ARAB IDOL: Palestinian refugees from Lebanon need not apply.

BEIRUT, LEBANON -

On the 30th March 2014, hundreds of hopefuls travelled to Beirut to audition for Arab Idol, a very popular singing program in the Arab World owned by the MBC network.

Upon arrival, people wishing to audition filled out a form and received an audition number. The next step before auditioning was showing identification to MBC employees.

A Palestinian singer (who does not wish to have his name mentioned for personal reasons) waited in line, received his number and then handed over his identification, the MBC employee looked at his ID and said "Palestinians from Lebanon are not allowed."

"Palestinians from Lebanon are not allowed."

The Palestinian man naturally asked why not, he was told the same thing by the MBC employee.

Interestingly, the winner of Arab Idol last year was Mohammed Assaf, a Palestinian refugee from Gaza. If Mohammed Assaf had been a Palestinian refugee from Lebanon, he would not have been given the chance to audition.

Palestinian refugees in Lebanon do not have passports, they have a travel document, the fact it is not an actual passport is the alleged reason that Palestinian refugees from Lebanon are not allowed to audition.
However, on the Arab Idol website, the requirements for identification were "bring with you a photocopy of your passport or your personal identification."

Screenshot of requirements http://competition.mbc.net/arabidols2_disabled/form2.php

This discrimination against Palestinian refugees from Lebanon is prevalent both inside Lebanon and across the region. It is difficult for Palestinians from Lebanon who only have their travel document to travel and very often are barred from entering countries in the Arab world.

This incident is representative of the wider issues affecting Palestinian refugees from Lebanon, they are recognised as refugees but discriminated against for the same reason.

Palestinian refugee fired from his job in Lebanon - because he has a Palestinian accent.

Shatila Refugee Camp, Beirut (YaLibnan.com)

SHATILA REFUGEE CAMP - LEBANON:

Today, a Palestinian man in Lebanon made a plea on Facebook. What happened to Mohammed Saleh Dawoud, a Palestinian refugee is illegal and would cause outrage in any other country. However, for Palestinians in Lebanon, this is just one more instance of the daily discrimination that Palestinians in Lebanon face.

Mohammed Saleh Dawoud posted the following on Facebook:

(The following has been translated from Arabic into English)

"My name is Mohammed Saleh Dawoud, a married Palestinian man with two children, I live in Shatila Camp in Beirut. I applied for a job in a restaurant in one of the major engineering companies in Lebanon, I was accepted and given a job. I worked for the company for a few days, I was doing my work well and did my work with care and compassion to everyone. But a few days ago, the manager responsible for my deparment, called me for a meeting and she said that I did my job well very well but I can't continue working there. She said because when I answer the phone to record the orders, people noticed that my accent was Palestinian. I tried to explain to her that I was committed to my work and my performance was good and my accent is something I'm born with and shouldn't be an insult or a crime. But she insisted on me having to leave my work. I tried contacting people in the company, to others managers and in higher positions to ask them to appeal on my behalf and undo this. But no one would help me. That is why I decided to go on social media and tell my story to the Lebanese and Palestinian public to show the discrimination that is happening against Palestinian refugees in Lebanon and to point out the inhumane treatment of Palestinians, especially with the high unemployment rate and the bad conditions they are living in.
Thanks to everyone who read my message and showed sympathy to my cause."

28/02/2014: Original Post by Mohammed Saleh Dawoud on Facebook

What happened to Mohammed Saleh Dawoud is an injustice, Mr. Dawoud lost his job because he is Palestinian and thus lost his ability to support himself, his wife and two children.

As Mr. Dawoud said in his post, having an accent is something you are born with and it does not affect one's ability to do their job. This is a clear case of discrimination against a Palestinian refugee in Lebanon and this termination must be reversed.

I have written about other cases of discrimination against Palestinians in Lebanon, such as Palestinian students being arrested on buses for the crime of having a "blue ID card" and then held for hours and interrogated. Another Palestinian man was stopped at a checkpoint and arrested for the crime of being "poor" and driving a BMW.
For more information please check the following link: http://miniestmini.blogspot.com.au/2013/06/discrimination-against-palestinian.html

The discrimination against Palestinians in Lebanon is the elephant in the room, an issue that people wish to ignore. It cannot be ignored any longer, no matter which other issues are happening in Lebanon, discrimination is discrimination and it is illegal.

Please share Mohammed Saleh Dawoud's story across Lebanon and the world.

