Friday, June 25, 2010

Lebanon's Hezbolla #Flotilla? If They Really Want To Help Palestinians--Start With Palestinian Persecution In Lebanon!

"Palestinian refugees in Lebanon do not enjoy several basic human rights, for example, they do not have the right to work in as many as 20 professions. Palestinian refugees are not formally citizens of another state, so they are not able to claim the same rights as other foreigners living and working in Lebanon."
UNRWA 
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[S]tate policies and practices in Lebanon discriminate, effectively on grounds of racial and national origin, against Palestinian refugees who reside in Lebanon and that, consequently, Lebanon is failing to comply with its obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child with respect to Palestinian children. Particular concerns highlighted include limitations on the right to an adequate standard of living, the right to education, the right to be registered and the right to a name, and the right to social security.
Amnesty International

Salman Masalha writes:
Now that the Lebanese have boosted their national pride by registering the world's biggest dish of hummus in the Guinness Book of Records, they are bidding for the record in hypocrisy, soon to be seen on television screens everywhere. For it is not humanitarian motives or concern for the Palestinians that are making all these hypocrites restless. All they want is spectacle, footage and headlines. Because as we have already said, the Israeli-Palestinian arena is the most photogenic arena in the world.

If they had any genuine humanitarian concern, the Lebanese would stage protests against the harsh blockade that has been imposed on the Palestinian refugee camps in their country for decades. You have to read Amnesty International's reports on the situation of the Palestinians in Lebanon to comprehend the humanitarian disaster there. This hypocrisy was best described by a European volunteer in those camps, who told the organizers of the new flotilla: "You love the Palestinians in Gaza and hate your own Palestinians."
Just how poorly does Lebanon treat its Palestinians?

So how to explain the sudden interest in the welfare of Palestinian Arabs by the Hezbollah Flotilla out of Lebanon. One thing is clear, it has nothing to do with bringing aid to Gazans. The sloppiness and lack of organization of the flotilla proves that.

But these days, you don't have to do your homework when it comes to bashing Israel: it's the PR--and not the facts--that matters.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad

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