Palestinian and Lebanese activists have denounced remarks made by Lebanese Foreign Minister, Gebran Bassil, who said that he “Supports giving citizenship to children of Lebanese female nationals, except that if they were married to Palestinians and Syrians.”
He added during a conference in New York that he supports this opinion, “Because our constitution is like this, our identity is like this, and we should not give nationality to 400,000 Palestinians living in Lebanon.”
Some 400,000 Palestinian refugees live in Lebanon, and only a few thousands are married to Lebanese.
باسيل: انا مع إقرار قانون منح المرأة الجنسية لأولادها لكن مع استثناء السوريين والفلسطينيين للحفاظ على ارضنا
— Gebran Bassil (@Gebran_Bassil) September 17, 2016
(Translation: I support granting the children of Lebanese females citizenship if Palestinians and Syrians are excluded, to protect our country).
A social media activist wrote, “For your sake Gebran Bassil, I will migrate to China.” Another commented, “We look racist today with Bassil’s racist remarks.” A Lebanese journalist stated, “Gebran Bassil should be stripped of his official position.”
(PC, Sky News)