News report: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrQyVdOJtLo 

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UPDATE:


Mohammed Saleh Dawoud posted a statement on Facebook earlier today, describing a case of discrimination against him which resulted in him being fired from his job.

Mr. Dawoud is a 30 year old Palestinian refugee from Shatila Camp in Beirut, Lebanon and after an interview with a contractor for a food delivery company he was given a job in a restaurant.

After working for a few days at the restaurant, Mr. Dawoud was summoned to a meeting with his manager. During the meeting, Mr. Dawoud was informed that he had to leave his job because of his Palestinian accent as part of his job was dealing with customers over the phone.

The manager informed Mr. Dawoud that his work ethic and customer service skills were great but the issue was his Palestinian accent.

Many Palestinians in Lebanon have resorted to putting on a Lebanese accent in order to avoid discrimination in the public life as well as in the workforce, however as Mr. Dawoud chose to speak with without putting a fake accent, he lost his job. This is outrageous and unacceptable.

Discrimination Against Palestinian Refugees in Lebanon

Last Wednesday started off like any other for Palestinian students attending a university in Beirut, Lebanon. They caught the bus to Beirut, attended classes and then caught the bus home again, however unlike during the trip to Beirut that morning, the bus was stopped at a checkpoint along the way. What happened next would cause outrage in any other country in the world.

Lebanese soldiers stopped the bus at the checkpoint, then boarded the bus and demanded that every student with a "blue identity card" identify themselves. In case anyone is unfamiliar with the "blue card", this is an ID card given to Palestinian Refugees in Lebanon, and they must carry these cards with them at all times. (specifically outside of the Palestinian refugee camps.)

(For information on the camps, see my article Palestinian Refugee Camps in Lebanon)

Photo: DailyStar

After the Palestinian university students identified themselves, they were escorted off the bus and then placed under arrest and handcuffed. The Palestinian students were then taken to an army barracks and interrogated, during this time the Lebanese Army conducted background checks on the Palestinian students to see whether they had criminal records. None of the students did and they were then released from custody and allowed to continue on their journey home.


This incident emphasises the disgraceful discrimination against Palestinian in Lebanon by the Lebanese Army. The Lebanese Army routinely stop and harass Palestinians at checkpoints, Palestinians are arrested and detained, sometimes for several hours, and usually for the smallest thing.

One such small thing was the arrest of a Palestinian male for driving a 2010 BMW. This Palestinian man was stopped at a checkpoint and after asking this Palestinian man for ID, the Lebanese soldier accused this Palestinian man of being a thief, as according to this soldier a "poor Palestinian" couldn't afford a car as nice as the one he was driving. The Palestinian man showed the soldier his papers, which proved the car was his, however he was still arrested until it could be proven these papers were not fraudulent. (the Lebanese Army also did background checks on this man during this time, he was not found to have any criminal records)


This discrimination and persecution of Palestinians occurs on a daily basis, it is bigotry pure and simple. However, it has now reached the level where innocent Palestinian students are being arrested, handcuffed and interrogated, solely for being Palestinian.



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I have been quite brief with my descriptions and I have not included any places or names so as to protect the anonymity all Palestinians involved.

What do Palestinians in Lebanon want?

My last post (on Palestinians in Lebanon) was about Citizenship for Palestinians in Lebanon and the Palestinian dream of Return (to Palestine) inshallah. (God Willing).


I pointed out that the majority of Palestinian Christians were given Lebanese Citizenship, and majority of Palestinian Muslims were not, I gave two possible reasons for this, firstly, according to the government, the reason for denying citizenship was to 'keep the dream of Return alive'.
Secondly, as Lebanon is an extremely sectarian country, with a Christian President and a Christian minority, they didn't want the scales tipping too much in favour of the (Sunni) Muslims.


(Exact demographics are not known, as Lebanon does not have any current census data, the last official census was done in 1932. Lebanon have been too wary to conduct another, almost as if they don't want to see how big the Muslim majority has become, and possibly spark more conflict in the country.)


Now, let's put citizenship to one side, as Palestinians don't actually want Lebanese citizenship, and ask what do Palestinians in Lebanon want? I interviewed a Palestinian man from Beddawi Refugee Camp in North Lebanon and asked him this question, his response was as follows:

"What do Palestinians want? We want our rights! We want basic human rights, we want the same rights as Lebanese."

I then asked him to elaborate on his answer:

Palestinians in Beddawi Camp | Al-Akhbar English. 2012.

