The Real Apartheid in the Middle East

by Khaled Abu Toameh
February 10, 2022 at 5:00 am

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18212/apartheid-middle-east

Where is the outcry from Amnesty International and other human rights organizations? When an Arab country subjects Palestinians to actual apartheid measures, the international community is too busy lying about Israel's alleged abuses to take notice.
"It is estimated that 65% of the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon live under the poverty line." — UNRWA, October 2017.
Palestinians in Lebanon have long been prevented from practicing such professions as medicine and law, given that only the Lebanese could join professional syndicates.
Thirty-nine professions remain prohibited to Palestinians in the following fields: healthcare (general medicine, dentistry, nursing, midwifery, pharmacy) transport and fishing, services and daycare, engineering, law, tourism, and accounting.
Palestinian refugees in Lebanon are at risk of food insecurity, electricity blackouts, increased health problems and complications amid the shortages of medicine and health-care interventions. — UNRWA, January 2022.
"My husband works as a driver and earns less than two dollars a day. We mainly eat vegetables and beans because that's all we can afford. Meat and chicken have become a dream; we can't buy them because prices have increased so sharply. We no longer eat three meals a day, and sometimes I send my kids to bed without dinner." — Rihab Maajel, a 50-year-old Palestinian from Shabriha in southern Lebanon, UNRWA, January 2022.
"I fear that I may freeze to death this winter. I cannot afford to buy gas for heating." — Nawal Kayed, 66, Palestinian in Lebanon, UNRWA, 2022.
The group also noted that Palestinian refugees in Lebanon who want to receive medical treatment in a Lebanese hospital have to wait for weeks to obtain a permit. — palhrw.org, January 20, 2022.
When Palestinians in Lebanon cannot feed their children this winter, chalk it up to the world's unjust lethal obsession with Israel.

Five thousand homes belonging to Palestinians in Lebanon are at risk of collapsing and are in dire need of renovation, according to a report in the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar. These are the kind of reports that Amnesty International and many human rights organizations around the world apparently choose to ignore because Israel is not involved. Pictured: Jerry-rigged electrical connections between apartment buildings in UNRWA's Borj al-Branjeh refugee camp for Palestinians in Beirut, Lebanon. (Photo by Nicolas Maeterlinck/Belga Mag/AFP via Getty Images)

Five thousand homes belonging to Palestinians in Lebanon are at risk of collapsing and are in dire need of renovation, according to a report in the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar.

These are the kind of reports that Amnesty International and many human rights organizations around the world apparently choose to ignore because Israel is not involved.

The report was published on the 25^th anniversary of the Lebanese authorities' decision prohibiting the entry of construction and repair materials into Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon without a permit. The decision was issued by the Lebanese government in 1997, and the order for its implementation was referred to the Ministry of Defense because the army is responsible for granting construction permits to the Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon.

Seventeen years later, the Lebanese government allowed the entry of construction and restoration materials into the refugee camps, but reversed its decision after six months, without giving any reason.

The ban includes water pipes, electrical cables, wooden and iron doors, windows, cement, gravel, sand, tiles, water tanks, aluminum, glass and paint materials. A Palestinian who violates the ban and is caught trying to bring in any of the building or renovation materials without permission is arrested and transferred to an army barracks, where he is subject to an investigation and a fine.

Where is the outcry from Amnesty International and other human rights organizations? When an Arab country subjects Palestinians to actual apartheid measures, the international community is too busy lying about Israel's alleged abuses to take notice.

According to the report, 20,000 Palestinian homes in Lebanon urgently require repairs and renovation due to natural factors, and any natural disaster may endanger the lives of those living in the camps.

The report quoted an official with the United Nations Relief and Work Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) as saying that it was "only a matter of time before we witness a humanitarian catastrophe resulting from the poor conditions of the buildings."

