Peace for Lebanon

It's A Bad Dream

2007-05-21T15:21:00.000-07:00

A cold sweat of dread creeping over me, I stare at the news inanxious disbelief. Only 25, I feel the hard beating of my heart against my chest like an aggressive ticking sound of a clock about to explode. Dread to my ears. Not again. The fear of facing more explosions to come surmounts me. The memory combined with the expection of more explosions to come is not pleasant in the least. This late night my parents woke me up to warn me that there had been another 'explosion' and my concerned childhood friend, whom I had met in Cyprus as an infant when our families had both fled the war, scared as I, called to share her despair that 'Verdun no longer lookedlike Verdun'. 'Imagine it's a bad dream', I try to reassure her and to convince ourselves. I feel the desperate need to sleep, to return to my cherished idealism and current life plans, to curl up in the safety of denial. I close my eyes tight... but reality still forbids me from sleep.
Last night, the explosion in my area, Achrafieh, shook the windows as I was putting stickers in my students' books. The winds of wrath and darkness had once again returned. A few streets away, near our much beloved ABC, the explosion rocked a street, shattering windows, cutting electricity and injuring about nine and causing the collapse of a house wall that killed a63 year old innocent woman. Haram....this poor soul, I think of my own mother. I want to run and hug her.
It was the first of this week's sleeplessnights. Yesterday Achrafieh, today Verdun, meanwhile Tripoli... where next tomorrow or wait- how about later on tonight? Thank God it's still happening at nightime. How can I go back to sleep? Exhausted, sunburnt from the weekend at the seaside, anxious and terrorized, I crave to sleep. But I cannot. My body is on alert, it's adrenalin is pumping, my eyes are wide wide awake. I cannot relax.
A bride to be, I'm beginning to wonder whether my wedding plans this summer will manage to hold.... An economic minister's calm and well-spoken speech on television and his claim that the government is receiving international aid, calmed my nerves a bit like a sedative and gave me some hope. He's a good man,I think to myself, hoping for some reason, that he doesn't end up assasinated.
My thoughts go out to the poor Lebanese soldiers who are fightingat the gates of hell. Several of us switched on our balcony lights between nine and ten this evening to show our support and gratefulness to them. Courageous, they are sacrificing their lives for our safety and protection. Not a mother yet, I feel the pain of one. My thoughts go outto all the innocent that are being injured and killed. As I am writing, I hear another big noise. My heart freezes fora second and returns to its hard beating with a burn.What was thatsound? I'm on edge. Ah... I relax a bit... it was some noise but itdoesn't seem like it was another explosion. Lebanon, land of so much creativity and potential... my friends,f amily, partner, students with your little lives and many dreams...mypets... myself...it's a rough phase. We will ride through this dark wavebut light will come again and bring colour and life back to our dailylives. Hang on...eventually...not sure exactly in how long but we will make it through.Going to try to sleep....Nathalie Malhame

A letter calling for peace: To the Land of Milk and Honey by Caroline Malhame

2007-01-27T23:45:00.000-08:00

To the land of Milk and Honey ,

We sit and watch as the fingers of our communal leaders are craftily twisted by hidden enemies so that one points at the other accusingly There are no more Lebanese in Lebanon and no more Muslims in the heart of Beirut. There are only Sunnis and Shiites, backed by divided Christians and Druze. We have once again been split into two blind camps. Some of us make up the forces of March 14th and the others make up those of the opposition.

Friends and neighbours who were sheltering each other during the war last summer suddenly find themselves peering through the iron-cage of their sectarian fences. The blazing tires that rolled down our streets on the 23rd of January and the bloodbaths that have been taking place this past week have thrust us out of our denial, lighting up our greatest fears. During the curfew these last two days, we were confronted with a question that had been plaguing our hearts and silently poisoning our lives since the manifestations began, a question we could no longer escape asking ourselves or our loved ones: Are we on the brink of another civil war?

None of us were given an answer. All we have been told is that the “other” is a monster. That everything that is wrong in this country is our distant cousins’ fault. The names of the camps have changed and certain players have switched sides but the scenario looks painfully familiar in the end. We are falling into the very same trap we did in 1975. We are aiming for unity in division. Half of us look to the East for sanctification and the other half look to the West, when instead we should all be looking at each other. Those at the top know only too well that Lebanese politics is filled with dangerous dirty games and dark secrets and that we will never really know who killed Hariri. The question we should begin to ask ourselves instead is why he was killed . When we do this and take a moment to think of the chain of actions and reactions that occurred after his death ,one thing becomes crystal clear. Whoever is behind Hariri, Bassel Fleyhan, Samir Kassir, Georges Haoui, Gebran Tueni and Pierre Gemayel’s murders , behind Marwan Hamade and May Chidiac ‘s murder attempt have one interest in mind- To destabilise this country.

If we don’t want these assassins to get their way ,if we don’t want our kids to lose their childhood the way we lost ours, if we don’t want to lose another friend, mother or brother to the shrapnel of a bomb that ultimately only profits the arms industry, we must under no circumstance let this cancer of wrath, this plague of hatred, this invisible godless enemy succeed in dividing us again. It’s enough that the war this summer has put us $41 billion in debt and has strangled our economy. We don’t need to burn more buildings or block more streets so as to lose more money. We need to encourage our leaders to talk until they reach a consensus.

Lebanon is in an incredibly fragile state at the moment. If it were a human being in a hospital bed, it would be said to be in intensive care, in a frail and unstable condition, capable of losing its life at any given moment. In a condition like this, the last thing our country needs is for its immune system to begin to turn against its head and demand it resign.

Is our memory so short that we have already forgotten that it was Siniora’s clever and gentle words and his tears of love for this country that convinced the international community to stop the massacres of the children that were taking place last summer? Is it not his and Harriri’s diplomatic efforts combined with Hezbollah’s brave show of strength and collaboration that compelled Israel to withdraw? If both sides were able to achieve this together long enough to obtain a cease fire surely they can stop pointing fingers long enough to allow for the cluster bombs in the south to be cleared up and for social and economic reform to take place.

The truth, you see, is that there are no monsters and there are no saints in this country. There are only men and women with war torn hearts that are in desperate need of healing. The last thing these men want is to find themselves facing the barrel of each others guns once again. The last thing these women need is to see their children growing up in the abyss of a bomb shelter. It has been too long that our divisions have turned our homeland into a battlefield used to fight other people’s wars at the cost of our own lives. We cannot do anything to bring our loved ones back but we can refuse to let the ones that live today die in the same way. Maybe if we put our strengths and our heads together we could learn to use our different affiliations with both the East and the West to our advantage and turn this land that has been used as a vessel for war into a vessel of reconciliation and amity.

We don’t have to do much to encourage our leaders to agree. Those who wish to support Aoun and Nasrallah can continue to wear green,yellow and orange. Those who don’t and want to show their love for Siniora may continue to wave the Lebanese flag, but alongside all these symbols let’s wear white on our bodies and hang the colour in our homes and in our hearts to show each other we can resolve this crisis without violence . It can be a bed sheet you have hung out to dry, a flag you have made with your own hands or a flower you have picked from your neighbour’s garden. A sweatshirt you are wearing to work or a bag you are carrying to class. Please do it. Do it for your self , for your family, for this country or do it to remember a friend or a child you loved and lost during the war. Insist relentlessly that all those who agree with you and those who disagree with you ,that those who have faith and those who have lost all hope do the same until each and every one of us is holding a white garment and Lebanon is at last covered in only one colour. The colour of peace.

Caroline Malhame

Beautiful Moments with Refugees from the South and Volunteers

2006-08-18T14:57:00.000-07:00

Polls

2006-07-30T09:25:00.000-07:00

Introduction, Thanks and Calls

2006-07-19T09:19:00.000-07:00

May there be peace in Lebanon and in all the lands....
In 2006, so many innocent people, on both sides or on any side, should not be dying! We must move beyond war and conflict and give voice to love, peace, compassion and justice. We are after all part of the same humanity.

Dear fellow Lebanese, friends and citizens of the world,
What is happening right now in Lebanon and in the region is very sad. This blog has been set up to bring humanity together and call for an international intervention to stop the loss of innocent lives and to bring about peace. This call is a humanitarian one, not a political one. Please feel free to send in your letters describing your experiences, feelings and thoughts on the situation. You can send them and contact us at the following email addy: peaceforlebanonletters@hotmail.com Please note that letters deemed too political will not be published as this blog is more a humanitarian one than a political one. We appreciate all your efforts though. Thank you for understanding.

Kindly note that a Brazilian/Portuguese version of this blog, set up by my dear friend Ana Carolina Nader, can be found at the following addy: http://pazparaolibano.blogspot.com/Thank you Ana! Act now for peace. This blog was started in July, 2006

Dear Cyprus,
Thank you for caring about Lebanon, its friends, tourists and citizens. You have always been a safe haven for us. May the world remember your endured suffering too and the unresolved problems in your country too.

Our friendship grows stronger.

Thank you France for calling for a cease-fire and for 'humanitarian corridors'!
Merci Monsieur le President! Et Monsieur Dominique deVillepin! Thank you for sending aid money and bridges!

Thank you Sir. Kofi! United Nations.... we need you!
Sorry for the destruction that was done to the ESCWA building.

Thank you Saudi Arabia and Jordan for the aid you have already sent! Thank you to all others countries that have asked for a cease-fire!

Calling on my fellow Canadians to call for a cease-fire and for peace! Thank you to our MPs who voted for a cease-fire! To the MPs who voted against a cease-fire, start opening your eyes, this inhumane war is only causing the death of more innocent civilians on both sides of the conflict! May Canada's voice be one of love for humanity, one of peace, one of wisdom.

A msg to the US from a Canadian Lebanese citizen:
Dear America,
A nation is more then a set of borders man can re-draw as he pleases... it is a dream that lives in the heart of its people . My people dream of a democracy that is not brought about by war and a freedom that cannot be brought about by force . Today ... mothers dream of bringing their daughters back to life... fathers dream of rebuilding their broken homes and seeing their sons grow up safe...
Please watch this video so that you can see the real face of war and remember that it is violence and injustice and not peace that are the true parents of terror and that love has been said to never fail.... Somewhere in your heart you know this because you too once had a dream...
Love Lebanon
Video:
http://www.youtube.com/v/ogiSMfjOrk0">http://www.youtube.com/v/ogiSMfjOrk0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350">

Caroline Malhame
August 2006

Thank you to all journalists in Lebanon and elsewhere who are brave and courageous enough to cover the current 'events' with honesty. Thank you to the BBC for their fair coverage. A request to CNN and the US media... please start being less biased and start showing both sides of the conflict. While your international channels are beginning to be fairer and more objective, your US channels are still very biased. How can your citizens see the whole truth if you show them only part of it? Surely the American dream does not include the death of so many innocent people, the destruction of a country's infrastructure or the blocade of incoming humanitarian aid! We believe that if the people of America really knew what was going on here in the Middle East, they would act for peace and for a cease-fire. We call on the people of America to call for peace, for an end to this inhumane violence.