 "The rights? The right to buy and own property, the right to health care, the right to work in good jobs*, the right to work in safe jobs, the right to drive through a check point without being interrogated for being Palestinian! We just want the discrimination to stop"

Palestinian man working in Beddawi Camp | Guardian. 2012

*Palestinians are banned from working in as many as 20, high level professions such as; law, medicine, dentistry, engineering. Palestinian workers are also paid 20% less than Lebanese, for exactly the same work. The Palestinians who can get work outside of the refugee camps usually work in construction.

However, because of the severe discrimination faced by Palestinians in Lebanon, it is very difficult for Palestinians to find a job. If however a Palestinian does find a job, for example in construction, other problems arise such as the very dangerous conditions on the sites which are without basic OH&S, and as Palestinians are not given access to health care and insurance, more often than not Palestinians cannot offord to be treated after  injury, as one has to pay for their treatment before receiving it.



So, the answer to the question, "What do Palestinians in Lebanon want?" it is very clear, Palestinians want their rights, the rights people across the world take for granted; the right to be treated as a human being, the right to live a life without constant discrimination on a legislative level as well as on a person level. Other rights such as the right to buy and own property, the right to become a doctor or an engineer, and the right to health care are other things Palestinians want, and have been denied since 1948. 

Citizenship in Lebanon and the Palestinian dream of return..

Photo: Red Markers are Palestinian Camps in Lebanon

We all know (somewhat) how Palestinians are treated in Gaza and the West Bank (illegal blockade, illegal occupation, abuse and terrorisation to put it in a nut shell) but do you know how Palestinians are treated in Lebanon?

In this article I'm going to discuss citizenship; which Palestinians were given citizenship, who were not given citizenship and why citizenship was denied.

Many Lebanese themselves are ignorant to the treatment of Palestinians in their own country, many Lebanese I've spoken to (both inside Lebanon and outside of Lebanon) thought that Palestinians had citizenship and that the camps were "communities".

Sorry to burst their bubbles, as they were under the impression their government was doing so much for the Palestinian cause (by allowing Palestinians to live in their country after they were forced out of Palestine) but no, majority of Palestinians were not given citizenship or basic rights, at all. Sorry, let me rephrase that, majority of the Muslim Palestinians were not given citizenship, but the vast majority of the Christian Palestinians were given citizenship during the early years of Palestinian displacement.

I will say, originally the Lebanese government was sympathetic to the Palestinian cause, they did take over 100,000 Palestinians in to their country, but as the possibility of Palestinians returning to Palestine grew less likely, their hospitable nature decreased, significatly and quickly.

Photo of Travel Document

The failure of Lebanon (unlike Jordan) to issue Palestinians with citizenship impacts a Palestinian's ability to live their lives with the same relative ease other people in Lebanon are blessed with, particuarly in regards to travel. Rather than being allocated a passport (as this requires citizenship) Palestinians are given a travel document, which causes many Palestinians struggles when/ if they want to travel outside of Lebanon, as it is not an "official passport".


To give you a simple example, when Palestinian refugees living or studying outside of Lebanon return to Lebanon to visit their families in the camps, they are required to stand in the "immigrant queue" at Beirut Airport, and are not permitted to stand in the the "Lebanese queue" even though they were born and raised in Lebanon.

I ask this question of the Lebanese government, if your intention in not allowing citizenship for Palestinians living in your country (for the past 64 years) was to not kill the dream of the Right of Return, why then did you give citizenship to (majority of) Christians yet force Muslims to live in the Camps? Was this merely to keep the balance of Muslims and Christians in check?

Faith is very important in Lebanon, it is a way of distinguishing and identifying people from each other, and the sectarian breakdown is clearly evident in the constitution of Lebanon. The President of Lebanon must be Maronite Christian, the Prime Minister must be Sunni Muslim and the speaker of the Parliament must be Shia Muslim. This itself speaks volumes on why Palestinian Muslims were largely rejected for naturalisation or tawteen (unlike their Christian counterparts); I doubt half a million more Muslim voters would have been beneficial for Christian politicians.

Photo: CNS Palestinian girl in Dbayeh Camp

I'm not saying there are not any Christian refugees, that isn't true - the Dbayeh Camp I mentioned a few days ago is almost exclusively Christian, there are between 2000 and 4000 Christians living in this camp in Beirut.

The people living in the Dbayeh camp have also complained about their treatment, one man, Elias Habib, 41 stated during an interview with a Catholic News Service:

"If you are born in a country, you should be a citizen of that country... But in Lebanon, if you are born a refugee, your children are born refugees and even if your son marries a Lebanese, he remains a refugee*."

