-seeking candidates extolling the Lebanese virtue of working to provide for one's family, constitute a cruel joke for Palestinian refugees denied the right to work.

The May 15th anniversary of the Nakba reminds the World that Lebanon's "camp Palestinians", approximately 15% of the 750,000+ who were ethnically cleansed by Zionist gangs six decades ago, suffer an existence that is demonstrably the most inhumane of any of the 58 camps in the Middle East, including Gaza. Warehoused in open air prisons, their children are among the most discriminated against of this largest and oldest refugee population on earth. With drug use, drop-out rates, violence, health issues rising fast-- test scores, school attendance, academic achievements, hope and self-esteem are plummeting.

Lebanon's May Day pledge to the UN: " We are honored and will fulfill our responsibility towards the Palestinian cause"

Despite proudly producing one of the authors of the 1949 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, its current membership on the governing board of the International Labor Organization, and now holding the Presidency of the UN Security Council, the first time in half a century, doubts remain whether Lebanon is up to its international duty. Entrusted by the international community with the exigent work of implementing internationally mandated civil rights, doubts remain whether Lebanon will fulfill its pledge relating to civil rights for refugees including the right to work and the protection of refugee children. Increasingly the international community, as well as its own population, is urging Lebanon, now being referred to as "Mr. President" before the Security Council and the entire United Nations, as it prepares to preside over the UNSC agenda on the subject of "Arab responsibilities towards the Palestinian cause" to begin its critical work where the need is arguably the most exigent. That would be inside the borders of Lebanon itself.

Last week, introducing an AUB workshop on the subject of securing the right to work for Palestinian refugees, Rami Khoui, Director of the Issam Farris Institute and prolific writer on Middle East affairs, told the participants "The atmosphere in Lebanon, at least on the level of rhetoric, is changing in favor of civil rights for Palestinian refugees." And so it is. The question remains whether popular will can generate enough political will for the Cabinet and Parliament to enact an elementary civil right to work into Lebanese law.

'Illegal' Palestinian labor as valued subsidy for Lebanese businesses

Lebanese bureaucracy, as in many countries, can make the most pro forma paper work task inordinately complicated. Consequently, for Palestinians in Lebanon, obtaining a work permit will remain a major hurdle for a variety of reasons including 'security considerations', lack of awareness by the applicant of how to proceed, the economic exploitive advantage to Lebanese businessmen and women who prefer cheap illegal Palestinian labor which literally subsidizes the Lebanese economy by millions of dollars annually, and inflate their personal profits—as well as occasionally bigoted government workers in some ministries. Support for this assertion in found in the recent 2009 Najdeh (Help) Association (www.associaton-najdeh.org) survey that found that only 1.2% of Lebanon's Palestinian refugee camps residents have been granted work permits. The past month a total of 2 work permits have been granted Palestinians, but since the work permit must be renewed annually these two could simply be renewals.

Through sustained and varied efforts, and to their eternal credit, Lebanese civil society organizations, international and local NGO's and even some Lebanese politicians are pushing for enactment of legislation to grant basic civil rights to Palestinian refugees. The initial batch of drafts bills vary significantly. As they are discussed in conferences, meetings and workshops, there is a perceptible trend in the direction of merging the key elements into a sort of 'unity bill' that will include the minimal acceptable elements— granting Palestinian refugees the right to work, an identification document, access to public education and lifting the legal prohibition barring home ownership.

Among the draft bills headed to Parliament...

The still largely secret legislative drafts includes the "first one out of the gate" authored by Druze leader Walid Jumblatt's Progressive Socialist Party last February. It reflects the views of Lebanese Information Minister Tarek Mitri that Lebanon's estimated 400,000 Palestinian refugees suffer from "double discrimination," as he told one recent gathering, "Because Lebanon's labor laws are based on the principle of reciprocity, Palestinians are viewed as foreigners and yet not afforded the rights granted to other foreigners who belong to recognized states".

The PSP bill is impressive and amends Labor and Social Security laws to allow the right to work, home ownership (one apartment) by changing the 3/4/2001 law forbidding Palestinians home ownership, and allowing the inheritance of property by Palestinian refugees as well as health, accident, and retirement benefits. Jumblatt's draft law is being used as a template by others fine tuning their own legislative preferences.

Incrementalism

Some civil rights advocates are suggesting a "quiet and soft approach" so as not to rile slumbering sectarian demagogues from the anti-Palestinian civil war (1975-90) with whispering about a publicity-shy "subtle adjustment of Labor and Interior Ministry regulations as best can be achieved over time." This approach, it is argued, is designed to make it easier for Palestinian refugees to navigate the Kafkaesque and catch 22 web of work permit forms, the condition precedent of having an employer contract, and other draconian procedures. Others are quite adamant that mere "ministerial adjustments" or legerdemain without the full force and effect of law to back them up would be flimsy at best and could destruct overnight given the musical chairs of the undulating and shifting 30 member cabinet. Few in Lebanon, this observer included, can even name more than 10 of the 30 ministers by name, and a new Labor minister could simply by the stroke of a pen, publish a new labor regulation eviscerating the previous one along with the civil right it provided, or more likely, just fail to implement it.