Gibran Tueni, we will not forget you! Our pens are raised!

No to violence. No to civil or any other type of war. No to violent assassinations of any human being. This time we must not forget and we must learn from the past and grow.... for a better, freer and more independent Lebanon, present and future.

The truth... peace... and hope must prevail.

Thank you to all fellow Lebanese citizens and friends who are currently helping those in need right now. A special thank you to the Lebanese Red Cross.

How you can help, yes you can help. Take Positive, Peaceful and Constructive Action NOW!

2006-07-19T00:25:00.000-07:00

Peace for Lebanon. Bring out your flags and candles of peace!

1) Sign and Forward "Save the Lebanese Civilians" Petition at http://julywar.epetitions.net

Sign and Forward the "Stop the Bloodshed: Ceasefire Now" Petition at: http://www.ceasefirecampaign.org

Sign and Forward the following petition, you will be donating 0.10$ for free to the Lebanese children. Please visit http://www.sign2help.com and sign the petition.

2) MSN campaign: put the lebanese flag as your avatar and put [Peace for Lebanon] or [Peace]at the start of your nickname.

3) Flag campaign: no matter where you are in the world put the Lebanese or peace flag on your windows.

4) Raise awareness, call for an international intervention, for peace. Go to or organize peaceful demonstrations or candle vigils- but please make sure they are peaceful. No burning flags or anything. To be heard, you must not be violent.

5) Donate blood to the Lebanese Red Cross if:
You are in good health and feel well
Are at least 17 years of age
Weigh at least 45 Kg
Do not have serious heart or lung disease
Do not have any form of cancer or AIDS
Are not pregnant
And have eaten recently
Lebanese Red Cross Numbers: 140 or 112 (Beirut 01-372 802/3/4/5, Tripoli 06-602510, 06-520748 , Antelias 04524164 and 03202683Tyr (Sour): 07-740070, Jounieh: 09-832260, 09-930642, 09- 930342, 09-931750Zahleh: 08-824892, 08-820735 Saida: 07-722131, 07-720091, 07-722532). Wherever you are in the world, if there is conflict, please donate blood if it can help others live.

6) You can donate to the following:

-Al-Amal Institute For the Blind: First National Bank , Verdun branch – Beirut, Al-Amal Institute for the disabled account No.: swift: FINKLBBE

-Afel: Banque: B.N.P.I - Achrafieh, Compte N° 12824900186, Contact Simone Warde

-Ambassade du Liban - France : Solidarité LIBAN - 42 rue Copernic 75116 PARISBanque AUDI SARADAR France - Swift : AUDIFRPPCompte Euros : 00208240004 Cle RIB 22
- Amel Association: Fransabank - Swift Code: FFABLBBX - Account : 31769440 & n°31769503E-Mail: amel@cyberia.net.lb

-Arc En Ciel: Banque Pharaon and Chiha Branch: Sin el Fil , Beirut LebanonAccount number : 19350-075SWIFT: BPHCLBBE

-Beirut Association for Social Development: Bank Med - Account n°:420-16517000

-Caritas Liban: BNPI - SWIFT Code: BNPILBBX - Account N°: 136,932,001,24 Donation on line : http://www.caritas.org.lb/soutenir/soutenir.asp

-Comite d'assistance Populaire: Audi Bank - SWIFT Code: AUDBLBBX - Account n° 746772

-Farah Social Association: Societe Generale de Banque au Liban (SGBL) -Account : 063004367502641010ICNDR:-----HSBC Bank - Middle East - SWIFT Code: BBMELBBX - Account : 003-074473-100mailto:003-074473-100ICNDR@cyberia.net.lb

-Green Line Association: Current aim: to provide relief work to approximately 6400 displaced persons in 26 schools. Bank account number: 61890 03, Bank of Kuwait and Arab world, Swift Code: BKAWLBBE

-Hariri Foundation Lebanon Relief Fund: http://.www.haririfoundationusa.org/L'Association Libanaise pour la Dιmocratie des ιlections: Sociιtι Gιnιrale de Banque au Liban - Swift: SGLILSBXAccount n°: 013-004-360-016454-02-5

- IRAP: No. de compte : 0003 090 (138 676) 01 1Société Général de Banque au Liban Agence Antelias contact name Janine Safa Code Swift : SGLILBBX

-Lebanese Children's Fund: Lebanon: Societe Generale, Account Number: 013-18646

- Lebanese Popular Rescue: Societe Generale de Banque au Liban (SGBL) - Account n : 360181781024

- Libami: Agence Sin el Fil, Numéro du compte : 001 090 369 083458 01 3 Identification internationale de la banque SGLILBBX

- Maarouf Saad Social & Cultural Foundation: Byblos Bank - Account : 315-3014119-001

-Ministère des Finances - LIBAN :Compte de solidarité aux sinistrés LibanaisBanque du Liban Compte USD: 02 700 362 123Compte LB: 01 700 362 123

-Offre-Joie -Gerard Dahan +9613656678 email: aleph@sodetel.net.lb Rony Farra +9613408044 email: ronfarra@dm.net.lb André Gholam +9613234667 email: agholam@logica-lb.comCoordonnées Rotary Club de Baabda Bank of Beirut Sassine Branch swift: BABELBBE Titulaire du Compte : Rotary Club Baabda Account # : 1140125849500

-Oumnia: oumnia@thisiscyberia.com Achrafieh. Bank Acount: 21.10.0832978.76

-Relief Committe Sanayeh- c/o George Azzi, Credit Libanais Sal Beirut- Agence Sassine, Swift Code: CLIBLBX, Client M. Al Azzi George Chaker, Account no: 043.001.180.0006817.35.6 or c/o Bassem Chit, Societe Generale de Banque au Liban, Hamra, Swift code: SGLILBBX, account number: 00700436209875014

-Rotary Baabda: Bank of Beirut, SassineAccount number : 1140125849500, currency is US $.Swift Code : BABELBBE

-Samir Kassir Foundationi - LIBAN: Byblos Bank - Tabaris Branch -Swift: BYBALBBX Compte USD: 380.3652902.001 Compte LB: 380.3652902.002

Society-Saint Vincent de Paul - LIBAN:Banque Audi - Beirut - SWIFT BABELBBECompte USD: 088587/461/002/009/39Compte LB: 088587/461/001/009/25- Social Movement: BNPI - SWIFT Code: BNPILBBX - Account : 0936510554296095

- Help BETA (Beirut Ethical Treatment of Animals) move 120 dogs from their shelter in Hazmieh to a safer place, board one of their many kittens if you are sticking around or send them a donation: http://beta.beirut.com/ Helena 03-233 382 Margo 03-863248Joelle K 03-410 191 Ziad 03-823 574 Joelle M 03-981025

7) If you are Lebanese, start considering yourself as Lebanese before considering yourself as being of a certain religion, i.e if we no do want to see Lebanon disappear in flames, we must act in unity as fellow citizens. It is time for unity....we are all part of the same humanity.

8) Forward the link to the site http://peaceforlebanon.blogspot.com/ to everyone you know.

Letters written by Two Sisters

2006-07-18T11:18:00.000-07:00

Letter One: Here in Lebanon by Nathalie Malhame, in Beirut, Lebanon.

Here in Lebanon, the atmosphere is grim and sad. The airport has been bombed several times, there is an air and sea blocade, the Syrian border has been bombed, we cannot leave the country easily- if at all. Bridges, oil stations, the airport, entire villages (Haret Hreik, Chtaura, Saida, Tyre, Dahiye, Kfarshima…) and most of our infrastructure has been targeted at and destroyed. Lebanon has indeed been taken ten years back in time. This summer was expected to be a ‘golden summer’ for Lebanon. Hotels were booked, tickets for festivals and concerts were sold out, and tourism was finally beginning to boom again in the country. Lebanon was finally beginning to show its true colors and break away from its war-torn image. All that, has been destroyed in just a matter of days- if not hours. But we can and will rebuild our infrastructure. We have done it before and we will do it again. Lebanese and their friends in all four corners of the world, from Brazil and North America to Cyprus and Nigeria can send money later and help rebuild the country. Saudi Arabia has already done so.
But what about the innocent lives that have been lost? Starting with the eight Lebanese Canadians- my fellow citizens on both sides, I being both Lebanese and Canadian? Continuing with the 12 members of family trying to leave their village? To the other 180 (and still counting) lives that were carelessly taken? To the four Brazilian lives that were taken too? Their lives cannot be rebuilt ….their lives were taken without a second thought. So far, only innocent lives have been taken. No, their lives have not been sparred. Children’s lives have not been sparred. Friends fleeing through the Syrian borders had to see dead bodies being pushed away in a trolley. These images will stay with them for life.
Hearing bombs and seeing our villages destroyed one after the other, we are afraid to sleep. We are afraid to have a quick shower, worrying that we have to rush down to the shelters at any instant-these shelters being no more than the garages of our buildings. How safe are they? You tell me.
People like me, in areas that are still relatively safe, have been rushing to the supermarkets to buy food stocks. Gas is running short as gas stations are closing down. Back to electricity cuts, we are scared to take the elevator. Bread in some bakeries have started to be rationed. Food is still abundant for people who can afford it in supermarkets in these safe areas but it is no longer abundant in South Beirut or in the Southern villages that have been bombed. Hundreds of jobs have been lost. Hundreds of homes have been destroyed. With bomb threats reigning in the air, we are scared to drive anywhere or go anywhere. Even in our very own homes, we do not feel safe. I personally have stopped going to work and am hibernating at home. Are my loved ones or friends going to die today? You tell me. Is my friend stuck in Saida safe? Those supposed flyers that fall out of the Israeli planes to warn Lebanese villagers to flee their villages fall at most, 60 minutes before these villages are wiped away. How much time does that give people to run away? What about the people who cannot read or the tourists or second or third generation returnees who cannot read Arabic? And how can they run away if their roads and bridges have been destroyed? You tell me.
No…. Hizbollah should not have kidnapped those two Israeli soldiers. They did that without the Lebanese population’s or the Lebanese government’s knowledge. Indeed, those two soldiers should be sent back to Israel. But that does not give the Israeli army the right to go and destroy entire villages and take away innocent lives or the right to bombard our whole infrastructure. They did not even try to negotiate before starting to destroy our infrastructure. Yes, Hizbollah should be disarmed. An immediate cease fire must take place now and the international community must intervene to help do that so that the Lebanese government can take control again. Prime Minister Siniora is a good man, with his heart in the right place. We must give him the chance to take control. He cannot do so if there is no immediate cease-fire. This conflict has gone beyond the capture of the two soldiers. It has spilled over, way over into the danger zone. Do we really want to see the start of world war three? You tell me, is that what you want? Do we really want to ignore the value of human life? Day by day, more tears and blood are spilled….mainly in Lebanon right now but also on all sides. In Haifa, in Gaza, in Beirut…. In Palestine, Israel and Lebanon, let’s not forget in Iraq…. Is this really what you want? What for? What for? Please, just tell me what for.
No. I stand up and calmly cry out with dignity and love for humanity: NO. NO MORE VIOLENCE. NO MORE VIOLENCE. PLEASE PEOPLE OF ALL NATIONS FROM LEBANON AND ISRAEL TO CANADA AND FRANCE TO THE REST OF THE WORLD, STAND UP AND SAY NO.
Tell me you will not stand idly by, tell me that you will not close your eyes, tell me that you will not give up. Tell me that you will raise your voice of peace and help intervene now, fast and urgently before more human- HUMAN- lives are lost.

