Since the departure of Syria and the recent election, Lebanon will be undergoing some significant changes.

Reform in government will come slowly.

Corrupt government officials will not be eliminated overnight.

However, I am optimistic, that, in time, Lebanon will make some real progress and will once again be referred to as " The Paris of The Middle East ".

Lebanese are generally an optimistic and cheerful people.

If they ever get over the underlying problem of insisting on a sectarian type of government, trying to divide power between Christians, and different types of Islam, they would really untie the noose.

Following is an account of an event that has not happend since the civil war.

It will help both Lebanon and the Palestinians.

A.B.

Copyright © 2005 The Daily Star

Tuesday, June 28, 2005
Lebanon to let Palestinians obtain work permits


By Rym Ghazal
Daily Star staff



BEIRUT: The Lebanese government announced it will finally allow Palestinian refugees born in Lebanon to legally work at manual and clerical jobs in the country, ending 20 years of discrimination. In an official statement, Lebanon's outgoing Labor Minister Tarrad Hamadeh said: "From now on Palestinians born on Lebanese land and registered officially with the Lebanese Interior Ministry will be allowed to work in the jobs previously unavailable to them."

The move brings Lebanon more in line with other Arab countries who long ago granted Palestinian refugees the right to work, and have in some cases offered them citizenship.

But despite the measure, the Lebanese government insisted a ban on Palestinians seeking professional employment will remain in place, meaning Palestinian workers will be restricted to manual and clerical work.

There are around 400,000 registered Palestinian refugees living in Lebanon, 90 percent of whom were born in Lebanon and will be eligible to work. Anyone aged 57 and below will benefit from the work permit.

Lebanon's about face comes just two months after Syria ended its 29-year military presence in Lebanon.

The Syrian withdrawal also led to the departure of hundreds of thousands of Syrian migrant laborers who worked in Lebanon's booming construction market, but who have since suffered from an anti-Syrian backlash - with some even being attacked by locals.

Until now, Lebanon, unlike neighboring Jordan, has steadfastly refused to encourage Palestinians to become part of Lebanese society, insisting that the refugees must return home, fearing the impact of permanent settlement on Lebanon's fragile sectarian balance.

The 12 Palestinian camps in Lebanon are subject to rigid planning restraints which prohibit the erection of permanent homes. Lebanese camps are generally seen as the most dire in the Arab world.

In an interview last year with The Daily Star, Palestinian Authority Labor Minister Ghassan Khatib said: "I was stunned by the refugee camps in Lebanon. Even in camps in Gaza and Nablus in the Occupied Territories, the situation is better than that of the camps in Lebanon."

Charities working with Palestinian refugees in Lebanon applauded the government's move.

Wafa Elyassir, who works with Norwegian People's Aid, said: "The fear that Palestinians

will now give up their right

of return and overwhelm Lebanon are unfounded, given how Palestinians living abroad, with far more opportunities and leisure, are still holding on to their right of return to Palestine."

Suhail al-Natour, member of the Central Committee of Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine said: "It is just the first step, as there should be no limitations on the kinds of jobs Palestinians can do. They can work in a company or as a guard but not as doctors or engineers for example, it is not really fair."

The government's announcement has also given rise to speculation that there will be a concerted effort to disarm armed factions in the camps.

Natour said: "Slowly through granting human rights, security concerns will be viewed as being under less threat and a case will be made for the disarmament of the Palestinians.But whether the Palestinian accept it, is another issue."



Copyright © 2005 The Daily Star

my dream...a train from beirut, to jerusalem, to baghdad to kirkuk to istanbul...I would love so much to open a ski/white water rafting business in the mountains of kurdistan....what a wonderful tour it would be...the holy sites, the paris of the middle east, the hanging gardens, the jewish quarter in all those places, and the wonderful mountains where abraham was born and sent to get a wife (rebecca) from the Kurdish village where he was from...waited for the women who cared for the stranger and offered to water his camels (a true sign of a good wife) and then to istanbul the history, the wonderful history...oh plz dear god let it be so one day.

What a wonderful dream that is.

I know it won't happen in my lifetime ( I'm too old ), but I sure hope you are around to see that dream become a reality, Heart.

If only the players in the Mid East would have dreams like that!

A.B.