Evidence of past as prologue on this subject is found in the much ballyhooed June 2, 2005 Ministerial Decree by the Minister of Labor. His enlightened declaration was touted as removing dozens of jobs from the "no Palestinian refugee need apply" list and exempting Palestinians registered with the Ministry of the Interior from certain conditions applying to foreigners. Even though this "Decision" was confirmed on June 26, 2008 it has never been implemented. Today this promising Ministerial Decree lays moribund. Minister of Labor Boutros Harb, of whom it is said in Lebanon that he is a master of the Lebanese legislative culture, is viewed with suspicion by some, for hinting just last week that the solution may be to just tamper a bit with the requirements for a work permit, and obfuscate other issues such as the reciprocity requirement. Harb is praised by others for his publicly expressed conviction that "something must finally be done to correct this travesty." The Minister is privately counseling civil rights advocates, including the Palestinians themselves, to bring him something concrete that all "the stake-holders" can agree upon. Boutros appears to want something specific he can present to his Cabinet colleagues and assure them that its broadly acceptable. "This is not easy. He's only one of 30 in the Cabinet and then there is the 130 member Parliament to convince" one of his staff explained recently.

"2 no's, 2 yes's and one thank you"

It appears that the representatives of the Palestinian refugee camps, including Fatah and Hamas who have cooperated on this project, may have achieved some of what the Minister of Labor has in mind, following months of discussions among various PLO groups, NGO's and importantly, representatives of the new "unity" government.

It is possible that a five point plan, prepared by a hard-working steering committee with quite broad representation, could be seriously considered. It is known to Palestine Civil Rights Campaign in Lebanon as the "two no's, two yes's and one thank you" draft. While still not made public, it can be reliably reported that this draft law says 'no' to the work permit, 'no' to reciprocity, 'yes' to social security benefits, 'yes' to the right to work in all professions, and 'thank you' but we don't want naturalization but only to exercise our right of return at the first opportunity.

Theoretically, this 'unity' proposal could end up in the Cabinet for approval and then sent to Parliament. But it is just as likely, according to experienced Palestinian insiders and observers who have been around this track a few times, that the "Lebanese model of words over deeds" will prevail at the Grand Serail unless more Lebanese and international support and political will is manifested.

Maximalism

The most comprehensive legislative proposal is the maximalist draft bill, not yet public, offered by the National Syrian Socialist Party, nemesis of the right wing Lebanese Forces led by Samir Geagea, whose partisans skirmished again on May 2, 2010. The NSSP and the LF have a long history of mutual antagonism going back to 1949 when the Phalange party, reputedly founded following an epiphany experienced d by its founder Pierre Gemayal, while a guest at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, sent "brown shirts" to trash NSSP offices. The two parties remained bitter rivals during the 1975-90 civil war when the NSSP was a pillar of Palestinian resistance and today, benefiting from strong Palestinian leadership, is gaining strength and has allied with Hezbollah and Amal. Pending a vote of the NSSP Executive Committee concerning the best timing for release of its legislative proposal, an executive summary of the much anticipated NSSP draft might read something like:

"Civil rights for Palestinian refugees in Lebanon constitute a right not a privilege or charity. These rights cannot be bargained away any more than the Right of Return. As such complete civil rights for Palestinian refugees in Lebanon must be fully implemented and backed by the State. All civil rights afforded any Lebanese citizen must be equally available to every Palestinian refugee. Included are all social, political and economic rights including the right to vote."

The NSSP draft is very attractive to many Palestinians and civil right activists. " I support this approach. It's clean. It's honest. It does not grovel.

It tells it like it is." As one Palestinian student at the Lebanese University explained.

Minimalism: 'My party has killed more Palestinians than my opponents and we have earned your vote'

Many who have labored for years to wrest some Palestinian civil rights from the government of Lebanon fear that the NSSP approach, while arguably ideal, will terrify Lebanese politicians, including some progressive Christian supporters in the Metn. One Christian proponent of granting civil rights explained: "Remember, in the last election, some rival Christian candidates would argue in private gatherings of voters that "our party killed more Palestinians that our opponents did and we have earned your vote." Another advised that the language in the by-laws of the right-wing Christian Guardians of the Cedars to the effect that " it is the duty of every Lebanese to kill at least one Palestinian" has never been expunged.

Lebanon is a country where cynicism runs deep towards politicians-- especially their words. But there are exceptions, including Samir Geagea leader of the Lebanese Forces. While maliciously rumored to be having an affair with US Ambassador Michele Sison given their frequent meetings, Samir enjoys the status as the only politician in Lebanon that, in light of the mushrooming defections of "Welch club" March 14 politicians to the Resistance bloc, US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, Jeffrey Feltman, still trusts. When he speaks about Palestinians, Geaga has a public credibility rating close to Hezbollah's. People believe him.