Thank you for listening, from Lebanon with tears.

Nathalie Malhame
Beirut, Lebanon, 18th of July 2006

Letter Two: A cry for Lebanon by Caroline Malhame, in Montreal, Canada

For Nat with love,

Gandhi once said that an eye for an eye would only end up making the whole world blind. I watch horrified as the thick black smoke of what people suspect to have been caused by napalm creeps over the golden beaches and villages in the southern tip of my country – the scapegoat of the Middle East. I scream in shock and disbelief as lethal rockets, autographed by pretty 14-year-old Israeli girls that should be at home playing with dolls, are sent thundering on the southern suburbs of our capital, I cry as Christian and Muslim parents weep all over Lebanon holding their dead children in their arms. I watch speechless as Beirut’s airport and all of Lebanon’s ports and roads are bombarded over and over again and as four million innocent Lebanese civilians, 50,000 of which also happen to be Canadian citizens, are cut off from the rest of the world and punished for a crime everyone knows they did not commit. If Gandhi found the Mosaic law harsh, I cannot help but wonder what he would have made of the Israeli policy “an eye for a whole country?” Would he or any other non-racist human being have ever had the audacity to call it a “measured response”?

Granted, two Israeli soldiers were kidnapped by a militia called Hezbollah. There is no one sorrier about that than the thousands of Lebanese refugees that have lost their homes and their livelihood and are taking shelters in schools and hospitals… No one has paid a greater price for this than the families of the 200 innocent civilians who have died over the last six days as they attempted to flee the country. There is no one that feels their pain more than the 400 people that are lying in hospital beds drenched in their own blood. There is no one more upset about this than the families of the innocent Canadian civilians who lost their lives under the Israeli attacks, and there is no one who is sadder about this than the Lebanese people like me, who do not feel Hezbollah represent them and are now glued to their telephones and television sets, constantly wondering if their family members are dead or alive.

It has been less than a week since Israel began strangling Lebanon. The bombs that have been dropped over my homeland have been estimated to cost my country 5 billion desperately needed dollars in lost tourism-related income and more than 3 billion dollars in destroyed infrastructure: buildings, roads, bridges, milk factories and power plants that have take millions of dollars to build crumbled in a matter of minutes. A country that took fifteen years to get back on its feet was destroyed in a matter of days… But the war machine’s thirst for blood has not yet been quenched and the attempt to dismantle Hezbollah is completely backfiring... The only thing they have managed to do so far with their offensive is to weaken the Lebanese government and shatter the country, robbing it of any resources to resolve the problem.

I am angry because everyone knows that a major part of the Lebanese population did not back Hezbollah and that Lebanon is being punished for crimes it did not commit. I am angry because Israel, Iran and Syria are simply involved in a show of muscle strength at the expense of Lebanese lives. I am angry because innocent Lebanese children are paying for this with their lives on a daily basis and no one is doing anything about it. I am horrified for all the victims who are paying the price and their families whether they be Lebanese, Palestinians or Israelis and am sorry for the unnecessary losses of human lives.

It is early in the morning and I have just heard from an Orthodox Christian friend that his church was bombed in Rashaiya with illegal phosphorous bombs, as six faithful were gathered inside. I spent yet another sleepless night. I am concerned about my father, a Lebanese Canadian who moved back to his hometown two years ago because he dared to hope Lebanon had finally entered a new peaceful era.

I am concerned about my little sister, who is hiding at home frightened, trying to drown out the sounds of the war planes that are dropping bombs on either side of her relatively safe neighbourhood and who cried and screamed in fear on the phone yesterday begging me to ask for a ceasefire… as if I could do a thing.

I am concerned about my great aunt… an old Christian woman with a liver disease who courageously withstood the previous war in her Shiite neighbourhood, who is again stuck alone at home, terrified to get the medication she needs or leave for a safer area because stepping out into the streets would mean certain death.

I am concerned about my aunt who has to take care of her handicapped brother and has just lost her job and only source of livelihood because of the war and has no food left at home or money to buy provisions.

I am concerned about my friend who had to walk over her dead neighbours bodies to get into her car in an unsuccessful attempt leave the country.

I am concerned about my uncle, a professor at Universite de Montreal, his wife and his two Canadian-born children and all of my Canadian friends, who had gone on a summer holiday and who are now stuck in Lebanon, wondering how many more Canadians have to die before our prime minister stops harping about the right for Israel to “defend” herself and starts concerning himself with the 50,000 Canadian citizens whose lives are in danger and that have been desperately trying to get out of the country but have yet to receive help from their embassy…

How dark must the smoke be before people look our way?
How many people must die before people start caring?
How loud must the screams be before people start hearing?

I dream of a Middle East where Muslim, Jew and Christian listen to their Torahs, Bibles and Korans and get over the fear of loving their neighbour and find another pastime than killing each other. I dream of a Middle East where Palestinians are treated as human beings with rights. I dream of a Middle East with Israelis who are no longer frightened and know that the word Arab is not a synonym for terrorist. I dream of a Middle East where Lebanese feel their children are safe and Syrians no longer have to worry about an enemy. I dream of a united Lebanon where Druze, Shia, Sunni, Orthodox Christians, Greek Catholics and Maronite all retain hope and work together to once again rebuild their country. I dream of world leaders brave enough to care for the world more than they care for the amount of cash they can stash in their pockets; of a freedom that is not brought about by force and a democracy that is not brought about by war…

I dream of the day the value of a human life will surpass the price of oil and the day the race for arms will be outweighed by the drive for piece.

What I dream most of right now is for Canadians and Lebanese and all concerned citizens of the world to find their voice and speak out so to push the international community to open their eyes and take action and obtain a ceasefire before it is too late.

By Caroline Malhame, Montreal, Canada
July 19th, 2006

Letter three:
Where are we headed? What are we to expect?
Choosing the Path of Peace, Justice and Love

