Walaa Kayyal, a researcher living as a Palestinian in Lebanon whom we interviewed for this report in October 2022 categorically denied that Palestinians might access political offices. She described Palestinians’ avenues for protest as follows:
“Protests rarely happen. The only one I recall was due to the labour law [the previous labour minister tried to regulate foreign labour in the country but without excluding Palestinians from this regulation. Palestinians protested and the regulation was dropped]. But I can imagine that all of them would be detained if they hold a protest to defend their rights and usually Palestinians don’t do protests as a result of fear. Palestinian have offices inside the camps only.”
(Source: Walaa Kayyal, interview record, 31 October 2022)
Mr Ziad El Sayegh, Executive Director of the Civic Influence Hub in Beirut and former Policy and Communication Advisor to the Lebanese-Palestinian Dialogue Committee [a Lebanese inter-ministerial government body formed in November 2005 to implement the policies of the Lebanese government towards Palestinian refugees in Lebanon] whom we interviewed for this report offered an alternative understanding of avenues to protest used by Palestinians in Lebanon:
“We have camps in the country, and you are asking me if they are allowed to do political work. In the law, they cannot vote, only, within the Lebanese election, but they are everywhere, and they are doing political work. You can see a responsible from each faction visiting a Lebanese political figure and gathering and doing manifestation within the camps, of course. And after, if we receive, for example, Khaled Mashal, or Ismail Haniyeh, in the country, the Hamas leaders, you can see their manifestations. And this is what? This is political work. [...]They have political offices. [...] They have militias within the camps too. And you have many NGOs where you can see Lebanese and Palestinians themselves creating this NGO, and they are working together,[...]. If you are asking me the law is allowing them to do political gathering, I’m telling you no. But this is not the situation on the ground. They are doing everything. It’s not about the law. It is about a de facto. When we received Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas leader, six months ago, there were political / Military manifestation in the camps. And he was received by the president of republic, the prime minister, the speaker in Lebanon.. [...]This is a political visit.”
(Source: Ziad El Sayegh, interview record, 31 October 2022)
The Jordanian political economist and long-time commentator on the Israeli-Palestinian dialogue Riad Al Khouri who was interviewed for this report in October 2022 provided following points of context to explain that Palestinians from wealthy families might have more opportunities to access spheres of influence than Palestinians from a lower class:
“The quick answer is no. However, before 1948 I know from my own personal experience with family and friends, among others, the line between Palestinian and Lebanese was not serious. There were intermarriages, business partnerships, and other relations, so that today you have people in Lebanon who are politicians or in office who are originally Palestinian. However, these are people-- A, they are bourgeois; they are not poor people. And B, they were Lebanese citizens before 1948, but they are originally Palestinian. [...]A Lebanese will say he is originally from Palestine, even though he was born and brought up in Lebanon with Lebanese nationality. They will still regard him as originally Palestinian. Having said that, they can be in positions of responsibility or power like Lebanese who made money, which is the key thing in Lebanon. If you are rich, then all these other issues become secondary. [...] The poor Palestinian refugees, I do not know of cases where they have become part of the Lebanese society, political system, and so forth. They may have power or a high profile within the Palestinian camps and in the Palestinian community, but not outside.
[...] This depends more on the sects.[...] The most powerful sect in Lebanon is the Maronite Christian sect which is under the Vatican. Somehow, under the Vatican. They are the sect of the commander of the army and the president of the republic. The other sects, including the Muslim ones, have, informally or formally, access to certain positions in the state- certain power. The Palestinians tend to be of the Sunni Muslim sect and as such there may be intermarriage or business partnerships with Lebanese Sunni Muslim. And as I mentioned[...], people from these groups before 1948, who became Lebanese, married Lebanese, or had a strong business presence in Lebanon, may today have power as individuals or families. But for the Lebanese refugee today from a poor background, to become part of the Lebanese political structure is almost impossible.”
(Source: Riad Al Khouri, interview record, 7 October 2022)
The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs published a report on Palestinians in Lebanon in January 2021 which stated that: “10.1.4 Political and social engagement
Foreigners can join political parties in Lebanon, according to the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA), provided the party has a Lebanese founder and director. In practice, it is difficult for Lebanese political parties to have foreign members. According to a source, Palestinians and Lebanese from different sectarian backgrounds came together during the October Revolution protests in late 2019 that led to the resignation of Prime Minister Saad Hariri. Another source indicates that Palestinians in Lebanon stay as neutral as possible in Lebanese political issues and protests for fear that suspicions can arise about Palestinians and their involvement in Lebanese internal affairs.” (In-house translation. The translator is a native Dutch speaker)
ORIGINAL SOURCE
“10.1.4 Politieke en sociale betrokkenheid
Buitenlanders kunnen volgens het International Institute for Democracy and Electorial Assistance (IDEA) lid worden van politieke partijen in Libanon, mits de partij een Libanese oprichter en directeur heeft. In de praktijk is het moeilijk voor Libanese politieke partijen om buitenlandse leden te hebben. Volgens een bron kwamen Palestijnen en Libanezen van verschillende sektarische achtergronden samen tijdens de Oktober Revolutie protesten eind 2019 die tot het aftreden van premier Saad Hariri leidden.308 Een andere bron geeft aan dat Palestijnen in Libanon zich zoveel mogelijk afzijdig houden van Libanese politieke kwesties en protesten uit angst dat er argwaan kan ontstaan richting Palestijnen en hun betrokkenheid in Libanese interne zaken.”
(Source: Nederlandse Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken, “Thematisch ambtsbericht Palestijnen in Libanon”, January 2021, pp. 48-49)
A collective of NGOs working in Lebanon made a joint submission to the Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review in 2020 in which they stated among others that:
“11.1. Restricting the right to expressing opinion through demonstrations to Lebanese citizens and denying it to Palestinian refugees
Decision 352 issued on 20/2/2006 by the Ministry of Interior and Municipalities restricted the right to expression through organizing demonstrations to Lebanese citizens, thus depriving Palestinians the right to demonstrate. Paragraph 3 of Article 1 of the Decision clearly indicated that «organizers of the demonstration must be Lebanese.» It should be noted that the practical application of Decision 352 allows Palestinians the right to demonstrate and express opinions.
11.2. Denying Palestinian refugees the right to issue publications
Palestinian refugees in Lebanon are officially denied the right to issue media publications, in accordance with Article 4 of the Lebanese Publications Law of 1948, which stipulated that ‘the owner of the periodical must be (1) Lebanese. If they are a foreigner, the license must be approved by the Ministers of Interior and Exterior, based on reciprocal treatment between Lebanon and their country.’”
(Source: Najdeh Association, Development Action Without Borders (Naba’a), Palestinian Human Rights Organization (PHRO) et al, “UPR 2020: Palestinian Refugee Rights in Lebanon”, July 2020, pp. 5-6)