"You may not like what Geagea, says, but when he speaks about Palestinians you can believe him. That is very rare in Lebanon.", according to Lebanese Human Rights Ambassador Ali Khalil. The Lebanese Forces has the clearest political party position on the subject of granting the right to work to Palestinian refugees and it has never wavered over the years. During this observers first ever visit to Lebanon in July of 1981, following the Israeli massacre that killed more than 170 and wounded more than 800 in the Palestinian neighborhood adjacent to Shatila camp called Fakhani, this observer had lunch with the Lebanese Forces leader Bachir Gemayal, (known as "BG" in those days to untutored Congressional staffers in Washington unsure how to pronounce his name ). A gracious host and the son of Pierre Gemayel, who along with Camille Chamoun founded the Lebanese Forces in 1976 with the primary objective of killing Palestinians, Bachir invited a couple of his friendly and charming aids, Elie Hobeika (leader of the LF from 1985-86) and Fadi Frem ( leader of the LF, 1982-84)--both of whom would participate in the massacre the following fall at Sabra Shatila. The slaughter, which had been planned weeks in advance in Israel according to LF - Hide quoted text - participants, was ordered executed the day after Bachir's September 14, 1982 assassination. What Bachir said privately about Palestinians over lunch 29 years ago is virtually identical to what representatives of the Lebanese Forces, which fought Palestinians during the 1975-90 Civil War, are saying today. In public, their language is more restrained and less profane, but equally bigoted. As LF representative Fadi Zarifeh informed a working group on civil rights for Palestinian refugees on February 10, 2010, the Lebanese Forces remain "quite hostile to the whole idea. The Lebanese state should first take care of its own citizens and not others." Zarifeh added that his party was "the one farthest away from approving greater rights for Palestinian refugees".

The internationally orientated Palestine Civil Rights Campaign-Lebanon has proposed draft legislation entitled: "The 2010 Employment Act for Palestinian Refugees." This Bill, drafted with PCRC colleagues at Harvard Law School and the London School of Economics, and benefiting from NGO work in Beirut, provides, inter alia:

Article 2: Palestinian refugees shall be subject to all provisions of State law relating to the right to work of foreigners in Lebanon, including the obligation to obtain a work permit by paying the same fee that all foreigners pay. Due consideration to be given to the privileges granted by state law to Arab subjects.

Article 3: Palestinian refugees shall be exempt from the application of "reciprocity of treatment" wherever it appears in the State law or in bilateral agreements. Notwithstanding any text in State law, Palestinian refugees are henceforth exempt from the requirement of providing proof of reciprocity.

Article 4: Notwithstanding any text to the contrary, Palestinian refugees shall be exempt from the condition of obtainment of a license for the exercise of any profession in their country, wherever this requirement appears in State law. Professional licenses shall be obtained only from the appropriate State administration.

No doubt there will be others.

On May Day (Labor Day) Lebanon's new permanent representative to the Security Council and the current President of the Council, Ambassador Nawaf Salam, announced to the World: "Part of Lebanon's message has arrived by its entry into the Security Council. Lebanon's voice for Palestine will be heard throughout the world."

And her deeds will be monitored regarding elementary civil rights including the right to work for her Palestinian refugees.

Part IV: Why Hezbollah may be a major political loser if Parliament fails to enact civil rights for Palestinian refugees

* Franklin Lamb is doing research in Lebanon and volunteers with the Palestine Civil Rights Campaign-Lebanon. He can be reached at fplamb@palestinecivilrightscmapaign.org

What are the Odds?

By Franklin Lamb* (Shatila Palestinian Refugee Camp, Beirut) | Sabbah Report | www.sabbah.biz

As of mid-April 2010 there are no fewer than six draft laws, half of them 'embargoed for now' being circulated and debated in Lebanon, any one of which if adopted by Parliament, would grant Lebanon's Palestinians, for the first time since their 1948 expulsion from Palestine, some elementary civil rights including the right to work, to have an ID, and to own a home.

In a future report I will reveal publicly for the first time, with the permission of the various drafting committees, the changes in Lebanon's laws each one advocates. Despite the fact that bookies and odd makers at Lebanon's main Casino in Jounieh decline to give odds on any of the drafts actually being enacted by Parliament, Lebanon's political leaders are talking sweet. "If it were up to me, I would give the Palestinians the right to work tomorrow!" Prime Minister Saad Hariri exclaimed during a Future TV channel interview recently and to various visiting delegations who are increasingly inquiring about the subject of basic civil rights for Palestine refugees as awareness spreads in Lebanon and internationally about camp conditions in Lebanon. The PM's polite interviewer demurred from asking him why the Prime Minister thought it was not up to him and indeed not up to all members of Parliament to correct this shameful and dangerous injustice.

Hezbollah's leadership, including Sayeed Hassan Nasrallah and his deputy, former chemistry professor, Naim Qasim, and Hezbollah's Parliamentary delegation, among other party leaders, have repeatedly endorsed civil rights for Palestinians in Lebanon as obligatory given the Resistance movement's "religious, moral, national and humanitarian duty".

No Lebanese political leader has been more consistently out front in support of Palestinian civil rights than Druze leader Walid Jumblatt. He advocates 'civil rights now' and organized and funded a Progressive Socialist Party conference last January which brought together scores of leaders to push for Parliamentary passage of the right to work, to own a home and social security entitlements.