Where are we headed? What are we to expect? None of us know. Some of us speculate, maybe it will end in 2 weeks, maybe at the end of the month, but we don’t and can’t know for certain. We’ve been told that schools will probably open in December rather than in September. If we only knew what to expect, somehow it would make things easier. But we’re held captive to a cruel uncertainty, waiting, waiting…. waiting….
Most of us expect that the next two weeks will not be easy, the nightmare will not end but will instead continue. The Israeli politicians are adamant to continue bulldozing their way through Lebanon, adamant not to let the Qana murder bring about a cease-fire.They claim to need another 10 to 14 days… to do what exactly? To kill more innocent cilivians? To rob more innocent children, women and men of their lives? To bombard more roads and bridges? To do to more damage to Lebanon’s economy and environment? Of the 820 people or so that have died and of the 3000 or so people that have been injured so far, most were civilians, poor civilians who could not afford to leave their villages. An Israeli spokesperson on T.V claimed that 400 Hizbollah supporters were killed, but that’s not true. Civilians have been killed, in all maybe 25 Hizbollah fighters have been killed only. Are they trying to reassure their people? Are they trying to save face? Are they trying not to discourage their soldiers? These poor young men, if not boys, that are sent off to fight with a biased version of story, if you can call it a story… I see it as more of a nightmare… a horrible, surreal, never-ending nightmare, than a story.
Sad, that so many young soldiers whether Lebanese or Israeli, sons to some, lovers to others, will die stupidly, for stupidity. Where are our world leaders that believe in love, humanity and peace? Where have the men of wisdom and great courage gone to? Killed? Assasinated? Gibran Tueni….Bachir Gemayel… so many killed. Even Rabin, a peaceful Jew who believed in peace, was killed. We must give voice to people who believe in peace, peace for all instead of to people who are greedy for land, oil and power. Siniora may lead us forward, but what about this Olmert? He seems to be want to stretch his muscle, not his heart. A new leader, he has yet to prove himself.
As I’m writing, from the safety of my father’s mountain house, I hear planes… though the Israeli politicians claimed to have agreed to a 48 hour cease-fire, their aviation can still be heard hoavering above our houses, preventing us from enjoying the calm of nature’s stars. Ah, ‘big sigh’, nature, how I feel so nostalgic. I long to swim in the immensity of Ayia Napa’s seas like I did as a child, feeling free and happy; unaware of the cruelty of human kind. Lucky I was to have been whisked away at the age of three from my war-torn home-country and shielded from the horrors of the long drawn out wars of 1982 ….1990. Many children were not as lucky as me. Ah, ‘big sigh’, how I long to stretch my arms and smell the freshness of Montreal’s Park Mont-Royal like I did as a university student, feeling adventurous, creative and peaceful. How I long, wish and pray that this grim, horrible, inhumane reality were just a bad dream that I could wake up from. But no matter how many times I shut my eyes tight, hoping real hard, I find myself opening them to the same harsh reality. This is real Nat. This is real.
BUT WHY? It’s UNFAIR! I want to love life not hate it! I want to love my fellow human beings not hate them!!! It’s so hard to keep on being positive and happy when you see such atrocities, such inhumane atrocities taking place. I do not have the right to complain. My home has not been destroyed yet, I have not lost a child in an inconceivable way, an innnocent child that had nothing to do with dirty war and politics. I was not forced to flee my village, on foot as the roads and bridges were destroyed. I do not need to be rushed to a hospital urgently, before it’s too late …. and…
But will I? If this doesn’t end today, now and urgently, could I lose my father? Could I lose my partner? Will I have to abandon my cats? Fluffy and Barbara? No! I refuse to even think about it! I cannot think about it! I will go crazy if I do. I prefer not to. Denial is better. It’s not my destiny to die now.
But was it their destiny to die, these 820 Lebanese people? Was it the destiny of the 3000 Lebanese who are injured? Will some stay handicapped for life? Some old people from the South can no longer remember their own names, the trauma they experienced being too great. Is it not possible to have peace in the area? Must this volcano keep erupting? Can it not become extinct and be replaced by love and commradeship? Must Lebanese, Israelis and Palestians, keep on being at odds, at dangerous, lethal, inhuman odds, with each other? Are we really so different that we could not get along? Do we really not want to live peacefully with each other? Must I really worry about how I will one day raise my children in this crazy world?
On BBC’s Have Your Say, some American person had written that Israelis have bomb shelters while Lebanese do not as the Israelis are the ones aggressed while the Lebanese have never been aggressed. This ignorant comment fueled my anger, because it showed just how unaware some people are of reality. Can you blame them when the media they watch is so biased, so one-sided? How can they know any different? First of all, the US sends billions of dollars to Israel, so it’s normal they can afford such shelters, while Lebanon has so much debt and receives very little aid. While the US sent about 50 billion dollars to Israel just for fuel for its planes and while it regularly sends it money, it sent very little money for aid to Lebanon in comparision, maybe 20 thousand or million dollars and does not usually send it money. Second of all, since 1982, the year I was born, Lebanon has been subject, on and off to Israeli aggression, so it is very incorrect to say that Lebanese people have never suffered at the hands of Israeli politics. Third of all, Lebanese people are not the type to hold grudges, they’ve suffered so much, they know that it’s a waste of time to hold on to hate. Instead, they prefer to forgive and forget and look forwards to a brighter, better future so they did not spend their time building strong shelters. After 17 years or more of war, they wanted to breath a bit. But… their breath is being poisoned, their oxygen is being taken away…..both literally and metaphorically. It has been reported that harmful, illegal toxins and chemicals have been released. Our we some scientific experiement? Are the lives of Lebanese really worth so little? Play fair if you want to play at all. Lebanese can still forgive, but this time they will not forget.
They will give voice to their victims, and to all victims, be they Lebanese, Israeli or other. Lebanese seek not to hate, but to love, both life and life’s people. Lebanese seek to provide their children with hope, with a happy childhood, free from war and terror, but it seems like their neighbours, on all sides will not let them. So many are those that are seemingly jealous of Lebanon and its beauty. So many are those that seem to want to strangle it of all life, of all inspiration.
If this were not the case, if Hizbollah was all Israel was after, why would it spill oil all over Lebanon’s shores? Why would it cause such an environmental disaster? Why would it keep taking the lives of so many children? Why would it need so much time to allow humanitarian aid corridors into Lebanon? Why would it not engage in urgent negociations instead of try to take Lebanon so far back in time? If Israel is not interested in occupying parts of Lebanon again, why is it demanding that so many kilometres of the south be abandoned? Why are they threatening to move in closer to the Litani river? Why should the potential blue line not be spread out evenly, and by evenly, I mean evenly, between Israeli and Lebanese land? Isn’t that only fair considering that both countries right now feel the need to protect their people?
In a few short words what is happening right now in the region is an INSULT to humanity. We’re in 2006, yet still so many lives are being cruely taken by fellow human beings, not by aliens or by some foreign creatures from outer-space.
It’s so hard to hang on to hope, it’s so easy to give in to hate and despair but I refuse to and will continue to refuse to for as long as I breath. I have known a happy childhood, I have known a happy life. I’ve lived among people of all walks of life, peacefully be they Jew, Christian, Moslem, Druze or non-religious. And peace, love and justice is the path I choose to continue to walk on.
All your tanks and your bombs will not stop me for there is a God above who is watching and no matter how it appears, good always wins in the end. You will never destroy Lebanon’s heart, it will always revive and rise up like a phoenix from its flames.

Nathalie Malhame
August, 1st, 2006
Beirut, Lebanon

Letter Four: A Ray of Hope Through the Dark Clouds of Sadness

A ray of hope has penetrated our hearts these couple of days, lifting the heaviness of the sadness in our hearts just a bit. The cease-fire card is finally beginning to be played. Of course it should have been placed on the table with authority from day one of this nightmare, but better now than later, better now than never.
People around the world, ordinary people like you and I, have been speaking up, whether by going to peaceful demonstrations or vigils, by leaving their visions and thoughts for a better humanity and a better world on media websites, by adding their names with conviction to cease-fire or peace petitions, by writing letters urging their mps to take urgent action, by working with humanitarian organizations abroad to donate or collect clothing, medicine, food or money or whether by actually going into the field and helping those in need themselves. These actions, these positive, peaceful, humanitarian actions do make a difference put all together. If every single person in the world were to cry out from the depths of their soul and from the depth of their hearts ‘ CEASE-FIRE NOW’, ‘PEACE NOW’, ‘NO MORE VIOLENCE NOW’, whether with Lebanese, French or Chinese accents, their voices united together would create a force of goodness. A force so strong and so convincing that it could bring a ray of hope back to this country that was only a month ago beginning to take flight again. A force so strong, it could bring faith to the people in this area- faith that trees, homes and laughter will once again rise up from beneath the ashes and wipe their tears of despair away.
Of course it will take time. Nobody is expecting a miracle here that would be hoping for too much. Even the once innocent hearts of children have been touched by the cold cruelty of realism. Their hearts may beat passionately and happily once again but in their beating, will pulsate murmurs from this present darkness. Dreams will continue to be haunted for a while. To convince those thinking of leaving not to leave, will take time. To convince those who have left to come back, will take even longer. To resurrect entire villages and towns from their knees and from the rubble they have been reduced to, will take time. To rebuild over a hundred bridges and roads and return them to their once bustling state, will take time. To rescue our once glistening seas from the oil they are now choking in, will take time, experts say over a year. Many are the fish and other sea creatures that have suffered. Much time will pass before we will be able to promise a visiting turtle a safe summer home. Much time will pass before our children can once again bath in the gentleness of Mother Nature’s comfort. It will take time. It will take time. But though it will take time, the strength to rebuild, the strength to re-dream, the strength to recall is there.
Yes… we recall our dream of a peaceful, strong, united Lebanon. We recall the fact the first alphabet was created here in Lebanon and that our nation was once known as the Pearl or Paris of the Middle East. We recall the fact that though Lebanon was destroyed many times before, it was rebuilt, again and again and again, perhaps over seven times.
Like our ancestors did before us, we will not give in to the dark smoke of despair or to hatred. We will stand up again and rebuild. We will reconstruct our dreams and our hopes. Christian, Moslem, Druze or other, we will hope again. This time united as Lebanese, Lebanese with a dream to have a peaceful, strong, united, independent nation.
Not able to sit home any longer between the four walls of my room, I , like many others, got up these last couple of days and joined in the force of civil unity. Encouraged by a friend of mine, I went to a school today, housing many of the refugees who had to flea their homes in the South or in Southern Beirut. Armed with papers, colour pens and a thirst to hope, I spent two hours colouring in with children who more than welcomed me. It did not matter that they were mainly Moslem and that I was Christian for we are part of the same humanity, both Lebanese, both hoping for a better present and a better future. It did not matter that I was a returnee and spoke terrible Arabic. Our language was the same, one of love, one of solidarity. Happy to have something to do, they drew houses and trees and hearts. Many drew a Lebanese flag. My friend and I, Moslem and Christian, side by side, put up their pictures up on a wall in the school. Their dreams to have a safe home, their dreams to have a happy childhood, their dreams to grow up in a peaceful environment should not be taken away from them. They have the right to a happy life. They have the right to live in peace. They have the right to hope like any another child.
A couple of days before, again encouraged by the same wonderful friend, I went to help another group of citizens, pack food for refugees. A group of volunteers stood in a line and we went from one to another with our bags wide open, watching them put in bread, then rice, then lentils, then tomato paste etc. I later went up to another group of people and was welcomed with open arms. Together we sat on some steps and put in milk, sugar and tea in rationed portions in some bags. Raja, a refugee from the South opened the heavy bags for us. We took orders from a nine year old red-hair with lots of freckles. Amani… her face will probably come back to me throughout my life. These moments are certainly leaving their imprint in the albums of my soul.
Many refugees, having to flea their homes and having lost them, have no choice but to sleep in parks, parks with little water, and little hygiene. Many children run around dirty, one was covered in flies. Another group of refugees tried to find refuge in one of these parks yesterday as another wave of attacks was heard. The parks being too saturated, they had to trudge back to the buses and accept to be taken to parks in the North. Food, medicine and emergency kits have been sent from many countries abroad, but not all aid is managing to come in due to the blockade. Even if aid manages to come into Lebanon, it cannot always be taken to the South, where it is needed the most as many of the roads have been cut off. Lebanon… like a kinder toy being dismantled has been cut up into different sections, isolating areas from one another.
I pray, from the depth of my heart, that this call for a cease-fire, that has FINALLY come, will be respected. I pray that this call will last. I pray that this ray of hope will be strong enough to allow the colors of these children’s dreams to come true.

May green trees rise up from the black ashes of the rubble
May red roofs of villages rise up again to house their people
May the white light of peace prevail and take away the dark thick smoke of despair
From the bombs and hatred that have fallen.

May this ray of hope shine on us all, for we all deserve to live a life of peace and of serenity.

Nathalie Malhame
12th of August, 2006

Pictures from the Conflict... Messages

2006-07-18T04:37:00.000-07:00

Tell me...

