Why supporting Nahr el Bared is crucial for the Palestinian cause and for civil rights in the Arab world

poster for Nahr el Bared demonstration @ Martyr's Square tomorrow

Why Palestinian activists globally and civil rights activists Arab-ly must push Nahr el Bared out of the Media blackout:

1) Over 20,000 Palestinians have been made homeless by the war on Nahr el Bared two years ago. The gov’t's inaction has kept them in a perpetual state of homelessness. The vast majority still have not recovered their livelihoods that were destroyed by the aggression of the Lebanese army. Most cannot freely enter and exit the camp that is under very pervasive surveillance by the Lebanese army. Army harrassment is a daily occurence. This is a human travesty. Why do we not hear about it? Learn about it and speak about it and demand that your government take responsibility.

2) Improving the living conditions of the Palestinian refugees is part and parcel of the Palestinian cause. Too often we forget that the plight of the palestinians is not only in the West Bank and Gaza but very importantly in the refugee camps (and of course in 1948, this too is neglected). They are at the FOREFRONT of the fight for the Return to Palestine and thus they are most valued fighters. We must treat them this way and we must always advocate for their rights.

3) The single most important part of our struggle is the preservation of the Palestinian identity, but in order to keep this identity alive we must stay true to the many diverse experiences that make up the Palestinian plight and we must incorporate this into our discourse. To stay focused only on the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza and ignore the aggressions against other Palestinian communities is to attempt to keep the cause clean and simple. Make the movement cohesive and inclusive and fight against the injustices that happen against your countrymen and women in whatever form those injustices may take.

4) This is a pressing human disaster that encapsulates the tyranny and corruption of the Lebanese government specifically and the Arab governments generally. It is perpetuated by the lack of accountability, transparency, and blatant disregard for human and civil rights that characterizes our governments and it highlights the role that civil society must play in changing this. Rallying for this cause allows civil society groups to target the same institutional and moral deficiencies that it should target for any other civil rights issue in the region.  This sophisticates our strategies and discourses in the long-run and can build formidable alliances. It must be recognized that the reconstruction of Nahr el Bared, the repatriation of the residents and ending the daily harrassment is both urgent and long over-due however, so immediate responses must be sought..

Follow http://albared.wordpress.com and http://mlokheyaresistance.wordpress.com/ for updates from workers and activists in Beirut and Nahr el Bared about developments (or lackthereof) on the ground…

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