Back to Contents 16. Political participation and protests 16.1. Are stateless Palestinians formally allowed to gather, protest, and join political parties in Lebanon? Are they practically permitted to do so? Do you know stateless Palestinians who ever managed to become public political figures? 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. 16. Political participation and protests 142