Are the lives of Lebanese worth less than the lives of others?

What if this were your child... how would you feel? What would you do?

Why? What For? Pourquoi? Habibe.... rest in Heaven
Lebanese Canadians....Je me souviens

Why this hate education?

Children, our children, are watching.... what kind of adults will they become?

JUST TELL ME WHY
JUST TELL Me WHAT FOR ? Environmental disaster

Help now.... before it is too late....

Already after only 15 days: '418 Lebanese killed mostly civilians, 2000 injured so far and 750,000 Lebanese flee their homes' (Reuters) .....
19th day of conflict: over 750 lives taken

Hey! Don't you care?
What if it were you who needed help? Or your mum? Or dad? Or partner?
Or sibling? Or best friend? You may be safe now, but what if you weren't? What if from one day to the next, you found yourself fearing for your life and stuck helpless in the middle of a war? Yes.... a war in 2006, surreal? A bad dream?
Sorry but more like a bad reality. What can you do?
Speak up! Speak up to bring an end to this horror! SAY NO TO WAR. SAY NO TO VIOLENCE. YES TO HUMANITY, PEACE, UNITY, LOVE and JUSTICE!

Letters: Global, Peace, Evacuation, Staying Behind, Returning to Leb

2006-07-18T03:04:00.000-07:00

Brazil: Letter One by Ana Carolina Nader: In Rio with My Hands Tied
In Rio, With My Hands Tied

I live in Rio de Janeiro with my Lebanese father under the nice blue sky of Copacabana. The sea smell invades my home at every sunset and I sit in the balcony to listen to the parrots flying near by. Tropical, calm, peaceful... and far away from Lebanon. Apparently. Appearances deceive. Only God is able to know the anguish I feel in my heart... Here in Rio, With My hands Tied.

The war is here too. Inside my living room, steping over my happiness and carrying away every other possible thought that I would normally have every day. I sit in front of the tv, with my father, and I don't pay attention to anything. All I want is to look sideways and not see my dad wiping his tears under his glasses again, hiding from me what he feels, in order not to hurt me. And then...my God! Then the guy on tv says that the Lebanese people are "accostumed to wars," that Lebanon was aware that another war could "break out," because they "gave too much room to Hezbollah." Accostumed to wars? Who on Earth is accostumed to war? People are accostumed to eat, to smile, to live. A war is the opposite of all of it. The tv broadcasts that "almost 500 people have already been killed in Lebanon" and that "one cannot predict when a cease-fire will take place." More tears drop out of my father's eyes and he leaves the room.

My mind is a tourbillon of thoughts and of stories I heard at home. I cannot think anymore, my mind is paralysed. Only one phrase is repeated over and over in my head and I have no answer for it: "Are Lebanese lives worth less than other lives?" How could one possibly compare the number of killings in Israel with the number of killings in Lebanon? It is like a mathematical irony, each time I see the news the killings in Lebanon are equally compared to the killings in Israel and the numbers laugh at me: Is (1 x L) = (10 x L) ???
Is it? Is 40 = 400? My family and I can only see another mathematical joke on the news: It is ten times more Israeli "measured responses" than Hezbollah's absurd attacks.

My father is not smiling anymore. He spoke yesterday on the phone to my aunt Mariah, one of the 4 who are left of our family. One part of my family died in the civil war and the other part might be lost around the world. The war tore families apart. My poor aunt Mariah, who has gone a bit crazy here in Rio...she can't hear the sound of a police siren without freaking out, screaming and locking herself in the house…Scars of the war in Lebanon.

He once told me how at some point my relatives had to walk in some streets of Jbeil to search for corn seeds in the middle of the horse dung, in order to wash and have something to eat. Three of my uncles died of hunger in the middle of the war.
For the ones who survived: scars of the war as a present.
For the who never had the chance to have a nice big family as a consequence of the war: learn that those scars are hereditary.

The Lebanese war spread destruction and death all over the place. But not only that, there are the longer term effects too. Lebanese people have the incredible capability to rise up from the floor, to build beauty from within despair and stand up again. Those are hard, but achievable things. What about the scars inside everyone, the fear, the orphans, those permanently wounded and disabled? It all stays. As if printed by radiation.
Many families dissipated, many were separated, people were killed in front of their kids while the international community smiles, taking a good sip on their coffee mug and watching the "crisis" on television. Well, very few people who hold power in the West care. "Calm down, we are talking about the Middle East... that is normal there... it always happens!"
Normal. Tomorrow I will wake up and see on tv that more than 500 people have already been killed in Lebanon alone. Normal. "It is the Middle East!" Twice as many people are wounded and suffering in the hospital and 30% of them might die soon, because Israel is still thinking about allowing a safe zone and tangible humanitarian corridors.
Normal. "Come on, it is just Lebanon, it’s in that unstable zone anyways!"
Well...No! The Twin Towers were crushed down by terrorists and almost 3000 people were killed. Horrible, no doubt. That is what you expect of terrorists: nothing but terror and evil. But do you remember how much money people donated to help the situation and for how long people all around the world were mourning? I could easily win betting that people around the world won't mobilize even 10 % of what they mobilized on that tragic occasion. But why? The answer was in the mouth of PM Siniora..."it is because we are talking about Lebanese people." We are not talking about Americans or British dying and having their countries attacked, invaded, destroyed... I am sure if that was case it would be soon labeled as a human catastrophe, a disaster, international help would be immediately sent. That is way too sick, to say the least.

In one year and a half I will be finishing my degree in international law. But in the past two weeks, I completely lost faith in it. International Law? What for? It is not working, countries are not respecting it. I feel like I spent my past 6 years studying garbage. When I saw those pretentious diplomats blabing about people's future in Lebanon and Israel, while smiling and taking as much time as they could, and people dying every minute...I guess I gave it up.
I might not be able to do much, as a simple girl that I am. I know though, that I don't want any more horrible scars to inflict upon my beloved friend Nathalie and her family, upon Charbel and his family, and upon all the friends in Lebanon.
For that, I know one thing: I might have my hands tied, living here in Rio, but my mouth speaks for my heart and I will shout to be heard.

PEACE FOR LEBANON NOW!

With LoveAna Nader

Canada: Letter OneAmis du Monde Entier, En Hommage aux martyrs de Cana, Elevons Nos Voix By Najla Misk Malhame

French Version (Original)
Amis du monde entier,
En Hommage aux martyrs de Cana
Elevons nos voix

"Quand on n'a que l'amourPour parler aux canonsEt rien qu'une chansonPour convaincre un tambour"
Jacques Brel,

Cana Dimanche 30 juillet 2006

Ces enfants innocents happes par la mort
Au détour d’une nuit assassine et sans âme
Ces enfants de Cana, aujourd’hui devenus votres,
N’ont plus que vos voix pour respecter leur mémoire
Ils n’ont connu ni la richesse ni l’opulence
Trop pauvres pour abandonner leur village
Ils n’ont pas compris qu’il était otages
Cet enfant de Cana qui n’a vécu qu’un seul jour
Phagocyte par les bombes d’un voisin sans recours.

« Je vous avais prévenu » !!!
Clame t-on de l’autre cote de la barrière.
Et pourtant ce n’étaient que des enfants
Des enfants comme tous les enfants
Explose dans leur innocence
Avec la complicité de grandes puissances
Des mères éplorées, des femmes déchiquetées
Où s’en va donc notre humanité ?

’’Quand on n'a que l'amourPour parler aux canonsEt rien qu'une chansonPour convaincre un tambour’’
Jacques Brel,

Amis du monde entier
Elevons nos voix car il déjà trop tard
Au nom de ces enfants innocents happes dans leur sommeil
Au nom de l’Humanité ou ce qu’il en reste
Au nom de L’Amour, au nom de l’ENFANCE
Au nom du ciel,
RECLAMONS UN CESSE LE FEU IMMEDIAT

Najla Malhame
Montréal

English Version
Fellow humans around the world
Let us raise our collective voice
In memory of the innocents of Lebanon

“When love is all you have
To echo the guns
And only a song is left
To silence war’s drums

Jacques Brel

Cana, Sunday 30 July 2006

Innocent children, engulfed by death
In the darkness of a murderous soulless night,
Children of Cana, you are now our own
And have no voice left but ours to keep the memory of you alive
Of wealth and opulence you knew neither
Too poor to abandon your tiny village
You did not realize you had become hostages
Especially you, little one, who came to life only to know death
At the end of your first day
Victim of yesterday’s victims

“You had been warned to leave!!!”
Claims a voice on the other side of the divide
But your parents had no fuel or car
And no money to ride on a bus
Some claimed the massacre was a mistake,
But this “Mistake” cost you your lives
You were only children
Carrying the same purity as any other child

You were only children
Blown up and suffocated in the prime of your innocence
With the passive complicity of the great powers
Whose vision of democracy leave behind
Grief-stricken mothers crying in despair

Mankind, where are you headed to?
Fellow humans around the world
Don`t you know that silence kills?
In the name of Cana’s innocents sleighed of in their sleep
In the name of what makes us still human
In the name of Love, in the name of CHILDHOOD

For Heaven’s sake
Raise your voice for those who can no longer speak
Stop the organized madness,
Demand a ceasefire NOW!

Najla Misk Malhame, Montreal

Canada Letter Two: Pour Eviter de Generaliser... tenter de comprendre! by Viviane Chebli

Pour eviter de generaliser … tenter de comprendre!