Other leaders have also expressed their views that granting Palestinians civil rights is needed for many reasons including lifting Lebanon's shame.

So why are the odd makers at Casino in Beirut so skittish about giving some friendly odds on passage of civil rights for Palestinian refugees? " You foreigners are so naïve with short memories also!" Saddam (not his real name), an "entrepreneur" and bon vivant explained from the Casino parking lot last week, as he surveyed his domain which includes 'comfort vans' in dark corners of the adjacent parking structure.

"Nobody should bet one Lira on the word of a Lebanese politician!", he explains. "Consider just the past year. Remember all those young people who worked so hard during the last election for candidates all over Lebanon who swore on the heads of their children that the youth would get to vote next time and the voting age would absolutely be lowered from 21 years to 18? And then refused to change the law and betrayed the youth and now ask why the young are so cynical about politics? And women. Don't get me started on the subject of women's rights! Women in Lebanon were promised all during the 2009 election that they would finally be granted civil rights so at least they could bestow Lebanese nationality on their children. They were also 'guaranteed' a fair share of slots on the municipal elections ballots. They were betrayed and got no civil rights and were limited to a mere 20 per cent of the municipal election slots although they number more than 50 per cent of the voters. Four women out of 128 members in Parliament? What kind of a democracy is this? Politicians have promised Lebanese women civil rights for more than 100 years and they got nothing.

"I am from Saida and every election the local politicians say the Saida Trash Mountain, which pollutes the sea and everything else around Saida and up the coast of Lebanon, will be removed and cleaned up. Last election my MP Fuad Sinioria, a guy I like, promised it 'for sure' this time. As usual, nothing was done. Then just last week, with an eye on the coming municipal election my MP Sinioria again announced--here look at this. Do you read Arabic?" Saddam shows me a newspaper with Sinioria's photo on the front page next to a photo of Saida's huge Trash Mountain, which has been growing higher and wider for 37 years—since the start of the Lebanese civil war. "Here's what it says: 'Local political leaders announce that solutions to Sidon's collapsing waste dump are on the horizon' What does this mean, 'on the horizon'? Well, so is judgment day!'' Saddam fumes, as he continues, "In short, that is why no one should hold his breath waiting for Parliament to do what should have been done as soon as the refugees came from Palestine." "Excuse me, I have to look after business."

Saddam mumbles as he approaches one of his vans, looking at his watch and shaking his head while muttering, "Time's up! Ya Allah! (Let's go!) She rents by the hour, not the week!" In addition to general skepticism about Lebanese politicians "sweet words" there are plenty of doubts being expressed about granting civil rights to Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. Among them is the following sampling with rebuttals from the Palestine Civil Rights Campaign-Lebanon: "If we grant civil rights to Palestinian Refugees it would interfere with their Right of Return!" The spurious "would interfere with the Right of Return" argument has been used by some in Lebanon to justify all manner of discriminations against Palestine refugees. For example, in relation to the prohibitions against improving or renovation of existing refugee camps, some politicians have claimed that the renovation ban is to prevent the consolidation of the Palestinian presence in Lebanon and prevent the US-Israel backed resettlement hence destroying the principle behind the right of return.

In point of fact, the granting of civil rights to Lebanon's Palestinian refugees, including the economic, social, and cultural rights in no way prejudices their Right of Return. The right to return to one's own country is based in international law and is the most obvious way to redress the situation of those who were forced to live in exile. The internationally mandated Right to Return applies not just to those who were directly expelled and their immediate families, but also to those of their descendants who have maintained what the United Nations has declared are "close and enduring connections" with the area.

Anyone who has visited Palestinians in Lebanon, including youngsters in Lebanon's camps and gatherings knows of their "close and enduring connections" to Palestine. This observer will never forget young Mr. Hamid, a nine year old who last year in Al-Buss Refugee Camp near Tyre proudly recited to a delegation of visiting Americans the names of "214 of the more than 500 villages in my country that the Zionists destroyed during the Nakba. They must all be rebuilt so we must hurry up and go home to do it" Hamid articulately explained to his astonished visitors.

Palestinians who were expelled from any part of Palestine including the West Bank or Gaza Strip, along with those of their descendants who have maintained links with the area, can exercise their right to return. Meanwhile, granting interim basic civil rights to help them live in dignity in Lebanon will in no way interfere with their Return, but will likely expedite it as the refugees in Lebanon gain the wherewithal to press their claim more effectively in the international arena.

"If Lebanon grants civil rights to the Palestinian Refugees, they may become too comfortable and seek permanency in Lebanon and Naturalization." This argument is one of the most flimsy being raised by a few in Lebanon on the issue of granting some civil rights to Palestine refugees. Virtually the whole of the Palestine refugee community as well as all Lebanon's confessions and political parties are in agreement that despite the history of Washington and Tel Aviv floating of 'trial balloons", naturalization (Tawtin) is out of the question and will not happen. The refugees insist that their home is south of the border and nowhere else. Virtually all of Lebanon agrees with the Palestinian position on this. Yet this tired bromide still surfaces in the media from time to time. On March 3, 2010 even the hold-out American Embassy in Beirut, on instructions from the State Department and after years of waffling, announced that Washington no longer favors Tawtin for Palestine refugees in Lebanon, abandoning Israel as this chimeras only advocate.

