Palestinians in Lebanon: Harsh Present, Uncertain Future

Abstract

Palestinians in Lebanon form a special case of the marginalization of the refugee issue begun in Madrid and given the Palestine Liberation Organization's (PLO) stamp of approval at Oslo. While the rights of refugee Palestinians everywhere were undermined by the Oslo Accord, those in Lebanon suffer from uncertainty about the future to a degree unparalleled elsewhere. Originating not in Gaza or the West Bank but in Galilee and the coastal cities that fell to Israel in 1948, the Palestinians of Lebanon stand virtually no chance of returning either to their places of origin or to the areas that will come under Palestinian control. At the same time, opposition to their settlement in Lebanon is one of the few issues that unites the Lebanese government and public opinion across most of the sectarian communities. As international diplomacy to dissolve the refugee question gears up, the unlikelihood that Lebanon will be able to withstand pressures toward tawtin (or implantation, the term used for the permanent settlement of the refugees outside Palestine) spells trouble for its refugee community. One cannot understand the current situation of Palestinians in Lebanon without first setting it within the international and regional polit-