In 2001, the Lebanese parliament approved law number 296, regarding the acquisition of real estate rights by "foreigners" in Lebanon. Various Lebanese governments have classified the Palestinians as "foreigners, refugees or stateless people," even though they were born in Lebanon. Palestinians, in addition, are generally not granted Lebanese citizenship. According to a report by the Norwegian Refugee Council:

"In 2001 the Lebanese Parliament amended the Right to Real Estate Acquisition for Foreigners... to prohibit non- Lebanese from acquiring real rights in Lebanon without a permit. The amendment was interpreted to specifically prohibit Palestinian refugees in Lebanon from acquiring real estate property rights... including through inheritance."

According to UNRWA, 63% of Palestinians in Lebanon reside in 12 refugee camps that are overcrowded and affected by sub-standard infrastructure, sanitation and housing. In addition, camp inhabitants have extremely limited abilities to improve their housing conditions, partly for economic reasons but also due to the Lebanese authorities' restrictions on the transfer of building materials into the camps. UNRWA notes:

"In the absence of Lebanese government presence in most of the camps, Palestinian political factions and armed groups exert some form of control. As a result, no single recognized authority exercises responsibility, including with respect to law enforcement. It is estimated that 65% of the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon live under the poverty line."

The issue of the entry of construction and repair materials into refugee camps is far from the only problem Palestinians have been facing in Lebanon.

Palestinians in Lebanon have long been prevented from practicing such professions as medicine and law, given that only the Lebanese could join professional syndicates.

In 1982, the Lebanese authorities further restricted the list of professions open to Palestinians, depriving them from working in more than 70 commercial and administrative professions.

In 1995, the restrictions were slightly lifted with the introduction of a new clause which exempted foreigners who were born in Lebanon, born to Lebanese mothers or married to Lebanese women from these restrictions.

UNRWA, however, has pointed out that Palestinians are still prohibited from practicing many professions, mainly due to the precondition of holding the Lebanese nationality. Thirty-nine professions remain prohibited to Palestinians in the following fields: healthcare (general medicine, dentistry, nursing, midwifery, pharmacy) transport and fishing, services and daycare, engineering, law, tourism, and accounting.

Another report published by UNRWA last month found that Palestinian refugees in Lebanon are at risk of food insecurity, electricity blackouts, increased health problems and complications amid the shortages of medicine and health-care interventions.

Rihab Maajel, a 50-year-old Palestinian from Shabriha in southern Lebanon, was quoted as saying:

"Today, we had potatoes for lunch. My husband works as a driver and earns less than two dollars a day. We mainly eat vegetables and beans because that's all we can afford. Meat and chicken have become a dream; we can't buy them because prices have increased so sharply. We no longer eat three meals a day, and sometimes I send my kids to bed without dinner."

Another Palestinian, Nawal Kayed, 66, said:

"I fear that I may freeze to death this winter. I cannot afford to buy gas for heating. The cash assistance I receive from UNRWA is barely enough to buy food and cover very basic needs."

Palestinians who fled from Syria to Lebanon over the past few years are also facing harsh and discriminatory measures.

A report published by the Beirut-based Palestinian Association for Human Rights (Witness) on January 20, 2022 revealed that Palestinian refugees from Syria to Lebanon suffer from the absence of legal protection, as the Lebanese authorities treat them as foreigners or tourists who must obtain a residence permit, which is renewed every six months.

"Palestinian refugees from Syria to Lebanon complain about the absence of UNRWA assistance," the group said. "This problem is considered one of the most difficult challenges, as refugees live in a state of anxiety and fear of arrest at any moment."

The group accused UNRWA of reducing the services it provides to the refugees, and noted that Palestinian refugees in Lebanon who want to receive medical treatment in a Lebanese hospital have to wait for weeks to obtain a permit. The group warned:

"The humanitarian situation of Palestinian refugees from Syria to Lebanon is extremely difficult... They do not enjoy legal protection in the full sense of the word. Because of the difficult conditions, their numbers have declined since the start of the Syrian crisis in 2011, from 100,000 to 27,000, with the majority believed to have emigrated from Lebanon. UNRWA bears full responsibility for their legal and humanitarian situation and is obligated to fulfill its moral and legal obligations towards them."

