This article focuses on the densely populated municipality of Bourj Hammoud, where the proportion of registered Syrian refugees has reached a fifth of the local population without leading to any major violent episodes. Based on extensive ethnographic study, this article reveals how, combined, Bourj Hammoud’s residents’ specific religious or historical ties with Syrian refugees, lenient municipal regulation of refugees movement, and the abilities of the refugees to navigate the city, has allowed peace to prevail through out the city, despite its high number of refugees.

Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon are often depicted as “no-law zones” that give rise to Salafist-Jihadist factions, and inter-related military networks between some Lebanese, Palestinian and Syrian groups. The Lebanese army and its intelligence apparatus are not in a totally antagonistic relationship with Palestinian actors and despite their divisions, Palestinian organizations, from Islamists to Nationalists and Leftists, cooperate with each other. This paper argues that an inter-Palestinian mediation process and a constant dialogue with Lebanese authorities are surely a precondition to face Salafist radicalization in Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon.