A Round Table Organized by the Middle East Council of Churches

Secretary General Dr. Michel Abs: in MECC, we dealt during wars with the displaced Palestinian, whom they were given the title of refugee, in various refugee camps, and our institution was the forerunner in serving these displaced persons

As part of its monthly seminars, the Middle East Council of Churches organized a round table entitled “Human Dignity and Palestinian Refugees”, on Thursday 27 July 2023, at the headquarters of the MECC General Secretariat in Beirut, with a hybrid participation of speakers from Lebanon and Palestine. Attendees were also university professors, specialists and students, who participated from the MECC offices and online.

The seminar, which was broadcasted live on the MECC Facebook page, included two sessions, from 9:30 am until 2 pm. The first session focused on “Palestinian Refugees, Legal and Social Reality”. The second session was entitled “Policies to Reduce the Suffering of the Palestinian Refugee”.

The round table started with a speech delivered by the MECC Secretary General Dr. Michel Abs, in which he spoke about the issue of Palestine refugees and the marginalization that they are facing. He said that “in the Middle East Council of Churches, we dealt during wars with the displaced Palestinian, whom they were given the title of refugee, in various refugee camps, and our institution was the forerunner in serving these displaced persons. As well as, departments related to this issue were established years before the MECC founding, and our working teams in Beirut, Amman, Nazareth, Jerusalem and Gaza did a great job, and they are still active today, seeking to deal with the renewed needs of our Palestinian people as best as possible.

He added, "If you turn the camps into places of misery, this means that you will turn them into time bombs that will attract all the marginalized people in the country. Most of them live in a system based on financial and political feudalism, and do not understand anything about socio-economic justice…”.

Then, the first session began and was moderated by Dr. Laure Abi Khalil who delivered a speech denouncing the violations against the Palestinian people, speaking about the origins and development of the Palestinian refugees’ targedy. During the session, an intervention entitled "International texts to protect the rights of refugees and mechanisms for their implementation" was presented by Dr. Hassan Al-Ashmar, Secretary General of the Arab Society for Political Science. He spoke about the legal side of the refugee issue, defining the concept of the refugee from a law point of view and presenting some official texts concerning refugee’s rights in addition to some mechanisms to protect these rights.

The second intervention revolved around "The Right of the Palestinian Refugee and Social Obstacles", with Dr. Bernard Sabella, Executive Secretary of the Department of Service to Palestinian Refugees DSPR of the MECC from 1997 to 2023. He also highlighted why the department was establishment and the context of its service and work. As well as, Dr. Sabella mentioned the challenges of Palestinian refugees in light of the circumstances they live in and the concerns they face.

The third intervention was entitled "Challenges of the Palestinian Refugee in Lebanon" with Dr. Sanaa Hamoudi, Researcher at the Institute for Palestine Studies. She spoke about the reality of the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, especially in the camps, mentioning to the issue of the high number of refugees in Lebanon being faced by them. This is in addition to the health and educational challenges surrounding the camps, as well as the work of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

The fourth intervention focused on "the Rights of Refugees in the Balance of International Justice" with Dr. Nayef Jarad, Vice President of Academic Affairs and Research – Al-Istiqlal University. He talked about the suffering of the Palestinian refugees during their displacement, stressing the need to ensure their protection and work to secure and preserve their rights.

Following the break, a second session was moderated by Dr. Chawki Attieh, who presented in his speech a definition of the Palestinian refugee, condemning every deprivation of their rights. Then, there was an intervention centered around “Policies Adopted by the Palestinian State Regarding the Right of Return", with Dr. Youssef Harb, Deputy of the Palestinian Ministry of Interior, and an Activist for the Right of Return. He talked about the obstacles faced by Palestinian refugees and shed light on the work of the Palestine Liberation Organization and the achievements it was able to make with the aim of protecting the Palestinian refugees.

The next intervention was entitled "Focus on the Challenges Faced by Refugees (Financial, Social, Legal/ Human Rights)" with Dr. Ferial Sabri Kiwan, Camp and Community Services Director Mar Elias/ Shatila, at the UNRWA. She presented an introduction about UNRWA and its framework in the Palestinian refugee camps. She also referred to the Palestinian refugees' struggle to preserve their dignity, and talked about the issues of protecting Palestinian refugees.

The last intervention was with His Excellency the Lebanese Caretaker Labor Minister Mr. Moustafa Bayram, and was entitled “On the Track Towards Complete Rights”. During the intervention, His Excellency the Minister presented the initiatives that he was able to implmenet in order to ensure the protection of the Palestinian refugees, and spoke about the economic cycle of the Palestinian presence in Lebanon, stressing the importance of dialogue and taking the necessary decisions.

The round table also included a session for questions and discussion between the participants. It ended with a final word by the Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches Dr. Michel Abs, in which he renewed his call for the need to protect the rights of Palestinian refugees and preserve their dignity. He also mentioned the series of monthly seminars organized by MECC within the framework of the “Human Dignity Project” - “Dialogue and Social Cohesion-Social Capital Rehabilitation”.