The director of the Lebanese-Palestinian Dialogue Committee, Abdel Nasser Al-Ayee, told the London-based Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper that many Palestinians have been fleeing Lebanon, especially over the past few years.

"The wave of Palestinian immigration from Lebanon has been on the rise since 2005, but the numbers doubled in the last two years... In 2020, between 6,000 and 8,000 Palestinians left Lebanon without returning, while in the next year 12,000 Palestinians left the country and did not return."

Palestinians in Lebanon will continue to suffer because of the discriminatory practices and policies of the Lebanese government -- but also because of the indifference of the international community.

Amnesty International and other human rights organizations are too busy bashing and delegitimizing Israel to pay attention to the real apartheid the Palestinians are experiencing in an Arab country. When Palestinians in Lebanon cannot feed their children this winter, chalk it up to the world's unjust lethal obsession with Israel.

Khaled Abu Toameh is an award-winning journalist based in Jerusalem.

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Related Topics: Lebanon

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Comment on this item

11 Reader Comments

Selma Soss • Feb 13, 2022 at 21:59

The Palestinians in Lebanon could do well if they worked together to build better living conditions for themselves. The Palestinians near Israel would do better if they stopped assaulting Israel constantly, and worked together to do constructive things for themselves. Naturally it would all be better if many Palestinians in general, stopped playing the "victim" card.

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IsraelP • Feb 11, 2022 at 04:20

"Five thousand homes belonging to Palestinians in Lebanon"

Does that mean they are PERMITTED to own homes in Lebanon? (Asking for a friend)

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Selma Soss • Feb 10, 2022 at 23:37

I had no idea that there was a large number of Palestinians living in Lebanon. Their housing and living conditions look appalling. As has been mentioned, Israel helped their brethren get out of Russia, and recently, Jewish people being persecuted in France. I would think the Lebanese people could lend a hand to the poor Palestinians in their midst. They might benefit in return.

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Bull Herman • Feb 10, 2022 at 19:31

The real Mideast apartheid finally revealed.
But, you see, reporting on this just isn't fashionable. Nobody wants them heard.
Conversely the soulless and spineless UN is no better.
I cannot blame the Palestinians for how they feel. Nowhere to turn. Treated worse than zoo animals. Fed propaganda.
This article helped me see and understand there's real victims under PA authority. I had no idea that bad.
They would be much better off in Israel.

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oldguyincolorado • Feb 10, 2022 at 13:59

Apartheid is being practiced by all of Islam vis-a-vis the "Palestinians". This article tells us that those in Lebanon are in fact free to leave, they just have nowhere to go. What about Saudi Arabia which has the capacity to house millions during the hajj? What's a few hundred thousand more; and there will be jobs for them there; the Saudis won't have to bring in quite so many "foreigners" to do their hard work. Give some of these jobs to the "Palestinians" and help these other Muslims survive. Qatar can pay the initial bill for the move and housing. Or let them go to Egypt and UNRWA pay the bill rather than funnel the money thru Lebanon, a failed state. Money to Lebanon will likely end up in the hands of Hezbollah, and this is not good.

If these folks were Jewish, rather than those who wish to destroy Israel, imagine how quickly Israel would act in getting them to safety. But that is the difference between the two populations: one uses them as festering tools of war and the other as helpers in building a strong society for all.

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pinkerst • Feb 10, 2022 at 12:02

Hezbollah is the dominant political power in Lebanon now. They could "fix" this if they wanted to, but they don't; a rich irony since Hezbollah came to power in the 1980s because of their ostensible sympathy for the plight of Palestinian refugees. It turns out that Hezbollah, like Hamas, is really just a terrorist organization primarily motivated by its political goals.

