Lebanon's Palestinian Civil Rights Campaign
Moves Into The Christian Heartland
By Franklin Lamb
24 October, 2010
Countercurrents.org
Shatila Camp, Beirut, Lebanon : E ven though not even one work permit
has been issued to one Palestinian in Lebanon since the August 17, 2010 “right to work” law passed in Parliament and even though Palestinians are still forbidden from owning a home, the cause of Palestine Civil Rights in Lebanon endures.
Leila El-Ali, executive director of Najdeh, a Palestinian advocacy group that has long campaigned for civil rights for refugees in Lebanon is pleased that the new law has at least provoked real debate among Lebanese about the plight of Palestinian refugees but agrees that it will have no impact on the ground. ''All of the professions - doctors, lawyers, engineers, pharmacists, academia - will remain closed to Palestinians,'' she says. ''There is no syndicate here that will admit Palestinian members. And to actually be allowed to work legally in other jobs, the new law says you need specific guarantees from your employer - things that in the end make it very difficult for Lebanese to employ Palestinians.”
The August 17, 2010 ‘cave in' by progressive forces in Parliament that allowed
Parliament to do essentially nothing towards granting internationally
mandated basic civil rights for Palestinian refugees, was obviously a bitter
disappointment but it was not entirely unexpected. The reason is that current
political pressures here in Lebanon , internal and external, eroded the
requisite political will in Round One.
As wounds are cleaned from last summer's Parliamentary debacle, NGO's
and human rights activists regroup, tactics and projects are being discussed
and readied to forge ahead. Neither the Palestinian refugees here nor the growing
international coalition to secure these rights has been daunted. This, despite
the fact the more than two months after the meek and fairly meaningless
Ministry of Labor gesture of cancelling work permit fees for Palestinian
refugees, nothing has changed in the camps employment wise and all the
other barriers to Palestinians working remain in place. By law and prejudice.
The currently being launched Round Two of the struggle for Palestinian Civil
Rights in Lebanon is concentrating on developing much more international
involvement in the campaign to secure the right to work and to own a home.
Prominent endorsers of Palestinian Civil Rights for Palestinians in Lebanon
who have signed an Open Letter to Pope Benedict XVI and Lebanon's
Maronite Patriach Nasrallah Sfeir include:
• Dr Rowan Williams, The Archbishop of Canterbury,
• Archbishop Tomasz Peta, of Maria Santissima in Astana, Kazakhstan
• President Jimmy Carter
• Joseph Zen, Roman Catholic Cardinal of Hong Kong,
• Bishop Desmond Mpilo Tutu
• The Reverend Jesse L. Jackson
• Nelson Mandela
• Jaime Lucas Ortega y Alamino, Cardinal Archbishop of Havana, Cuba
• The Very Rev. Samuel T. Lloyd, Dean of the National Cathedral,
Washington, DC
• Mary Robinson, former President of the Irish Republic
• Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, head of the Moscow
Patriarchate's Department for External Church Relations, Moscow
• Cardinal Simon I. Pimenta, Archbishop Emeritus of Bombay, India
A major effort is being undertaken to take this civil rights struggle to the
rightist Christian community in Lebanon who constitute the only real barrier
to enacting meaningful rights in Parliament. Christian support, at least one
quarter of the Lebanese Forces, Phalange party or Michel Aoun's Free Patriotic
Movement is vital in convincing their members in Parliament to help
Lebanon by allowing its economy to benefit from Palestinian involvement
and by lifting the growing international outcry over Lebanon's violations of
basic rights that all refugees are guaranteed by international law and local
regulations. Certainly the endorsement of the Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah
Sfeir, is very important.
The following Open Letter has been delivered to Pope Benedict XVI and
Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir and is now released to the public.
PRESS RELEASE FROM THE
PALESTINE CIVIL RIGHTS CAMPAIGN-LEBANON
The Palestine Civil Rights Campaign-Lebanon and the Washington DC-Beirut
based Sabra Shatila Foundation have released a copy of the Open Letter that
was delivered this morning in Rome to representatives of Pope Benedict XVI
and Lebanon's Marionite Patriarch, Cardinal Nasrallah Sfeir on the occasion
of the VATICANS 2010 SPECIAL SYNOD ON THE MIDDLE EAST
Supporters of civil rights for Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, from 105
countries have signed hard copy and online Petitions, totaling more than
430,000 signatures urging Lebanon's Parliament to support the immediate
enactment of elementary civil rights, including the full right to work and
to own at home, in Lebanon's Parliament. The personal appear to the Pope
and Lebanon 's Maronite Patriarch is part of the recently launched campaign
to achieve civil rights for Lebanon 's Palestinian refugees, the largest and
oldest refugee population and the one depraved of the most basic civil rights
in Lebanon .
