The Guardians of the Cedars -The Movement of Lebanese Nationalism issued the following communiqué:
The issue of the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon has been resurrected yet again by some politicians known for their volatile moods and suspicious motives, who demand that the refugees be granted the rights to work, to property, and to health care under the cover of humanitarian, social and civil rights. No sooner is the issue put on the table that it quickly deteriorates into a monumental dispute between Lebanon's politicians who seem to disagree on everything except the destruction of the country.
From the standpoint of logic and reason, we ask those people – who seem to care so much for the Palestinians – the following questions: How can the State agree to secure those civil and social rights to the refugees before it even provides them for its own people? Or open the labor market to them while the Lebanese are emigrating in droves in search for their livelihood? Or provide health care to the refugees when the Social Security Fund is not even able to provide the minimum health care needs to the Lebanese themselves, and the Treasury is reeling under deficits and unprecedented debts? As for the right to property, is there really a pressing need for the refugees to purchase Lebanese real estate property, unless they were seeking to surreptitiously settle in Lebanon for good but refuse to publicly say so?
From the standpoint of the facts on the ground, the equation is clear: For 400,000 Palestinian refugees to permanently settle in Lebanon would mean the disappearance of Lebanon as we know it in the short and medium terms. And so we reiterate our rejection of the settlement of the refugees as a life and death issue that we have forever resolved by the blood and treasure we have sacrificed, ever since the burden of the Palestinian Question was dumped in 1969 exclusively on the shoulders of Lebanon because of the cowardice, the weakness and short-sightedness of the country's rulers, and the mercenary allegiance of the majority of its political parties, politicians, and media figures to foreign countries.
The only solution for the refugees lies in one of two things, both of which demand determined and intensive diplomacy. The first is to secure the refugees' return to their homes, short of which the second option is to distribute them to their brethren in the vast and expansive Arab countries, especially the extremely wealthy oil countries that claim to support the Palestinian Cause, and also in the large countries that are able and capable to absorb them, such as the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Russia and others.
As for the issue of caring for the refugees pending their departure, this should fall to the jurisdiction of the Lebanese State without any hidden agendas of permanently settling them in Lebanon under the cover of humanitarian and temporary considerations, particularly when it comes to the absolute must of disarming them, both outside and inside the camps and give the legitimate Lebanese Armed Forces the sole and exclusive responsibility for security inside the camps.
Finally, we say to those who refuse to understand or learn, from the standpoint of our loyalty to our martyrs, our people, and our Lebanese nation, that there will never be a solution to the Palestinian problem at the expense of Lebanon, despite the plotters' conspiracies and the mercenaries' collusions. Enough with their cheap one-upmanship!
Lebanon, at your service
Abu Arz