Palestinian Children: Victims of Arab Apartheid

by Khaled Abu Toameh • December 20, 2018 at 5:00 am

According to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), "legal prohibitions persist on access for Palestinian refugees to 36 liberal or syndicated professions (including in medicine, farming, fishery, and public transportation)... In order to work, Palestinian refugees in Lebanon are required to obtain an annual work permit. Following a change in the law in 2001, Palestinian refugees are reportedly prevented from legal acquiring, transferring or inheriting real property in Lebanon."
The latest failure serves as a reminder of the apartheid and discrimination Palestinians face in Lebanon. According to various human rights organizations, Palestinians there suffer systematic discrimination in nearly every aspect of daily life. The UNHCR also points out that the Palestinians in Lebanon do not have access to Lebanese public health services and rely mostly on UNRWA for health services, as well as non-profit organizations and the Palestinian Red Crescent Society. The Palestinians are also denied access to Lebanese public schools.
Where are all the international human rights organizations and pro-Palestinian groups around the world that feign concern for the suffering of the Palestinians? Will they remain silent over the neglect of Wahbeh because because he died in an Arab country and Israel had nothing to do with his death?

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has denied responsibility for the recent death in Lebanon of a three-year-old Palestinian boy from the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp, after Lebanese hospitals refused to receive him because his parents were unable to cover the cost of his medical treatment. Pictured: The Wavel Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon, administered by UNRWA. (Image source: European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations/Flickr)

Mohammed Majdi Wahbeh, a three-year-old Palestinian boy from the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp in northern Lebanon, is the latest victim of apartheid and discriminatory laws targeting Palestinians in an Arab country.

Wahbeh was pronounced dead this week after Lebanese hospitals refused to receive him because his parents were unable to cover the cost of his medical treatment. According to reports in the Lebanese media, one hospital asked the boy's family to pay $2,000 for his admittance. The boy had been in coma for three days before his death, but no hospital agreed to receive him because his family could not afford to cover the expenses of his treatment.

The death of the Palestinian boy at the entrance to the hospital has sparked a wave of anger among many Lebanese and Palestinians. Addressing the Lebanese Minister of Health, Ghassan Husbani, Lebanese journalist Dima Sadek wrote on Twitter:

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Does China's Nuclear-Capable Hypersonic Missile Threaten U.S. Deterrence?

by Debalina Ghoshal • December 20, 2018 at 4:00 am

U.S. officials revealed in August that China had test-fired a hypersonic missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead and of thwarting missile-defense systems. About two months earlier, China tested the advanced DF-41 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). It has a range of 12,000-15,000 km, and is capable of carrying 10 miniaturized nuclear warheads.
China is no doubt assuming that if its ICBMs can reach the United States mainland, they will deter the U.S. from interfering in China's affairs in the South- and East China Seas.

China is no doubt assuming that if its intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) can reach the United States mainland, they will deter the U.S. from interfering in China's affairs in the South- and East China Seas. Pictured: A DF-31 intercontinental ballistic missile, capable of carrying nuclear warheads, on display at the Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution in China. (Image source: Tyg728/Wikimedia Commons)

U.S. officials revealed in August that China had test-fired a hypersonic missile -- the Xingkong-2 or Starry Sky-2 -- capable of carrying a nuclear warhead and of thwarting missile-defense systems. Although this was the first such test that was openly acknowledged by Beijing, it was, according to the Washington Free Beacon, merely one of many that the U.S. has been monitoring.

About two months earlier, China tested the DF-41 -- one of its most advanced intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). It has a range of 12,000-15,000 km, and is capable of carrying 10 miniaturized nuclear warheads, rather than a single large one.

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