I would like to raise the following points:

1- As Arabs (or Arabic speaking people) it is time to change our
conservative, sectarian, tribal, mobbish, violent and inhuman mentality in dealing with problems, issues, crisis and challenges which are facing us.

2- Human and civil rights, rationalism, enlightenment, rule of law and institutions, citizenship and individual rights are fundamental principles of the new required mentality.

3- In principle the welfare and the security of the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon is the legal responsibility of the Lebanese government and the moral responsibility of the Lebanese people.

4- As Lebanese we should acknowledge that our internal divisions and our sectarian political systems are the main factor of our troubles and periodic civil wars that have occurred for centuries, i.e. before the Palestinian cause and Assad’s regime in Syria. Our destructive internal divisions attracts and encourage, in a very opportunistic and deliberate way, external factors to be very effective and even dominant in our political life. Only in this perspective we can understand the “Palestinian Era” and the “Syrian Era” in Lebanon.

5- The continuous crisis in the Lebanese political system (with the
attraction of different external factors) and the political opportunism for decades are the main reasons behind not building a rational policy towards the Palestinian camps and refugees based on human rights and legal obligations towards the Lebanese sovereignty.

6- Based on this, disregarding Fateh Al Islam and its criminal acts and its supporters, we can’t at all tolerate the shelling and destroying of the Nahr El Bared Refugee camp which has resulted in the needless deaths of Palestinian civilians. This is a war crime and should stop immediately.

7- The response to the current crisis in north Lebanon should consist, in my opinion, of 3 main elements:

A- Imposing the law through the judiciary system, law enforcement agencies and intelligence against the criminals.

B- Thorough investigation by a trusted independent committee.

C- Introduction of a national policy towards Palestinian camps and refugees based, as I said before, on human rights and legal obligations towards the Lebanese sovereignty. A policy which also aims to segregate the Palestinian refugee tragedy from the political struggle and opportunism in Lebanon.

Ali Hamdan