Tant de details et d'opinions lus ou entendus depuis mon retour vendredi de Beyrouth m'incitent a lancer a mes compatriotes quιbιcois un appel a l'ecoute et a la clemence, eux qui ont su si souvent faire preuve de grande compassion. Un appel afin de ne pas ceder trop facilement a l'extrapolation et a la generalisation de certains temoignages ou reactions saisies sur le vif au lendemain d'un vecu dramatique. Tant de details que j'ai lus depuis mon retour Vendredi de faits si mal interpretes et disproportionnes et qui malheureusement font bien mal surtout si on vient de passer des moments dramatiques.
Est-ce du a la tendance sensationnaliste d'une presse friande de rιactions chocs, celle la meme qui avait pousse une journaliste croisιe au moment mκme de mon arrivιe a insister pour m'amener a une rιponse negative !?
Aux lecteurs, je dirai plutot : « ne generalisez pas et essayez de comprendre ce peuple qui vient de passer des heures horribles, pour certains plus de 90 heures avant d'atteindre le Canada. Si une mere qui a passe 12 heures incommode sur un bateau pour ne pas dire plus, avec des enfants qu'elle a du laisser a eux-memes en train de pleurer et de crier de douleur sans pouvoir lever la tete du sol, car c'est le seul endroit ou elle pouvait rester vu son etat, vous dit que le trajet fut horrible, essayez de la comprendre. Si des personnes sont restes a Larnaca 2 ou 3 jours sous le soleil, dans des conditions sanitaires precaires, dormant a la belle etoile sur des cartons trouvιs au hasard, vous disent qu'ils sont fatigues, essayez de les comprendre. »
Aux Israeliens, Palestiniens, Hizbollah, Arabes, Americains et toux ceux dont l'avenir du Liban depend je dis : « laissez nous vivre, laissez nous reconstruire une fois pour toute notre pays, ayez pitie de toutes ces familles dechirιes et eparpillιes de par le monde qui essaient malgre tout d elever leurs enfants dans l'amour de la paix et de l'honneur.
Au monde entier je dis : « je ne veux plus quitter mon pays en catastrophe comme je l'ai fait en 1976 quand mon pere m'a envoye au USA pour me proteger de la guerre et que j'ai du quitter par bateau seule, aller en Italie, loge par des ecclιsiastique qui m'aiderent a obtenir un visa pour rejoindre ma tante au New Jersey; ou en 1990 quand j'ai du traverser la montagne pour rejoindre l'aeroport apres avoir entendu que ma mere etait decιde a l'hotel Dieu sans qu'on puisse savoir comment et sans qu'on puisse l'enterrer. Et voilΰ que cette fois ci encore, apres 2 jours au Liban la guerre encore une fois m'a oblige a quitter par la mer pour atteindre le Canada apres 80 heures. Si je vous dis que j'ai ete traumatise par cette evacuation apres avoir ete separe de mon fils et mon mari a la grille de l'enfer comme nous l'avions appelιe et que je n'ai reussi a les faire rentrer qu'apres maintes supplications, allez vous me juger???.
Aux autres je dis, essayez de comprendre, mκme si vous n'avez jamais vecu la guerre et que vous n'avez jamais entendu des bombes et que vous n'avez jamais ιtι inquiet de savoir vos enfants a l'ecole sous les bombes, et que vous n'avez jamais conduit avec des orgues de staline qui s'approchent de vous et que vous n'avez jamais klaxonne aux bombes comme si vos klaxons allaient les detourner de leurs trajectoires. Essayez de comprendre ce que c'est de conduire en priant pour que la voiture stationnιe et qu'on va passer ne soit pas une voiture piιgιe, quand vous priez qu'un obus ne tombe pas au milieu d'un embouteillage, quand vous n'avez pas d'eau courante, quand vous faites la queue aux stations d'essence, quand vous faites la queue pour acheter un sac de pain qui suffira a peine pour nourrir vos enfants. Dois je en ajouter encore???
Merci au Canada et au Quιbec qui nous ont reηus et continuent a nous recevoir depuis si longtemps, merci pour tous les efforts que le gouvernement a dιployι pour faire sortir LES CANADIENS du Liban. Merci aussi a la qualite et la chaleur humaine de l'accueil du gouvernement du Quebec, de tous ceux que j'ai rencontrι hier a l'aιroport en travaillant avec la Croix rouges. Toutes ces personnes travaillaient en grande partie bιnιvolement pour aider ces pauvres gens a rejoindre leurs familles dans le reste du Canada ou a trouver des logements ici.
C'est dans la solidarite et la tolerance que l'on s'accepte mutuellement pour batir cette societe dont nous avons choisi d'etre partie integrante.

V.C

England: Letter One posted by Loricate Lou: Global Gestures
I'm not a politically-minded person in the least. I couldn't care less about lefts, rights, centres, off-shoots, libertarian movements. It's all gobbledeygook. Nonsense.

But! (there's always one somewhere...), the situation in Lebanon is absolutely, completely, unarguably, out of control.

I think everyone would agree that Hezbollah (insert your preferred Anglicised spelling here) was wrong to take two Israeli soldiers hostage. Agreed.

What I can't get my head around is how Israel has been justified, even vindicated internationally by the powers that be, for the massively disproportionate way in which it has responded to Hezbollah's act. I'm not going to touch on who else has done what in the past, be it Israel, Syria, Iran, Lebanon. Like I said, I don't care for politics. I am taking this one solitary incident in isolation in writing this post.

I have close friends in Lebanon, the owner of this blog being the first and foremost, and have spent wonderful times there (as I have in Israel), so this is understandably
an issue which is close to my heart. All I can say is that both sides are right, and both sides are wrong. Some are just more wrong than others. Wiping out innocent civilians, however, is just plain wrong of both sides, however you look at it.

There isn't much anyone can do to stem the violence in person, but I think that global gestures are a good starting point and definitely one way of going about things. So signing CNN and BBC petitions might, in some very small way, help, or at least bring the issue to peoples' personal attention.

Here's one such petition:

http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/07/13/mideast/index.html

It's taken a few days now, but the figures are starting to swing in favour of the "no" vote. Regardless of fault, the Israeli military's response to Hezbollah is not justified in any way, shape of form. I think this sums up the world powers' opinion, if a little crudely, quite nicely:

"See, the irony is that what they need to do is get Syria to get Hezbollah to stop doing this sh*t and it's all over," courtesty of George Numptie Bush, truly.

Thanks for taking the time to read this and, I hope, having a look at the link above.

England: Letter Two by Claire Physsas: To Nathalie with Love

For Nathalie, with prayers for your safety: I live in London but grew up in Cyprus. Cyprus has attracted many peoples from different religions, cultures and nationalities over its many years of existence, including the Lebanese. I went to school with a lot of Lebanese people. In fact had it not been for the Civil War in Lebanon Nathalie’s parents may never have landed in Cyprus and we may never have become friends.

I also have Israeli friends and have visited both Lebanon and Israel. Both are such beautiful places. What struck me when I visited each was the friendliness and compassion of the people, who have evidently suffered so much for so long. In both peoples I saw an overwhelming determination to succeed and live a good life.

When I visited Lebanon in 2000 I was amazed at how Beirut had revived itself so shortly after the Civil War. Staying at Nathalie’s grandfather’s home that had been bombarded during the War and listening to her aunt recount her experiences during that difficult time, deepened my understanding of how far Beirut and its people had come in such a short time. Alongside new buildings stood (or half-stood) ruined buildings, all forming a backdrop for a city overcome with a sense of sorrow but also rejuvenation and calm, even peace.

Israel I visited at a young age in 1992 and again I recall the sense of sorrow combined with a sense of calm. I remember swimming in the Sea of Galilee – an experience I found exhilarating – and feeling a sense of peace.The truth is that both reminded me of Cyprus, in particular Nicosia. As the only divided city in the world and once described as ‘a city without a heart’, it has a similar sense of sorrow and calm… The calm after the storm.

As the storm has returned to the Middle East, over the past few days, I have heard stories from friends from each place and the stories are the same, which makes it both harder and easier for me. Harder because it is evident that decisions are not being made by the people, who are powerless. Easier because the fact that Lebanese people sympathise with Israeli people and Israeli people sympathise with Lebanese people, helps to renew my faith in humanity at times like this.

No doubt very soon, if it hasn’t happened already, the world or at least it’s governments will forget the reasons given for this conflict… something about two soldiers? Surely those two soldiers would not want so many people to suffer when a peaceful solution could be sought.

The world is overcome with questions like: Why? For What?

The answer (if it can be called that) is religion and culture. The conflict is about religion-culture, a misunderstanding of it and a disrespect for it. Once again pride and arrogance have overtaken logic and compassion. If only people could stop trying to assert their own religion-culture and focus on respecting different religions and cultures. Maybe then we will realise how small the differences are.

But I accept that we do not live in an ideal world, for commanding respect amongst different peoples has been the world’s historical struggle. For now let’s remind ourselves that there is never smoke without fire and the powerful nations of this world have all had a part to play in exacerbating, or at least failing to resolve, the never-ending Middle Eastern conflict, because it never really ended.

May our compassion and thoughts give Nathalie and others courage and may the international community recognise that we cannot and will not stay quiet this time.

My prayers are for Nathalie and all other innocent people caught in this conflict.