"The Palestinian refugee population poses a security risk for Lebanon and before any civil rights are granted this danger must be resolved." The Palestinian leadership in Ramallah and Lebanon have held the consistent position that Camp arms are for camp security and would never be turned against Lebanon. The arms and fighters that turned up in Nahr al Bared Camp near Akkar in 2007 came from outside Lebanon and had nothing to do with the Camp inhabitants. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas recently expressed in Lebanon the communities' view that the national Palestinian leadership "supports the Lebanese Government decisions on Palestinian arms inside and outside refugee camps. We are with Lebanese authorities, with the Lebanese government and with Lebanese sovereignty. We as Palestinians are not above the law," Abbas explained in meetings with Lebanese leaders including President Michel Suleiman, President Obama, his Middle East envoy, George Mitchell as well as during a press conference on 2/22/10 with his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris.

Palestinian leaders in Lebanon regularly state the unified Palestinian position: "We are with everything that the Lebanese government says on weapons outside camps. Our stance is clear and won't change," Mahmoud Abbas stated. Palestinian leaders in each of the 12 Refugee camps and 27 'settlements' in Lebanon express the same assurance and a real, imagined or potential 'security risk' does not justify the continuing deprivation of elementary civil rights for hundreds of thousands of Palestine refugees in Lebanon.

On the subject of Palestinian arms outside refugee camps, Druze leader Walid Jumblat on 4/20/10 called for "treating this dossier, which gained the consensus of the previous dialogue committee separately , without associating it with the issue of civil rights for Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. These civil rights are urgent from the humanitarian point of view, and they must be acknowledged and implemented through legislative measures in Parliament," he wrote in an editorial in the Progressive Socialist Party weekly journal, al-Anbaa.

"How are Palestinian Refugees in Lebanon deprived of the civil right to work since some do manage to find a job 'illegally'?" In principle, the Lebanese Labor Law and Social Security Law are applicable to both Lebanese and foreigners. Where Lebanese law treats Palestinians differently is firstly by restricting access to certain professions, and secondly where it concerns employment injury compensation, social security benefits including end of service compensation. Availability of these entitlements for Palestinian workers is strictly conditional on possessing a government Kafkaesque-issued work permit and again on the poisonous principle of reciprocity. Palestinian workers who find work pay social security contributions, but are barred from any benefits. The fact that some resourceful Palestinians have indeed found make-shift 'illegal' jobs often at a much lower wage and without any employment benefits from an unscrupulous or even sympathetic employer is no solution or acceptable excuse not to grant morally and legally mandated elementary civil rights.

"Lebanese women also are deprived of civil rights. They must get theirs before Palestinian refugees are given any." The two problems have become politically related and among the most ardent supporters of women's rights are the Palestine refugees. Among the strongest supporters of Palestinian civil rights in Lebanon are women. Both are illegally and immorally denied basic civil rights. It often requires International Women's Day and Land Day for Palestinians to generate some hand wringing in Lebanon about the need for civil rights for both.

Those opposed to amending the draconian 1962 and 1969 laws (Presidential Decree) restricting the right of Palestine refugees to work, often but not always, reject woman's rights and oppose changing the archaic 1925 law that bars Lebanese women from giving citizenship to their child and husband. To the chagrin of most Christians, strident opponents of civil rights for both groups are often from the minority extremist Christian camp. Lebanese holding this view argue that granting women the right to pass on their citizenship would upset the country's delicate demographic balance and the same would happen if Palestinians are granted civil rights.

Since Palestine refugees and women in Lebanon share a legal limbo quite naturally they commiserate to some extent. Given the key role of women in resistance movements, from heroines represented by the likes of Mairead Farrell and Martina Anderson in Ireland, and Albertina Sisulu and Helen Sussman in South Africa to Leila Khaled and Dalal al Moughabi for Palestine and Laure Moghayzel, a founder of leading women's groups in Lebanon, it can be expected that the support of women may be the best hope for their Palestinian sisters and brothers to achieve civil rights in Lebanon.

"Lebanon needs more time to straighten out the 'situation' with the Palestinians. Also, it should be remembered that Lebanon did issue Identification Cards to the 5000 plus Palestinian refugees who have never had either UNRWA or Interior Ministry registrations subjecting them to arrest at any time. So Lebanon is making solid progress." It is true that in August of 2008 the Ministry of Interior began issuing ID cards as part of a plan to improve the legal status of the non-ID Palestinians. On more than one occasion this observer witnessed the hot crowded yard and garden in front of the Palestinian Embassy in Beirut as well as the hallways and waiting rooms as hundreds of Palestinian refugees waited to apply.

Their spirits were soaring as they expressed the hope that could no longer be arbitrarily arrested and jailed for not having ID. It also would mean that for some of them they could now exit the Camp without fear.

Unfortunately, the euphoria was short lived as the Lebanese government stopped issuing temporary identification papers to Palestinians five months later, which meant that fewer than 750 cards were distributed before it stopped the process, citing 'security concerns." In October 2009 the minister of interior announced that the process would soon resume, and indeed, the process has resumed. It remains to be seen when the "non-ID's" Palestine refugees will obtain.