Photo: Boy walking in Shatila Camp.

The right to citizenship was denied to Palestinians apparently for their own good, so as not to hurt their chances of returning to Palestine one day and living a magical life. However, I ask this question, what good comes from Palestinians being forced to live a miserable life in the meantime?

Answer? None. No good comes from this never ending government policy of discrimination, marginalisation and systematic abuse that is forcing Palestinians to live in unsafe, unsanitary and impoverished refugee camps. This discrimination is contributing to the rise of mental health issues in the camps, as well as problems such as drug use. These problems stem from the overall feelings of hopelessness in the camps.

Palestinians in Lebanon are truly stuck, they can't go back to Palestine (Abbas certainly hasn't helped the situation of Palestinians in diaspora after giving up his own right of return) and it is very difficult for Palestinians to escape the camps in search of a better life overseas.


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* The only way for a Palestinian to aquire Lebanese citizenship is for a Palestinian female to marry a Lebanese male, as only Lebanese males pass on their citizenship.

Palestinian Refugee Camps in Lebanon

Palestinians in Lebanon. There are 12 'official' camps spread over Lebanon; and as of 1 January 2012, there are 436,154* Palestinian refugees registered in Lebanon.

North Lebanon:

Beddawi Refugee Camp: was established in 1955
Nahr el Bared Refugee Camp: was established in 1949

Photo: Mini - Beddawi Camp in North Lebanon, 5km from Tripoli

Photo: Mini - Beddawi Camp in North Lebanon, 5km from Tripoli

Beirut**:

Burj Barajneh Refugee Camp: was established in 1948
Dbayeh Refugee Camp: was established in 1956
Mar Elias Refugee Camp: was established in 1952
Shatila Refugee Camp: was established in 1949

Photo: Mini - Entrance to Burj Barajneh in Beirut

South Lebanon***:

Ain el Hilweh Refugee Camp: was established in 1948
Burj Shemali Refugee Camp: established in 1948 (but UNRWA began providing services in 1955)
El Buss Refugee Camp****: was established in the 1950s
Mieh Mieh Refugee Camp: was established in 1954
Rashidieh Refugee Camp*****: was established in 1963

Photo: Mini - Murals outside Ain el Hilweh, Saida

Photo: Mini - Murals outside Ain el Hilweh, Saida

Photo: Mini - Murals outside Ain el Hilweh, Saida

East Lebanon:

Wavel Refugee Camp: was established in 1948

Photo from: Occupied Palestine | Wavel Refugee Camp
http://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/2010/10/31/palestinians-in-refugee-camps/

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* Source: http://www.unrwa.org/etemplate.php?id=65
** Sabra Refugee Camp is located in Beirut, but isn't an "official" camp as it is not controlled by the UN.
*** There was also a refugee Camp in Nabatieh but it was destroyed by Israeli forces in 1974 and much of the population moved to Ain el Hilweh
**** El Buss was originally built by the French government for Armenian Refugees, but in the 1950s the Armenians were moved to the Anja area and Palestinian refugees settled here.
***** Rashidieh was also originally built for Armenian Refugees but was 'rebuilt' in 1963 by UNRWA to accomodate Palestinians who were evacuated from the Gouraud Refugee Camp near Baalbek.

Palestinians, where did they go?

Have you ever wondered where all the Palestinians forced from their land in 1948 and then again since 1967 are now?

I'm sure you know all about Israel.....

That "democracy" in the Middle East, surrounded by "evil, hostile Islamist Jihadist countries that are hell bent on seeing the Jewish state exterminated" and all that other Zionist drivel I keep reading/ seeing in the media.

Yes, yes we all know that, but how about you hear about the people who barely get a mention, and I'm not talking about the Palestinians living in oppression and under occupation in Gaza and the West Bank, I'm talking about Palestinian refugees outside of Palestine.


Israel was created in 1948, before this there was a country called Palestine.

Upon the creation of this so called "Jewish" state over 3/4 of a MILLION Palestinian Arabs (Muslim AND Christian - yes there are indeed Christian Palestinians) were forced from their homes, threatened with violence and death if they didn't leave. You will find majority of these people still after 64 years living in refugee camps in mainly, the surrounding Levant countries.

The Palestinians call the refugee camps "mokhayam" and I shall tell you a bit about the life of a Palestinian refugee, in Lebanon....

Photo: Mini - View of Beddawi Refugee Camp near Tripoli, Lebanon.