According to PCRC spokeswoman, Ms. Ghada Jiliani, “As the Palestinian
civil rights struggle continues in Lebanon , following the disappointing
results of the August 17, 2010 Parliamentary vote, the focus will shift to two
fronts.
One is seeking to involve in a major way the Lebanese Christian community
in this critically important human rights cause. Secondly, and this is crucial,
we must achieve the participation of the international pro-Palestinian,
pro-peace activist community through education and awareness to
dramatically broaden the global campaign to encourage Parliament to act for
the good of Lebanon and her refugees pending their return to their country,
Palestine.
During “Round one” of our campaign we found that most of the
international community had no idea about the squalor and lack of civil
rights Palestinian refugees are subjected to nor the big gap between what
international law requires and what Lebanon prohibits by law, in terms of
elementary civil rights.
Round Two of our struggle will include building support here among
Christians and involving the international Christian and human rights
community.”
_______
On the Occasion of the Vaticans 2010 Special Synod on the Middle East
An Open Letter to
Pope Benedict XVI and Cardinal Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir
from students and families in Shatila Palestinian Refugee Camp,
Beirut, Lebanon
In the early days of his Pontificate, in April of 2004 in St. Peter's
Basilica, Pope Benedict XVI expressed his strong desire for a “pilgrimage to
the heart of the Christian East” and “to examine and to resolve together, in
a Plenary Congregation for the Eastern Churches and in the General Assembly
of the Synod of Bishops, human rights problems of significant importance
with solutions anchored in the teachings of our Lord and Savior, Jesus
Christ.”
Accordingly, Pope Benedict XVI has summoned a Special Synod of Archbishops
and Patriarchs for the Middle East to convene in Rome during October, 2010
on the theme: "The Catholic Church in the Middle East: Communion and
Witness,” and he asked for communications from Lebanon regarding issues of
concern including, "the importance of Muslim-Christian dialogue and
brotherhood.”
We are mindful that the Pope's faithful Lebanese brother, the Patriarch of
Antioch, Cardinal Nasrallah Sfeir, has repeatedly and nobly expressed his
devotion to the teachings of Jesus from Palestine and to the missionary work
and human rights teachings of the 5th century Syrian Christian monk,
St. Maron from "Kefar-Nabo," who devoted his life to his quest for nurturing
and healing the "lost souls" of both non-Christians and Christians of his time.
The Patriarch of Antioch has also issued periodic urgent petitions for
Christians to return to and remain in Lebanon and to live in peace and charity
with their neighbors. Cardinal Nasrallah Sfeir has also earnestly counseled
Maronite clergymen and all faithful congregations of all religions, on the
urgency of healing Lebanon and bringing all citizens and temporary refugees
closer together and rejecting racist ethnic and confessional speeches that
encourage strife.
We have studied that in 1997, Pope John Paul II visited Lebanon to give hope
to Lebanese who are downtrodden and discriminated against and who said,
" Lebanon is more than a country, it is a message from Calvary to love thy
neighbor as thyself." John Paul II reminded us of the divine Sheppard's plea,
"Care for my lambs. . . . Care for my sheep" (John 21:16 -17).
We stand with our Maronite sisters and brothers, and all Christians in
Lebanon in their growing and certain belief that by turning the page from
the past, we can protect Lebanon and achieve a national, sisterly and
brotherly, and comprehensive reconciliation that would allow Lebanon to
solve all issues, achieve justice, solidify stability, and provide a new hope for
the new generation and the return of many from the Diaspora.
Christian-Muslim relations in Lebanon today can benefit from the letter and
the spirit of the civil rights enactment guaranteed to Christians in 628 C.E.
when Prophet Muhammad granted the Charter of Privileges to the monks of
St. Catherine Monastery in Mt. Sinai . The Charter consists of several clauses
enacting civil rights for Christian refugees including freedom of movement,
freedom from arbitrary arrest and confinement, freedom to work and to own
a home." There is magic when the power of the people comes together.
We can overcome whatever the obstacle is, whether it's a tyranny or
discrimination or lack of basic civil rights for some. When we come together
we can overcome.
We respectfully petition the Vatican and the Patriarchy to urge and advocate
that all Christians in Lebanon to the Lebanese and international movement
to enact meaningful civil rights legislation for Palestinian refugees in
compliance with international law and Christian morality. We respectfully
and humbly urge the Pope Benedict XVI and Cardinal Sfeir to condemn the
racist and anti-Palestinian language and graffiti that has polluted public
discourse for the past half century in Lebanon and has undermined dialogue.
