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  Lawrence of Arabia 6:50 pm on August 17, 2010 Permalink
  Tags: lebanon ( 43 ), Palestinian refugees   

  While still unable to buy property, Palestinians are now legally able to gain employment in private businesses across Lebanon.

  Practically, it changes very little…

  But Ziad Sayegh, an expert on Palestinian refugee rights, said that the new legislation would make a difference.

  “For the first time, it actually gives them some legal rights,” he said. “If an employer treats a Palestinian worker badly, he can now go to the court and complain.”

  The Christian population is wary of the Palestinians becoming permanent settlers in Lebanon and wishes to continue pressuring the UN and others to make it possible for the refugees to return to their homes. For this reason, the law does not go as far as others in the region to integrate the Palestinians…

  “They spent a long time on discussions which emptied the law of any real meaning, and I wish they had put it off so we could push for a better version,” said Suheil Natour, spokesman for the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP).

  Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) leaders in Lebanon have politely welcomed the move as a step forward, but said they will continue to press for more rights – while agreeing absolutely that their ultimate ambition and demand is to return to their homeland.

   
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  johnpi 11:43 pm on November 11, 2009 Permalink
  Tags: music ( 42 ), Palestinian refugees, Palestinians ( 35 ), pop music ( 2 ), rappers ( 8 )   

  Palestinians in Lebanese refugee camps to be introduced to ‘turntablism.’

  “Turntables are in fact musical instruments,” Danish turntablist Martin Jakobsen explains at his Gemmayze flat the night before the start of a series of DJ workshops for Palestinian youth called: “Turntables in the Camps.”

  “This is our first time in Lebanon, and Den Sorte Skole – the three-man DJ crew that I’m repping – we want to introduce the idea that there is this global DJ culture that Palestinian youth can take part in; a culture that doesn’t exclude them in the ways that they are excluded from Lebanese society, and that through turntablism, we can teach them to use sounds from their own lives to create music.”

  Jakobsen told NOW Lebanon he was not sure what to expect out of the process, but he said, “I am realistic – I know that it’s not going to save anyone – but these workshops are a way of saying to them – ‘Hey, everyone can be a DJ – and, ‘You don’t need all this fancy shit’ – especially if we’re investing the equipment for them to come and experiment on from time to time.”

  Jakobsen’s compatriot, Simon Dokkedal, the crew’s scratch specialist, waxes a little more street on the matter. “We training the next generation of sound pirates!” adding, “Hopefully we’ll plant the seeds here, and from this we can create a new generation of hip-hop DJ’s here in the camps.”

   
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  johnpi 5:29 am on July 17, 2009 Permalink
  Tags: arab world ( 16 ), iraq war ( 69 ), Israel ( 519 ), Israel Lobby ( 8 ), Palestinian refugees, Palestinians ( 35 )   

  US agrees to resettle 1,350 Palestinians displaced by Iraq War – with full rights to become US citizens down the line.

  Mr. Asali cautioned that it is bound to irk Palestinian and Arab leaders who interpret U.S. willingness to resettle Palestinians — which comes with full rights such as citizenship down the road — as “a conspiracy to liquidate the Palestinian refugee issue.” With the exception of Jordan, no country in the Middle East has granted citizenship to Palestinian refugees. Many Arab countries believe that fully integrating large numbers of Palestinian refugees would undercut their demand for an independent state.

  At least one pro-Israel group in the U.S. deems it a mistake to absorb the Palestinian Iraqis, who were welcomed by Saddam Hussein and regarded as loyal supporters of his regime. “We don’t think that Washington should be bringing in a group of people who we know were publicly and consistently hostile to the United States and its closest ally, Israel,” said Morton Klein, president of the Zionist Organization of America.

   
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  johnpi 7:39 pm on March 10, 2009 Permalink
  Tags: Jon Kyl, Palestinian refugees, Palestinians ( 35 )   

  Following his shameful decision to show the anti-Muslim video “Fitna” with Dutch MP Geert Wilders, Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ) introduced a disgraceful amendment to the Omnibus Appropriations legislation-the bill that will fund the federal government for the 2009 fiscal year – to restrict funding for Palestinian refugees seeking entry into the United States. Today, after bipartisan opposition, Kyl withdrew the bill.