The irony of Viva Palestina

From Viva Palestina:

The Summer University of Palestine: The New Middle East - People power, democracy and Palestine

Viva Palestina Arabia is organising a seven day summer university in Beirut at the end of July with internationally known academics, writers, political figures and activists to discuss the unfolding revolutionary events in the Middle East and what they mean for Palestine and the international solidarity movement.

A message from George Galloway

"The great Egyptian people have spoken. Egypt is back and the winds of change are blowing through the Middle East and beyond, threatening to knock down the imperial architecture that has robbed the people of the region for so long. And chief among the outstanding injustices from the colonial epoch is Palestine. Now the struggle for a free and dignified Palestine takes place in the epic battle for a new Middle East and wider Muslim world that meets the hopes of its people.

"Viva Palestina Arabia gathered together academics, politicians and activists last year in the Bekaa Valley in our first Summer University of Palestine to discuss and coordinate the struggle for Palestinian rights. Now, after the heroic Egyptian revolution has overthrown the pharaoh Mubarak, this year's Summer University of Palestine has been reorganised to address the questions thrown up by the extraordinary events in Tunisia and Egypt, which are now rolling through the region.

"Book your time off work or college now - 23 to 30 July, just before Ramadan. The university will be in Beirut, upgraded and bigger than last year. It will again have world renowned speakers. This advance notice is to ensure that if you are making plans for summer now, you know to be in Beirut from the 23 July." The university will be hosted by the Palestinian social and cultural society at the American University of Beirut.

Yes, Viva Palestina will be holding a "university" conference this summer to berate Israel about its treatment of Palestinian Arabs - in the very country where Palestinian Arabs are massively discriminated against under Lebanese law! A country where the Palestinians are not allowed to own land, where they are essentially barred from leaving "refugee" camps, where they are abrred - by law - from many professions, where the nation would never consider naturalizing even the Palestinians who want to follow the laws and become citizens.

Once can be sure that Lebanon will not be criticized one bit at this conference. After all, one must be polite to one's hosts.