Examples such as “ the duty of every Lebanese is to kill a Palestinian,”
“Palestinians are a bacillus,” “ Lebanon must not be a dumping ground for
human waste,” and similar hate speech. Cardinal Sfeir has stressed the
importance of the role of clergymen in bringing Lebanese closer and rejecting
ethnic and confessional speeches that encourage strife.
We beseech the Apostolic See and the Patriarchy of Antioch to address those
in Parliament who to date have prevented the enactment of the most
elementary civil rights for Lebanon's Palestinian refugees forced from the
homeland of Jesus Christ. We urge you to take the required and sincere
stances and preach and use your moral and political authority to implement
here in Lebanon the Gospel's words, as Christ has taught us “to defend the
wronged, the poor, the hungry, the sick.” We ask you, on the occasion of the
2010 Special Synod to demand civil rights for all Palestinian refugees in
Lebanon who are forbidden employment and who are not allowed home
ownership. Jesus identified all his love for them. Matthew the Apostle's
gospel urged equality for “These who are viewed as lesser individuals.”
Some in Lebanon report to Palestine Civil Rights Campaign volunteers that
many in Christian areas do not care and will not heed pleas for elementary
justice and civil rights mandated by international law and Christian morality.
Some will say, “We do truly care but is there anybody willing to hear?”
We remember what St. Maroun taught us all as he preached the Gospel,
“Christ came to his special people, but at first they didn't understand him or
accept him. But in spite of rejection, Jesus spoke, and he advocated for
justice for refugees, the downtrodden and those facing discrimination, and
he spoke Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. And what Jesus said, nobody had ever
said, and nobody must ever ignore and nobody must rest or be silent from
trying to achieve.”
Civil rights for Lebanon 's Palestinian refugees have been denied for too long.
These days are pregnant with potential new tragedies that nobody wishes
upon anybody else. We petition Pope Benedict XVI and Cardinal Sfeir
to command their faithful to support the earliest possible enactment of Civil
Rights legislation for Palestinian refugees currently pending in Parliament. *
We urge words and acts from Rome and Antioch which are sympathetic,
strong and courageous towards the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon
and those under occupation that Zionism had been subjugating for more than
sixty years to a terrible and continuous uninterrupted Holocaust, with
unlimited Western support.
We respectfully urge Pope Benedict XVI and Cardinal Sfeir to heal the
wounds and prevent civil strife, international sanctions, obviate the need for
massive peaceful civil rights movements and protests, international
boycotts, sanctions, and divestments, and prevent the currently pending
termination of all foreign aid from the USA as required by the 1961 Foreign
Assistance Act which forbids American aid to countries that engage in serial
violations of civil rights.
We respectfully invite Pope Benedict XVI and Cardinal Sfeir to visit Shatila
Palestinian Refugee Camp, to conduct a meeting of the Lebanese Bishops in
our youth center, to teach the children, to listen to the adults, to sleep a
night in our home and share our life as Jesus of Nazareth did and will ask
upon his return.
As faithful Christians and Muslims we humbly and respectfully offer with all
our love and importunity, our supplications.
_______
In addition to the 432,000 combined hard copy and on-line Petition signers
from 195 countries who, as of mid-October 2010, have chosen to ‘twin' in
solidarity with a Palestinian Refugee in Lebanon the following high-profile
personages are among the endorsers of the Palestinian Civil Rights Open
Letter to Pope Benedict XVI and Cardinal Sfeir are the following:
• Dr Rowan Williams , The Archbishop of Canterbury,
• Archbishop Tomasz Peta , of Maria Santissima in Astana, Kazakhstan
• President Jimmy Carter
• Joseph Zen , Roman Catholic Cardinal of Hong Kong,
• Bishop Desmond Mpilo Tutu
• The Reverend Jesse L. Jackson
• Nelson Mandela
• Jaime Lucas Ortega y Alamino , Cardinal Archbishop of Havana, Cuba
• The Very Rev. Samuel T. Lloyd , Dean of the National Cathedral,
Washington, DC
• Mary Robinson , former President of the Irish Republic
• Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk , head of the Moscow
Patriarchate's Department for External Church Relations, Moscow
• Cardinal Simon I. Pimenta , Archbishop Emeritus of Bombay, India
* The draft bill introduced in Lebanon's Parliament in July 2010 by the Syrian Socialist
National Parry most closely mirrors the requirements of International law
Media inquiries:
PCRC office, Ms. Ghada Jiliani,
01-352-127/71-899-164/70-497-804
Email: [email protected]
