The Old Key

Thousands of Palestinian families fled their homeland when the state of Israel was founded in 1948. It is estimated that about 3 million Palestinians live in diaspora around the world. Many of them are still without a nationality or passport and travel with a United Nations-issued laissez Passer document. Palestinians have been forced to leave their homes as new settlements; roads and other installations have been built for the Israeli citizens. For tens of thousands of Palestinians, like Walid, there will not be any hope of returning to their ancestral homeland. In Lebanon, Palestinian refugees live in cramped refugee camps of Bourg al-Barajineh, Ain el-Hilwi, Nahr el-Barid and others. Their education and health care is dependent on dwindling UNRWA resources, and their employment opportunities in the country are limited to selected jobs. For example a Palestinian refugee in Lebanon cannot work as a doctor or an engineer, and cannot establish a business of his own outside the camp grounds.