Staying Behind Stories:
Staying On: Why I'm not evacuating Beirut. By Faerlie Wilson, Beirut Lebanon
From my balcony this afternoon, I watched as French, British, and American evacuees boarded chartered cruise ships in Beirut's port about a half-mile west of my apartment. And over the last few days, while bombs and artillery pummeled the southern part of the city, I made the decision not to leave Lebanon. Explosions rock my building even as I write this, but I'm staying put.
I'm not crazy, and I harbor no death wish. This is simply the rational decision of someone who has built a life in Lebanon , who believes in this place and its ability to bounce back. I choose to bet on Beirut. After five visits to Lebanon over as many years, I moved to Beirut from California this February. I'm a 24-year-old American with friends but no family here. But Lebanese hospitality makes it easy to feel at home; it's a warm society that exudes and embodies a sense of interpersonal responsibility. Live here for two weeks and then go out of town, and you'll get a dozen offers to pick you up at the airport upon your return. So although I'm not Lebanese by blood, I have become Beiruti. There are plenty of us who fit that description, foreigners who fell in love with the place and its people. One friend, an American college student interning for the summer with a member of the Lebanese parliament, called in tears en route to the northern border to tell me her parents had forced her to leave. "I'm going to stay in Syria as long as I can," she vowed. "In case things settle down and I can come back." Until the war broke out last week, this was to be Lebanon 's golden summer as last year's tourist season having been dampened by the brutal car bomb that killed former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in February 2005. This summer started off strong, with concerts by major Western artists that allowed the Lebanese to hope their country was returning to the prewar days when everyone who was anyone's icons like Ella Fitzgerald, Marlon Brando, and Brigitte Bardot made regular stops in the country. Ricky Martin and 50 Cent performed in May and June, respectively, Sean Paul was on deck for July, and negotiations were under way to bring Snoop Dogg later in the summer. But the most anticipated concert was set for late July: the three-night return of legendary Lebanese diva Fairouz to the Baalbeck festival, where she first earned her fame in the 1950s and '60s. The after-party for 50 Cent was typical over-the-top Beiruti, held at city's most decadent nightclub, Crystal . Lamborghinis and Ferraris crowded the parking lot; plasticated Lebanese girls in short skirts and spike heels danced on tables as waiters navigated the dance floor balancing trays laden with sparklers and magnums of champagne for high-rolling Saudi tourists, while Fiddy free-styled and openly smoked a joint. Tourists from the Arab world, Europe , and North America flooded the streets of cities and villages throughout the country. Gulf Arabs in particular have been drawn to Lebanon, especially in a post-9/11 era when they felt unwelcome in the West (and often had trouble obtaining visas). Lebanon offered many of the same attractions as Europe , but in an Arab setting: temperate climate, good shopping, plenty of tourist activities, and most important, heady nightlife and a liberal social atmosphere. Tourists partied till dawn, stormed the sales at Beirut's designer boutiques, and visited sites like Lebanon's ancient cedar groves and the Roman temples at Baalbeck. Now those magnificent ruins are surrounded by newer ones: The city of Baalbeck , long a Shiite stronghold, has received a heavy share of the Israeli bombardment. Falling bombs erase entire villages, fire and smoke cover the horizon , and visions of that promised summer have, in just over a week, evaporated. On the beaches of Damour and Jiyeh, the foreign visitors aren't European sun junkies but Israeli missiles. And the cruise ships docked in the port aren't bringing tourists to Lebanon, they're taking them away. The contrast between Beirut today and Beirut two weeks ago is so stark, it would be unbearable if it weren't so surreal. This isn't my Beirut . This isn't anyone's Beirut . The frantic, vibrant city has shrunk into a sleepy town, with empty streets and only a handful of restaurants, bars, and shops open for business. It's amazing how quickly you can get used to living under siege. We've taped our windows, stocked up on supplies, and settled into a perversion of normal life. Electric generators succeed where embattled power stations fail. I've learned what times the electricity, water, and Internet connection usually cut out, and I plan my days accordingly, an old Lebanese ritual from the days of the civil wars. Candles we bought as decoration are scattered throughout the apartment, half-burned down from long nights without electricity. An Israeli propaganda flier dropped on a university soccer field sticks out of my roommate's copy of the now-obsolete July issue of Time Out Beirut, marking a page listing exhibitions at art galleries that have since boarded up their doors. The magazine only launched this spring, and it was easy to see it as yet another symbol that Beirut was finally being recognized as one of the world's great cities. Travel and Leisure magazine listed Beirut as the ninth-best city in the world for 2006. In this part of the world, fortunes shift very quickly. Smaller explosions and the rushing of Israeli fighter jets overhead don't startle or frighten me anymore. We are exhausted and have to save our emotional energy for the moments where panic is needed. Still, when larger blasts rattle my windowpanes and make the apartment shudder , I rush to the balcony to figure out which part of my city is being hit. Sometimes, it's an easy game: Three days ago, my roommate and I watched as Israeli warships struck Beirut 's port. I know I'm reasonably safe in my corner of Beirut, and I have a place to go in the mountains if that ceases to be true. Unlike people in many other industries, I still have a job: The magazine where I work decided to publish an August issue -although it will lose money- as a sign of resistance and resilience. There is painfully little we, the ordinary people of Lebanon , can do to help the situation. So, instead, we do what we can to help each other by donating food and supplies, opening our doors to friends and strangers, and trying to maintain some semblance of normalcy. We aren't giving up. After the foreigners are gone, local wisdom predicts that the fighting will only get worse. At the very least, there will be less protective padding - a fear of foreign casualties that may have restrained Israel to some degree. Evacuating Beirut would feel a lot like abandoning it. I know that my staying won't keep the Israelis from intensifying their attacks, but at least I won't be complicit, seeing events unfold on a TV screen from the comfort of Cyprus. So, I'll watch those ships pull away without regret. Lebanon has given me more than I ever could've asked: a home, a sense of belonging, an almost indecent number of happy memories. But aside from any debt to Lebanon, I won't leave because I know how miserable I would be watching the war ravage my country from the outside. As long as my feet are firmly planted on Lebanese soil, I somehow know the country will survive. People ask me if I'm scared, and I am - but for Lebanon more than for myself. This place and its people deserve far better than what they're getting. There's a sad, unstated "what will become of us?" question floating around the Lebanese who are left behind. I need to stay here, if only to learn the answer.

Returning to Lebanon Letters: Letters on By Roland El Hachem
DE L’EXIL A LA PRISON: Que vais je dire a Jana?

Mardi 25 juillet 2006, alors que les Canadiens d’origine libanaise et les Libanais doubles-nationaux se précipitaient au port pour rejoindre leur «terre promise», j’ai fait ce que mon cœur et mes convictions me suppliaient de faire : j’ai pris un billet Montréal-Paris-Damas afin de rejoindre ma famille et mon pays abandonnés au feu israélien et à la mort. La route de Damas à Beyrouth, dans le milieu de la nuit, fut un véritable cauchemar : le son des avions qui rodaient au-dessus du taxi (le seul qui était aussi fou que moi et qui avait accepté de prendre le risque) semblait comme le tambour de la mort que j’ai dû voir de près.
Je savais que je devais venir pour aider, mais je ne savais pas comment. Une semaine déjà et je sais que je ne regarderai plus jamais la vie de la même façon. Jeudi passé j’ai rejoint un groupe de jeunes entre 25 et 35 ans qui ont décidé de rester et de faire face à cette guerre atroce. Ça fait une semaine que je me déplace avec eux, chaque jour dans une école différente, où s’entassent des centaines de milliers de familles de déplacées, des familles démembrées et choquées, ces familles dont un ou deux membres sont restes sous les décombres, ces fragments de familles dont une partie se perd pour toujours sous les obus.
Dans les écoles surpeuplées, ces réfugiés survivent dans des conditions précaires : de maigres et rares portions alimentaires, quelques médicaments pour les cardiaques et les diabétiques. Nous essayons de garder les enfants, occupés, car ils ont faim et surtout ils ont peur : ils n’arrivent pas à dormir, la nuit étant déchirée par le bruit et les vibrations des bombardements israéliens. Aujourd’hui nous avons décidé de les faire rêver.
Avec de la peinture je dessinais sur leur petits visages fatigués des étoiles, des moustaches, des rayures de zèbre… et chacun d’eux pour un après-midi se croyait un magicien, un tigre ou un lion et pouvait vaincre la misère de passer ses nuits sur un petit tapis par terre avec une miette de pain pour le dîner.
Jana a 6 ans. Ça fait deux jours que je la rencontre au «camp de concentration» (c’est la meilleure description que j’ai trouve pour décrire ces petites chambres où s’entassent les réfugiés). Son père, resté à Tyr pour garder la grand-mère malade n’est plus jamais revenu. Jana est douce et sourit rarement. Aujourd’hui, elle m’a demandé de lui dessiner des fleurs blanches sur ses deux joues pales. Et, comme par magie, j’ai aussi pu dessiner pour la première fois un sourire sur sa petite bouche d’ange. Elle ne m’a pas lâché la main pour le reste du jour.
Le soir en quittant elle m’a regardé et m’a dit : «Si tu viens chez nous à Tyr, je t’offrirai une rose blanche de mon rosier que j’ai planté avec ma grand-mère.» Je regardais son doux visage innocent et ses mots me transperçaient le cœur.
En conduisant chez moi, je ne pouvais cesser de penser à Jana, à son rosier blanc teinte de sang, à sa maison écrasée par les missiles, à sa grand-mère et son père dont il n’en reste que les cendres.
Que vais-je dire à Jana? Que les Grands n’ont pas voulu arrêter le feu et qu’il ne reste rien de son enfance que les souvenirs? Que le sang de son père a taché le rosier blanc et qu’il est parti à jamais? Qu’elle n’a plus que sa mère et son frère de 2 ans et quelques sous, que pour unique ombrage elle n’a plus qu’un coin de rue sans toit ni havre?
Que vais-je dire à Jana, que les grands de ce monde pour toute réponse prétendent que la riposte est « mesurée »?

J’ai souri à Jana et le cœur brisé j’ai conduit dans Beyrouth, ville fantôme dès 15 heures, ne sachant si la nuit serait dévastatrice et si d’autres morts d’enfants qualifiées de « réponses mesurées » s’ajouteraient à notre misère.
Je pensais à Jana, alors que de chez moi, j’entendais les avions israéliens lâcher leurs beaux cadeaux du ciel aux enfants du Liban …Je pensais à Jana et aux autres enfants innocents ; je me révoltais devant cette purification bénie et légitimée par certaines grandes puissances, et je vous demande de répondre vous-même à Jana, vous, citoyens du monde épargné de la misère, car moi j’ai honte de lui dire ce que les Grands ont approuvé toujours jusqu'à cet instant…

