* Lebanese writer

Has the battle to eliminate “strangers” started? Answering this question is not easy.

 

It is an obvious issue soliciting harsh reactions. Lebanon will only recover through finding just solutions, if possible. The most difficult thing for a stranger is the feeling of rejection and that his return to his own forbidden homeland is rejected as well. The refugee’s tragedy is to feel that he is unwelcomed and that he is a stranger in his forced residence. Migration and displacement were not an option. It was the result of wars, displacing and uprooting.

Migrations are a tragedy, an “ultimate uprooting” is a catastrophe, a sense of abandonment, tampering and despair. Whoever experienced displacement and deportation knows that humanity suffers from incapacity, as a refugee often becomes a curse, and everything surrounding him becomes hostility and hatred. A refugee is no longer a temporary guest; he becomes a burden on the hosting country that is not his homeland. Then, feelings of mutual bitterness and animosity emerge.

 

Palestinian asylum was a test in which many failed. Asylum often begins with a cautious welcome, which is sometimes dictated by national and human feelings. Then, if the  asylum is extended, the refugee becomes a burden and unwanted guest, and is rarely excused from accusations to be responsible for all political, security and economic problems. Hence the refugee becomes an accused, even if innocent. Here the sense of solidarity regresses into the denial of the right to asylum.

 

The Palestinian in Lebanon is a chronic problem. The country has long been divided on. There are those who support the issue by solidarity, and others who oppose it by denial. There are those who are waiting and there are those who are rushing, and in all cases, there is no satisfactory solution, and there is no possible road map. Therefore, the Lebanese who refuses can but lie in wait, while the Palestinian has no choice but to wait and fear. Waiting for a return to the homeland, an impossible return because of the occupation, and because the international powers have abandoned the principle of justice and international legitimacy, favored the occupation, and replaced the right of return with the “Deal of the Century” as a model for perpetuating the catastrophe.

 

The chronic perplexity of a refugee cannot be measured, and no one knows the degree of his misery. He is expelled from his home and is forbidden to be considered as a semi-citizen, with rights that guarantee a relatively decent life, compensate for his misery and despair, and allow him to be a full and equal human being. His despair always following him everywhere. A vicious circle. It ends where it begins. Every attempt has failed and the nightmare of the deprivation of return pushes him once again to try to improve his living, a rightful demand. But the conditions of improving his life are difficult or lacking, and Lebanon has its own specificity in its demographic composition, and the feeling of a minority that was once strong, that its numerical battle overtly requires the refusal of settlement. Even the Lebanese Constitution provided for this. However, signs of refusal of resettlement remains high in tone.

The Palestinian, as well as many other Lebanese, have the right to ask: Is there no other possibility of a less miserable place of residence? Why does the Palestinian have to always feel rejected and accused to be the origin of many crisis: when will all these accusations stop? When will we witness a limit between the perpetrator and the majority abiding by the respect for hospitality? They also ask themselves: Do you experience the feeling of staying in isolated, besieged, miserable camps prohibited from transforming into comfortable, healthy, and humane accommodations, as is the case anywhere else in the world; where migrants are reluctantly welcomed in spite of anti-stranger fanaticism, and compensate by a stay that respects the rules of human rights.
This feeling of persecution is chronic. Chronic is desperation to improve living conditions. Chronic also is the accusation that the Palestinian is a danger to the Lebanese or to a group of them. Lebanese do not forget that the Palestinian took up arms in order to return and that ended up into a deadly internal war, into sectarian alignment, a national disaster and massacres from one place to another.

 

This time is long past, or supposed to be. A dialogue table was set up, the fighters concluded an agreement, and the war ended. Nevertheless, the image of the Palestinian and his gun remained inseparable. The Palestinian is only seen with the eyes of the past, and not as a refugee, with political and international rights and assistance so that his right of return to his homeland persists, as a prelude to a path for this return… no matter the long yearning.
The economic and financial crisis in Lebanon was reflected in the behavior of some of the authority in power. Tight enforcement of “laws” has persevered and was added to the refugee’s existential suffering, living suffering, and the suffering from UNRWA’s scarce resources; all of which cast a pall over suffering of the Palestinian.

 

A chronic struggle between a cheap labor force and a national labor force to which Lebanese labor laws apply. This “rectification” coincides with a hostile wave towards every extremely poor stranger. The labor law does not cover the rich and the wealthy. They are welcomed, and granted full citizenship, through special decrees. Misery is the misfortune of miserable people. Misery accumulates until life becomes a permanent transition from one hell to another.

 

Tightfisted hit the Lebanese finances… the Lebanese classes were living on the influx of expatriates coming from exile. However, the principle of borrowing and lack of transparency swamped Lebanon with debts that exceeded incomes. The Lebanese were spending like the rich, while their finances were depleted. A huge crisis, a difficult test, severe risks and a looming disaster. In such cases, all eyes are turning to incomes. Taxes are imposed on citizens in light of the massive unemployment crisis, factories closing and ruined trade… However, this downhill is not caused by the Palestinian, nor even the Syrian in Lebanon; Lebanon’s dilemma occurred well before that, but putting the blame on “strangers” alone is already a great injustice. This is usually the habit of right-wing parties in Europe. And this is injustice…

Intermediate solutions are the best solutions. The tension is bad for the Lebanese-Palestinian relations, and considering that the Palestinians are the cause of poor economic situation is merely defamation. Failure to acknowledge the depth of the economic and financial crisis is an escape from overwhelming facts. Lebanon is in a crisis that cannot be solved by emotional and accusatory measures. Blaming the weak people is never tolerable… the crisis has hit many facilities. The weak people are never the root of the problem. The problem is in the adopted policies and the lack of serious accountability for government spending.

 

 
There is no solution on the horizon, and the solution must be awaited through sustainable growth and a healthy economy, a balance between spending, tax collection, and restoring economic recovery.

“Deprivation loads to disputes”, is a true popular saying. The shortage hit the Lebanese before the Palestinians. Let the wave of hostile extremism against strangers stop pending distant solutions, or waiting for the Lebanese recovery, which requires a revolution in thinking, behavior and politics. Refugees are the responsibility of every one of us. The Palestinian should not be blamed for all the consequences of the current Lebanese crisis.
Who will be wise enough?

The solutions are difficult but can facilitated by honest dialogue and humanitarian solutions, nothing more and nothing less.