For many of Lebanon's estimated half-a-million Palestinian refugees, life consists of confinement to squalid camps, where they are barred from performing most jobs, owning property, and accessing basic civil liberties.
The Lebanese government's excuse for condemning the Palestinians to such inhumane limbo is that any integration into society would jeopardise their right of return to Palestine.
This right has, of course, been categorically denied by the Israelis since the forcible establishment of the state of Israel on Palestinian land in 1948.
Interestingly, a new twist on the "right of return" concept is now being pursued by the Kingdom of Spain, which has decided to award Spanish nationality to descendants of Sephardic Jews expelled by Ferdinand and Isabella in 1492, provided they meet certain criteria.
The Associated Press reports that "no one knows how many people might be eligible [for the citizenship], though some estimates run into the millions". READ MORE AT AL JAZEERA ENGLISH.