Back to Contents [...] This depends more on the sects.[...] The most powerful sect in Lebanon is the Maronite Christian sect which is under the Vatican. Somehow, under the Vatican. They are the sect of the commander of the army and the president of the republic. The other sects, including the Muslim ones, have, informally or formally, access to certain positions in the state - certain power. The Palestinians tend to be of the Sunni Muslim sect and as such there may be intermarriage or business partnerships with Lebanese Sunni Muslim. And as I mentioned[...], people from these groups before 1948, who became Lebanese, married Lebanese, or had a strong business presence in Lebanon, may today have power as individuals or families. But for the Lebanese refugee today from a poor background, to become part of the Lebanese political structure is almost impossible.” (Source: Riad Al Khouri, interview record, 7 October 2022) The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs published a report on Palestinians in Lebanon in January 2021 which stated that: “10.1.4 Political and social engagement Foreigners can join political parties in Lebanon, according to the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA), provided the party has a Lebanese founder and director. In practice, it is difficult for Lebanese political parties to have foreign members. According to a source, Palestinians and Lebanese from different sectarian backgrounds came together during the October Revolution protests in late 2019 that led to the resignation of Prime Minister Saad Hariri. Another source indicates that Palestinians in Lebanon stay as neutral as possible in Lebanese political issues and protests for fear that suspicions can arise about Palestinians and their involvement in Lebanese internal affairs.” (In-house translation. The translator is a native Dutch speaker) ORIGINAL SOURCE “10.1.4 Politieke en sociale betrokkenheid Buitenlanders kunnen volgens het International Institute for Democracy and Electorial Assistance (IDEA) lid worden van politieke partijen in Libanon, mits de partij een Libanese oprichter en directeur heeft. In de praktijk is het moeilijk voor Libanese politieke partijen om buitenlandse leden te hebben. Volgens een bron kwamen Palestijnen en Libanezen van verschillende sektarische achtergronden samen tijdens de Oktober Revolutie protesten eind 2019 die tot het aftreden van premier Saad Hariri leidden.308 Een andere bron geeft aan dat Palestijnen in Libanon zich zoveel mogelijk afzijdig houden van Libanese politieke kwesties en protesten uit angst dat er argwaan kan ontstaan richting Palestijnen en hun betrokkenheid in Libanese interne zaken.” (Source: Nederlandse Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken, “Thematisch ambtsbericht Palestijnen in Libanon”, January 2021, pp. 48-49) A collective of NGOs working in Lebanon made a joint submission to the Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review in 2020 in which they stated among others that: “11.1. Restricting the right to expressing opinion through demonstrations to Lebanese citizens and denying it to Palestinian refugees Decision 352 issued on 20/2/2006 by the Ministry of Interior and Municipalities restricted the right to expression through organizing demonstrations to Lebanese citizens, thus depriving Palestinians the right to demonstrate. Paragraph 3 of Article 1 of the Decision clearly indicated that «organizers of the demonstration must be Lebanese.» It should be noted that the practical application of Decision 352 allows Palestinians the right to demonstrate and express opinions. 11.2. Denying Palestinian refugees the right to issue publications Palestinian refugees in Lebanon are officially denied the right to issue media publications, in accordance with Article 4 of the Lebanese Publications Law of 1948, which stipulated that ‘the owner of the periodical must be (1) Lebanese. If they are a foreigner, the license must be approved by the Ministers of Interior and Exterior, based on reciprocal treatment between Lebanon and their country.’” 16. Political participation and protests 143