Let's not forget that Palestinian refugees in Lebanon are essentialy illegal immigrants and their descendants who fled Jordan in 1970 when they were kicked out for causing so much trouble. Search for "Black September" on the internet to refresh your memory.

Led by the terrorist Yasser Arafat, the PLO operated as its own state within Jordan and tried to assassinate King Hussein twice. In Lebanon they resumed their meddlesome ways which resulted in the 1975 civil war that destroyed the country and sowed the fertile ground for Iran's Hezbollah to infiltrate. So now Lebanon is occupied by two terrorist groups, one of which is now the shadow government with all the military power.

Lebanon used to be a diverse nation that had struck a workable balance between the different religious groups and factions, evenly divided between Christians and Muslims. The infiltration of the Muslim Palestinians and Hezbollah, outsiders with no sense of Lebanese identity and tolerance and respect for others, has fractured the country.

Palestinian refugees are, well, refugees and treated mostly as pariahs in every country in the Middle East that professes support for their cause. The persistent mischief (terrorism) of the fedayeen, PLO, PFLP, and now Hamas, has earned them their low status. It's the dirty little secret that the western press and progressive elites in European Union choose to ignore. Why?

It appears that professed support for Palestinians in reality is just antipathy towards Israel and Jews. Antisemitism? Perhaps. Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan just want the Palestinians to go back to where they used to live, but Palestinian "leadership", steeped in decades of activism, resistance, and terrorism, has no notion of how to govern its people, now living in the West Bank and Gaza under their own kakistocratic government, using their citizens as political pawns and human shields for their rocket emplacements aimed at Israel in a persistent war to eradicate Jews. Why would refugees want to return to that? So the Palestinian people are stuck in limbo and the world blames the government of Israel and now Lebanon.

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CR • Feb 10, 2022 at 11:47

Frankly, the assumption that "apartheid" is inherently evil is overblown. The majority of the world's populations live under systems that can be easily characterized by this loaded term. Yet it has only made a difference when practiced by a handful of western countries. For some odd reason, it matters little when it is practiced in sub-Saharan Africa, eastern Asia, the Islamic world or when western societies exhibit the exact same conduct but with the colors reversed.

It is a cudgel with which to cajole powerful societies into submission. Nothing more.

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Ringo Phonebone

CR • Feb 14, 2022 at 11:30

Apartheid is the rule of of the many by the few, as it was in South Africa. It doesn't apply to Lebanon by that definition, nor in Israel as it is often accused. The first pillar of society ruined by cultural marxists is language.

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Erica Ling • Feb 10, 2022 at 10:27

These reports, hidden away until groups like Gatestone publicise them,are merely evidence of the universal hypocrisy of antisemitism masquerading as virtue signalling. Remember the screams of outrage when Maronite Christian forces, the Phalange, attacked the Sabra and Shatila camps. Their Israeli allies, not involved, were blamed. Yet the War of the Camps, resulted in massacres of those same camps by Iranian forces and no one cares.

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BTeboe • Feb 10, 2022 at 09:28

No one wants the Palestinians. Lebanese policy is designed to get them to leave.

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cammo99 • Feb 10, 2022 at 08:10

This argument or attack began back when apartheid was the raison d'etre that propelled the Marxists in South Africa into power. Since then "apartheid" has been inappropriately applied comparatively to any instance Marxist Socialists believe it may be used in any circumstance where a minority or majority may use economic inequities often caused by collectivist thinking and oppression by their own leaders or unsympathetic allies as cause, and those allies for the most part are increasingly funded by the Iranian revolution? It is mumbo jumbo that has not advanced the prosperity of the Palestinian peoples who's leadership uses these sorts of arguments to exploit their own people in a globalist environment that continues to make bad choices like electing Biden a hard core socialist placing government and the rich above all others.

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