Amidst the current hostilities in Lebanon, much is said in favour of Hizballah's so-called "stand on behalf of the Palestinians". Seeing the Lebanese Prime Minister's tears of sadness at the fate of his country, one can get the impression that but for Israel's actions, Lebanon would be a wonderful society respecting human rights - indeed a veritable beacon of fairness and liberal-mindedness.
Sorry to spoil the party but its worth reading the 2005 report on the situation of Palestinians in Lebanon which was compiled by the Palestinian Human Rights Organization -PHRO. The PHRO is definitely no friend of Israel and the report's introduction makes much of Israel's "violations" of Palestinian rights - no surprises there.
More interesting is the complete absence of basic rights for Palestinians living under Lebanese control in Lebanon. There are around 435,000 Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. According to the Report, "in the case of Palestinian Refugees, the limitation on their rights is primarily based on the pretext of their lack of citizenship". This despite the fact that many Palestinians arrived in Lebanon in 1948 and others in the late 1960s (following expulsion from Jordan by the Jordanians).
The PHRO report confirms the following: Palestinians are denied legal aid in Lebanon; Palestinians are prohibited from living in border areas in South Lebanon and they alone are subject to identity checks carried out by the Lebanese Army thus restricting their freedom of movement; Palestinians are prevented from attaining Lebanese citizenship so as not to upset the "delicate sectarian balance" in Lebanon; Palestinians are prohibited from acquiring real estate in Lebanon; Palestinians in Lebanon are prevented from becoming members of work syndicates thus closing the doors of many professions such as law and medicine; Palestinians in Lebanon are not entitled to receive social security and are restricted in their freedom of association; Palestinians in Lebanon are deprived of the educational opportunities afforded to Lebanese citizens and are completely denied access to public health care.
The PHRO report concludes that "the Lebanese adopted policies against Palestinian Refugees residing in Lebanon depriving them of their fundamental humanitarian rights". The importance of the report lies in the fact that here is a pro-Palestinian organization showing how much hypocrisy exists in the world with regard to the so-called Palestinian problem - if liberal appeasers in the West are so concerned about Palestinain rights where is their large hue and cry when it comes to Palestinian rights in Lebanon? If apartheid does exist in relation to Palestinians then Lebanon is a prime example of an apartheid country as the PHRO report so aptly illustrates.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment