Lebanon Pounding

Artillery shelling, tanks at the gate, missile launches; a ‘normal’ Israeli attack against another side that comprises of 400,000 Palestinian refugees, just that this time it was Lebanon. Early in the morning today, Lebanese forces entered the territory of Lebanon and attacked a Palestinian refugee camp in the Nahr- al Bared area.

This just adds to the personal anguish that I have against Israel. They always have been considered to be ‘aggressive egotist creeps’ by me. I was having a discussion the other day with Usha Ramanathan as to how the Jews have been the cause for all the major wars since 1936 (partly true you know). Domination and religious cleansing seem to be the only ideals of the semis in the middle east. Lebanon is bowing down to the pressure exerted by Israel.

I actually do not propose to write this piece pleading for the cause of Palestine even though I do sympathise for their cause. I write this as this incident is also related to a certain aspect of international law; breach of the 1969 Arab Agreement. The 1969 Agreement between Lebanon and the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) says that the Army cannot enter the 12 refugee camps in the territory of Lebanon. According to Lebanon, Fatah- al Islam militants are based in the refugee camps and an ultimatum has already been issued against them. The government is demanding that the militants surrender and the authorities have already charged 20 captured members of the group with terrorism. The charges carry the death penalty.

I am not aware of the exact object and purpose of the 1969 agreement but the one thing that boggles me a lot is that since when did ‘prevention of terrorism’ become a jus cogens norm that could be used as an excuse to violate a treaty under Article 53 of the Vienna Convention? I have an issue with the word terrorism because it is a state construct (Refer to my earlier posts) and also because the Palestinian militants are not terrorists but freedom fighters in one sense.

Going back to the legal issue at hand, finding it hard to figure out if it’s possible. It’s something I need to look up, didn’t know something like this existed till now. This is also related to issues like state recognition, sovereignty and having someone to hear your voice. These three remain in the grey area for Palestine. Perhaps not now, but sometime in the future Palestine will get justice and the world will know of their misery.