"Lebanon is a very small country and we cannot afford to allow refugees to own a home, given our limited available housing space." There has been no probative evidence offered from any quarter in support of this proposition. Approximately 1/3 of Lebanon's residential building are empty, with many owners seeking tenants or buyers and would be happy to rent or sell a home to Palestinians, either without conditions or the condition that once they are able to return to Palestine the lease would end at the beginning of the next year and a reversionary future interest in real estate might be considered assuring that the mandatory vacation of the residential dwelling would be available for Lebanese if they are interested in living in it.

"If Sunni and Christian Palestinian refugees are granted civil rights, including the right to work and to own a home, this will 'upset Lebanon's delicate confessional balance' among Christians, Sunni, Shia, and Druze and plunge Lebanon into dangerous internal sectarian conflicts." Frankly, more than civil rights for Palestine refugees regularly "upsets the delicate confessional balance" in Lebanon and this may ever be the case. One recent example. On April 13, 2010 the 35th anniversary of the start of the Lebanese Civil War, the two opposing political camps in Lebanon - March 8 and March 14 -- chose to remember this day in a friendly football game in a show of solidarity at Beirut's Damil Chamoun Stadium. Thanks to 29 year old Phalange party member Sami Gemayel 's two goals late in the 'unity' match the result was a victory for the Saad Hariri-led March 14 team.

Savoring his teams win, Sami gloated that his opponent, Hezbollah's MP Ali Ammar's "defense strategy was very weak'. While his comment may have been meant as a joke it caused raised eyebrows among some confessions, such is sectarian sensitiveness these days. Wearing the wrong clothes, forgetting to observe one of the other confessions holidays, celebratory gunfire during or after a favored confessional leader's speech, violations of employment shares inside ministries (in Lebanon each confessions gets a share of government jobs and one can be sure that each confessions staff "nose counts" in ministerial offices to be sure the list is what it should be.

Drawing moustaches on posters of rival confessions (and most confessions appear to be serious rivals) can lead to violence. The point is that allowing Palestinians to work will be objected to in some quarters, but not much more than other issues and the is no evidence that it will not bring down or even alter the confessional system "balance." Moreover, the refugees from Palestine have never sought to vote, do not now seek the right to vote, and have no intention to do so according to their community leaders and polling data. Consequently, allowing them some civil rights would not add or distract from any Lebanese sect when forming a Cabinet, voting for Legislative candidates or advancing or retarding sensitive sectarian legislation in Parliament.

"Palestinian refugees don't contribute to Lebanon's economy so why should Lebanon allow them the right to work?" Actually, despite facing severe work restriction most Palestinian refugee households have at least one family member who is employed (often illegally and at a lower exploitative wage than Lebanese citizens) constitute 10 per cent of all private consumption in Lebanon, and do not burden the Lebanese welfare system, according to a recent report by The Najdeh (Welfare) Association, funded by aid agencies Diakonia and Christian aid. The study is the result of a survey of 1,500 households in eight refugee camps across Lebanon and a number of focus group discussions, and assesses the income of Palestinian refugees, challenges to and perceptions of work, and their contribution to the Lebanese economy.

According to Najdeh, the study was designed "to examine the contribution to the economy of the host country Lebanon.", the report found one third of the individuals sampled works, and roughly 40 per cent were searching for work. Only 1.7 per cent of those surveyed had work permits, a fact the report said "renders the Palestinian refugee labor force invisible in official statistics" and exacerbates their socioeconomic marginalization. Far below a livable wage, median monthly wages for Palestinian Refugees has declined from $260-266 in 2007 to $108-112 "during the first half of 2008." An overwhelming majority (84 per cent) of Palestinian households believe there are no work prospects for their children in Lebanon.

Although Palestinian refugees on a per capita basis cannot legally contribute much to the Lebanese economy through employment, their large numbers means they count for 10 per cent (approximately $352 million) of all private consumption in Lebanon. Food, healthcare and rent constitute their top spending priorities.
Consistent studies over the six decades have shown that Palestinians have aided Lebanon's economy and do much more if allowed to work and open businesses. An early study dated 12/18/59 by the Arab Supreme Committee showed that the total monetary balance transferred by Palestinians from assets in Palestine, the sale of family jewelry to buy food etc. was more than three times the annual budget of the Lebanese state in the early 1950s as has the UNRWA relief, education and health and salary budgets mainly spent in Lebanon. This propelled the Lebanese. However by not allowing the Palestinians to work Lebanon has stunted its economy.

Before the PLO administration left Lebanon in August of 1982, it created directly or indirectly more than 40,000 jobs or approximately 18 per cent of Lebanon's GNP. The PLO budget may have been larger than that of the Lebanese state itself. Palestinians also contributed to "invigorating" the areas surrounding their camps by creating low-cost markets for low-income and other marginalized communities in Lebanon. The "Sabra, Ein el-Hilweh and Nahr al-Bared camp markets are recognized as major informal economic hubs for the poor," said the report, adding that the destruction of Nahr al-Bared during the battles of 2007 had "resulted in a gap in the Akkar" region in northern Lebanon for such communities.
The debate continues...the cause endures....

Palestine Civil Rights Campaign-Lebanon "Failure is not an option for the Palestine Civil Rights Campaign, our only choice is success," says 15 year old Hiba Hajj, a PCRC volunteer at the Ein el Helwe Palestinian Camp in Saida, Lebanon. If you haven't already, please sign here (you don't have to be Lebanese!): http://www.petitiononline.com/ssfpcrc/petition.html

* Franklin Lamb volunteers with the Palestine Civil Rights Campaign in Lebanon. He is reachable at fplamb@palestinecivilrightscampaign.org.

By Franklin Lamb, Beirut

Time for transparency at Der Spiegel?

"We don't know where the Der Spiegel magazine did get their information from and we don't know where they brought this story from. No one in the prosecutor's office has spoken to the German magazine about anything. We have a clear policy of not leaking any information about the tribunal through media outlets, and we have been stressing this since the beginning. When Der Spiegel spoke about Bellemar's spokesperson, they meant me. They emailed me and asked a few questions. My answer was that the tribunal does not deal with investigation files through the media and adopts the policy of direct announcement by the part of Mr. Bellemar.If we had something to say, we would have said it directly, not through media outlets."
Radiya Ashouri, Spokeswoman for the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) (5/24/09)

"It is a black fabricated campaign adopted by known groups to harm Hezbollah. It is not the first time such lies are published. Tthe timing of the accusations and the immediate hype of the report by Saudi Arabia's Al-Arabia TV-"which is known for its political affiliation"-- leaves no doubt that it is a campaign aimed at affecting Lebanon's upcoming elections and to deflect attention from the news about the dismantling of spy networks working for Israel on the other."
Hezbollah Media Relations Department statement 5/24/09

The Der Spiegel headline was dramatic. Even provocative. Some Lebanese were surprised but others said they knew it all along. It offered bold "new information" that the strongly pro-Israel German Weekly Der Speigel claimed came from secret sources based on documents reporters and editors may have seen. No documents were published and no blurred or redacted copies shown to its readers. The shocking claims were said to based on "Inside investigative sources who were working on the Rafic Hariri assassination and they had now solved the mystery and the case could soon be wrapped up. Eye catching.

The Der Spiegel breakthrough 'exclusive' with 'new evidence pointing to those who were guilty. It was published on October 24, 2005, nearly four years ago.

The Headline screamed, in arguably poor taste:

"BYE-BYE, HARIRI!"
UN Report Links Syrian Officials to Murder of Former Lebanese Leader"
By Erich Follath et al.

That was then back in 2005. Syria was accused in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri of being the 'real' assassins. A massive international anti-Syria campaign was launched by the Bush Administration and Israel to demonize its government.

But things have changed. This weekend, a new exclusive, secret, investigative report showing the real real assassins was published by the same weekly, Der Speigel. Same author. Same editor. New target.

This time Der Speigel's Erich Follath claimed solo that the international committee investigating the assassination of former Prime Minister martyr Rafik Hariri has reached" surprising new secret conclusions", this time pointing to Hezbollah.

The new Der Spiegel head line (5/24/09)

BREAKTHROUGH IN TRIBUNAL INVESTIGATION
New Evidence Points to Hezbollah in Hariri Murder
By Erich Follath,

According to this weekend's article, which offers information provided by the Der SPIEGEL source, the long investigated case may finally have been "cracked."

The German weekly claims the target is now Hezbollah after the Tribunal pressured the Lebanese government to release four Lebanese Generals last month for lack of evidence- given the growing outcry in the international legal and human rights community. After the generals release, more questions are being raised such as why the four Generals were never charged if there was inadequate evidence, or released years ago or given a bail bond, house arrest, or allowed to face their accusers or even see the supposed evidence against them. The credibility of the Tribunal diminished with each day the four remained jailed.

In many respects the 2009 Der Spiegel article is similar to the 2005 piece:

"There are signs that the investigation has yielded new and explosive results", "Spiegel has learned from sources close to the tribunal and verified by examining internal documents that the Hariri case is about to take a sensational turn", "Intensive investigations in Lebanon are all pointing to a new conclusion, this time that it was not the special forces of Syria, but instead special forces of Hezbollah that planned and carried out Hariri's Feb. 2005 murder, the weekly said.

Similar to 2005, Der Speigel claimed the investigator's "apparently want to hold back the information that they have been aware of for about a month".

Without offering any proof, Der Spiegel asserts that "According to the Lebanese security forces, all of the telephone numbers involved (by the assassins -ed) apparently belong to the 'operational arm' of Hezbollah."

Without an apology for what some thought was a 'hatchet job'' on Syrian President Bashar Assad four years ago, Der Speigel's new article added that President Assad is no longer as suspect. "Hardly anything suggests anymore that he was personally aware of the murder plot or even ordered the killing", Follath writes.

Suspicions are widespread this afternoon in Beirut over the Der Spiegel article suggesting a link between the assassination of Rafic Hariri and Hezbollah.

Ricocheting around Lebanon's capitol and on the Internet ( Syria.comment.org) are comments questioning the timing of the report as if aimed to cause maximum damage to the Hezbollah led opposition, the supposed source of the 'leaks' and why now since the UN investigative office has taken great pains not to leak or politicize its work in contrast to former Investigator Detlev Mehlis, Hasan Nassrallah has never been known to order the killing of rival politicians, the 2005-2006 accusations against Syria where shown to be fallacious and based on a false witness, Der Spiegel has a rumored long history with Israeli intelligence, the "key" eight phones were never in the hands of Hezbollah but rather a Muslim Sunni organization in Trablus as Detlev Mehlis claimed to have documented, where were "the surprising new conclusions" when the Court was set up but claimed no solid case had been put together.

One claim that this observer found odd is the suggestion that a senior Hezbollah member would call his girl friend on a secure line was 'on duty". I know of two cases where female students at AUB became quite angry when their Hezbollah boyfriends up and disappeared from Campus and did not even call them for a whole month. When they returned "from duty" to resume classes both tried to explain that they could not make contact while 'working'. I find Der Spiegel's girlfriend telephone call story a bit awkward and very 'un-Hezbollah'.

Puzzling also is the German weekly's claim that it learned "from sources close to the tribunal" and verified by examining internal documents, that the Hariri case is about to take a sensational turn." Der Speigel does not make it clear if it was the source that examined the internal documents or if it was Der Spiegel that examined these documents. If it is the latter, did the source to take these documents outside the very tight security building in The Hague? Surely, the investigation should be able to track this so-called source.

No evidence is offered by Der Spiegel for any of its "revelations" such as Hezbollah members who supposedly trained in Iran, bought phones, "two men who report only to their superior" (who else would they report to?) etc. How does Der Spiegel know all these secret things and why not offer some proof? How does Der Spiegel know, for example who reports to who in Hezbollah? Far too much left to the imagination by the author. Does some of this highly secret information come to Der Seigel via recently apprehended Israeli spy cells—passed on from the three Israeli intelligence agencies known to be here in Lebanon or sources connected with them?
Too volatile for Lebanon's Campaign?

So far none of Lebanon's political parties are crediting the article. As my neighbor mentioned this morning, in Lebanon there are so many 'Reports' that turn out not to be true that many here are very skeptical without solid proof.

MP Walid Jumblatt, Druze leader of the Progressive Socialist Party currently allied with the pro-US March 14th majority, commenting on the Der Spiegel article, warned in a Sunday speech dedicated to announce his Chouf candidates, that the article is "the game of nations that could, God forbid, derail justice and use it for things that we don't believe in."

The Saad Hariri led Future Movement refused to comment on the article.

Lebanese Foreign Minister Fawsi Salloukh labeled it as "totally false and all lies", Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem challenged Der Spiegel and the author of the report to show evidence. "This article is politicized and reminds us of (former international investigator) Detlev Mehlis's practices," Moallem added. Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said the report "was nothing but a new attempt to sow sedition among the Lebanese."

"This is a media fabrication that only lacked the stamp: 'Made in Israel'," Berri said.

Hezbollah responds to Der Speigel

Hezbollah candidate Nawaf Moussawi predicted last month that the campaign against Hezbollah would intensify, especially after the release of the four generals who were held, without trial or charge, for nearly four years over the assassination of Hariri. "The Der Spiegel report is not the first baseless report posted by this magazine, "Moussawi said during an interview with NBN TV. He made a comparison between the magazine's report and" previous reports by Lebanese journalists who deluded the public opinion during the investigation into the Hariri murder, and published reports about a similar scenario."

He stressed the campaign launched against Hezbollah and the resistance "paves the way for the assassination scheme Israel is preparing against the party's Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah."

Hezbollah Media Relations Office issued a statement on Sunday in which it dismissed allegations published by Der Spiegel and broadcast by Al-Arabiyya Channel saying that it is nothing less than "police fabrications". The statement said, "It's not the first time that a magazine or newspaper aimed at publishing such fabrications and previously Kuwaiti paper "Al-Siyasa" has repeatedly published such reports along with other dailies." However, the statement continued "It is nothing more than police fabrications cooked in the same black room that has been keen on fabricating such stories for over four years regarding the Syrians and the four Lebanese officers and others."

The statement added that "publishing this report by Der Spiegel and promoting for it by Al-Arabiyya is suspicious in its timing and its political and psychological exploitation especially for two reasons: "First it is a pure fabrication aimed at influencing the election campaign in Lebanon on one side, and to deflect attention from the news about the dismantling of spy networks working for Israel on other."

"The report comes just two weeks ahead of a June 7 parliamentary election in Lebanon. One Hezbollah member commented: "We look forward to seeing the purported evidence in this case."

Questions for Der Spiegel

The German Embassy in Beirut claims not to have heard about the article and would have no comment. By press time, neither Mr. Follath nor his editors at Der Spiegel has replied to any of the following questions forwarded by this observer:

Hopefully will answer these inquiries in a follow-up article.

Franklin Lamb works with the Sabra Shatila Foundation in Beirut. He is reachable at: fplamb@sabrashatila.org.