Beyrouth, Liban, le 2 Août 2006
Roland El Hachem
rolandelhachem@hotmail.com

Articles:
Article One: Paradise Lost by Robert Fisk19 July 2006, The Independent #
ROBERT FISK'S ELEGY FOR BEIRUT
Elegant buildings lie in ruins. The heady scent of gardenias gives way to the acrid stench of bombed-out oil installations. And everywhere terrified people are scrambling to get out of a city that seems tragically doomed to chaos and destruction. As Beirut - 'the Paris of the East' - is defiled yet again, Robert Fisk, a resident for 30 years, asks: how much more punishment can it take?
In the year 551, the magnificent, wealthy city of Berytus-headquarters of the imperial East Mediterranean Roman fleet - was struck by a massive earthquake. In its aftermath, the sea withdrew several miles and the survivors - ancestors of the present-day Lebanese - walked out on the sands to loot the long-sunken merchant ships revealed in front of them.
That was when a tidal wall higher than a tsunami returned to swamp the city and kill them all. So savagely was the old Beirut damaged that the Emperor Justinian sent gold from Constantinople as compensation to every family left alive. Some cities seem forever doomed. When the Crusaders arrived at Beirut on their way to Jerusalem in the 11th century, they slaughtered every man, woman and child in the city. In the First World War, Ottoman Beirut suffered a terrible famine' the Turkish army had commandeered all the grain and the Allied powers blockaded the coast. I still have some ancient postcards I bought here 30 years ago of stick-like children standing in an orphanage, naked and abandoned.
An American woman living in Beirut in 1916 described how she "passed women and children lying by the roadside with closed eyes and ghastly, pale faces. It was a common thing to find people searching the garbage heaps for orange peel, old bones or other refuse, and eating them greedily when found. Everywhere women could be seen seeking eatable weeds among the grass along the roads..."
How does this happen to Beirut? For 30 years, I've watched this place die and then rise from the grave and then die again, its apartment blocks pitted with so many bullets they looked like Irish lace, its people massacring each other.
I lived here through 15 years of civil war that took 150,000 lives, and two Israeli invasions and years of Israeli bombardments that cost the lives of a further 20,000 of its people. I have seen them armless, legless, headless, knifed, bombed and splashed across the walls of houses. Yet they are a fine, educated, moral people whose generosity amazes every foreigner, whose gentleness puts any Westerner to shame, and whose suffering we almost always ignore.
They look like us, the people of Beirut. They have light-coloured skin and speak beautiful English and French. They travel the world. Their women are gorgeous and their food exquisite. But what are we saying of their fate today as the Israelis - in some of their cruelest attacks on this city and the surrounding countryside - tear them from their homes, bomb them on river bridges, cut them off from food and water and electricity? We say that they started this latest war, and we compare their appalling casualties - 240 in all of Lebanon by last night - with Israel's 24 dead, as if the figures are the same.
And then, most disgraceful of all, we leave the Lebanese to their fate like a diseased people and spend our time evacuating our precious foreigners while tut-tutting about Israel's "disproportionate" response to the capture of its soldiers by Hizbollah.
I walked through the deserted city centre of Beirut yesterday and it reminded more than ever of a film lot, a place of dreams too beautiful to last, a phoenix from the ashes of civil war whose plumage was so brightly coloured that it blinded its own people. This part of the city - once a Dresden of ruins - was rebuilt by Rafiq Hariri, the prime minister who was murdered scarcely a mile away on 14 February last year.
The wreckage of that bomb blast, an awful precursor to the present war in which his inheritance is being vandalized by the Israelis, still stands beside the Mediterranean, waiting for the last UN investigator to look for clues to the assassination - an investigator who has long ago abandoned this besieged city for the safety of Cyprus.
At the empty Etoile restaurant - best snails and cappuccino in Beirut, where Hariri once dined Jacques Chirac - I sat on the pavement and watched the parliamentary guard still patrolling the faηade of the French-built emporium that houses what is left of Lebanon's democracy. So many of these streets were built by Parisians under the French mandate and they have been exquisitely restored, their mock Arabian doorways bejeweled with marble Roman columns dug from the ancient Via Maxima a few metres away.
Hariri loved this place and, taking Chirac for a beer one day, he caught sight of me sitting at a table. "Ah Robert, come over here," he roared and then turned to Chirac like a cat that was about to eat a canary. "I want to introduce you, Jacques, to the reporter who said I couldn't rebuild Beirut!"
And now it is being un-built. The Martyr Rafiq Hariri International Airport has been attacked three times by the Israelis, its glistening halls and shopping malls vibrating to the missiles that thunder into the runways and fuel depots. Hariri's wonderful transnational highway viaduct has been broken by Israeli bombers. Most of his motorway bridges have been destroyed. The Roman-style lighthouse has been smashed by a missile from an Apache helicopter. Only this small jewel of a restaurant in the centre of Beirut has been spared. So far.
It is the slums of Haret Hreik and Ghobeiri and Shiyah that have been levelled and "rub-ble-ised" and pounded to dust, sending a quarter of a million Shia Muslims to seek sanctuary in schools and abandoned parks across the city. Here, indeed, was the headquarters of Hizbollah, another of those "centres of world terror" which the West keeps discovering in Muslim lands. Here lived Sayed Hassan Nasrallah, the Party of God's leader, a ruthless, caustic, calculating man' and Sayad Mohamed Fadlallah, among the wisest and most eloquent of clerics' and many of Hizbollah's top military planners - including, no doubt, the men who planned over many months the capture of the two Israeli soldiers last Wednesday.
But did the tens of thousands of poor who live here deserve this act of mass punishment? For a country that boasts of its pin-point accuracy - a doubtful notion in any case, but that's not the issue - what does this act of destruction tell us about Israel? Or about ourselves?
In a modern building in an undamaged part of Beirut, I come, quite by chance, across a well known and prominent Hizbollah figure, open-neck white shirt, dark suit, clean shoes. "We will go on if we have to for days or weeks or months or..." And he counts these awful statistics off on the fingers of his left hand. "Believe me, we have bigger surprises still to come for the Israelis - much bigger, you will see. Then we will get our prisoners and it will take just a few small concessions."
I walk outside, feeling as if I have been beaten over the head. Over the wall opposite there is purple bougainvillea and white jasmine and a swamp of gardenias. The Lebanese love flowers, their colour and scent, and Beirut is draped in trees and bushes that smell like paradise.
As for the huddled masses southern slums of Haret Hreik, I found hundreds of them yesterday, sitting under trees and lying on the parched grass beside an ancient fountain donated to the city of Beirut by the Ottoman Sultan Abdul-Hamid. How empires fall.
Far away, across the Mediterranean, two American helicopters from the USS Iwo Jima could be seen, heading through the mist and smoke towards the US embassy bunker complex at Awkar to evacuate more citizens of the American Empire. There was not a word from that same empire to help the people lying in the park, to offer them food or medical aid.
And across them all has spread a dark grey smoke that works its way through the entire city, the fires of oil terminals and burning buildings turning into a cocktail of sulphurous air that moves below our doors and through our windows. I smell it when I wake in the morning. Half the people of Beirut are coughing in this filth, breathing their own destruction as they contemplate their dead.
The anger that any human soul should feel at such suffering and loss was expressed so well by Lebanon's greatest poet, the mystic Khalil Gibran, when he wrote of the half million Lebanese who died in the 1916 famine, most of them residents of Beirut:
My people died of hunger, and he who
Did not perish from starvation was
Butchered with the sword' They perished from hunger
In a land rich with milk and honey.
They died because the vipers and
Sons of vipers spat out poison into
The space where the Holy Cedars and
The roses and the jasmine breathe
Their fragrance.

And the sword continues to cut its way through Beirut. When part of an aircraft - perhaps the wing-tip of an F-16 hit by a missile, although the Israelis deny this - came streaking out of the sky over the eastern suburbs at the weekend, I raced to the scene to find a partly decapitated driver in his car and three Lebanese soldiers from the army's logistics unit. These are the tough, brave non-combat soldiers of Kfar Chim, who have been mending power and water lines these past six days to keep Beirut alive.

I knew one of them. "Hello Robert, be quick because I think the Israelis will bomb again but we'll show you everything we can." And they took me through the fires to show me what they could of the wreckage, standing around me to protect me. And a few hours later, the Israelis did come back, as the men of the small logistics unit were going to bed, and they bombed the barracks and killed 10 soldiers, including those three kind men who looked after me amid the fires of Kfar Chim.

And why? Be sure - the Israelis know what they are hitting. That's why they killed nine soldiers near Tripoli when they bombed the military radio antennas. But a logistics unit? Men whose sole job was to mend electricity lines? And then it dawns on me. Beirut is to die. It is to be starved of electricity now that the power station in Jiyeh is on fire. No one is to be allowed to keep Beirut alive. So those poor men had to be liquidated.

Beirutis are tough people and are not easily moved. But at the end of last week, many of them were overcome by a photograph in their daily papers of a small girl, discarded like a broken flower in a field near Ter Harfa, her feet curled up, her hand resting on her torn blue pyjamas, her eyes - beneath long, soft hair - closed, turned away from the camera. She had been another "terrorist" target of Israel and several people, myself among them, saw a frightening similarity between this picture and the photograph of a Polish girl lying dead in a field beside her weeping sister in 1939.

I go home and flick through my files, old pictures of the Israeli invasion of 1982. There are more photographs of dead children, of broken bridges. "Israelis Threaten to Storm Beirut", says one headline. "Israelis Retaliate". "Lebanon At War". "Beirut Under Siege". "Massacre at Sabra and Chatila".

Yes, how easily we forget these earlier slaughters. Up to 1,700 Palestinians were butchered at Sabra and Chatila by Israel's proxy Christian militia allies in September of 1982 while Israeli troops - as they later testified to Israel's own court of inquiry - watched the killings. I was there. I stopped counting the corpses when I reached 100. Many of the women had been raped before being knifed or shot.

Yet when I was fleeing the bombing of Ghobeiri with my driver Abed last week, we swept right past the entrance of the camp, the very spot where I saw the first murdered Palestinians. And we did not think of them. We did not remember them. They were dead in Beirut and we were trying to stay alive in Beirut, as I have been trying to stay alive here for 30 years.

I am back on the sea coast when my mobile phone rings. It is an Israeli woman calling me from the United States, the author of a fine novel about the Palestinians. "Robert, please take care," she says. "I am so, so sorry about what is being done to the Lebanese. It is unforgivable.

I pray for the Lebanese people, and the Palestinians, and the Israelis." I thank her for her thoughtfulness and the graceful, generous way she condemned this slaughter.

Then, on my balcony - a glance to check the location of the Israeli gunboat far out in the sea-smog - I find older clippings. This is from an English paper in 1840, when Beirut was a great Ottoman city. "Beyrouth" was the dateline. "Anarchy is now the order of the day, our properties and personal safety are endangered, no satisfaction can be obtained, and crimes are committed with impunity. Several Europeans have quitted their houses and suspended their affairs, in order to find protection in more peaceable countries.

"On my dining-room wall, I remember, there is a hand-painted lithograph of French troops arriving in Beirut in 1842 to protect the Christian Maronites from the Druze. They are camping in the Jardin des Pins, which will later become the site of the French embassy where, only a few hours ago, I saw French men and women registering for their evacuation. And outside the window, I hear again the whisper of Israeli jets, hidden behind the smoke that now drifts 20 miles out to sea.

Fairouz, the most popular of Lebanese singers, was to have performed at this year's Baalbek festival, cancelled now like all Lebanon's festivals of music, dance, theatre and painting. One of her most popular songs is dedicated to her native city:
To Beirut - peace to Beirut with all my heart
And kisses - to the sea and clouds,
To the rock of a city that looks like an old sailor's face.
From the soul of her people she makes wine,
From their sweat, she makes bread and jasmine.

So how did it come to taste of smoke and fire? 'Disgracefully, we evacuate our precious foreigners and just leave the Lebanese to their fate'

Letters and Appeals from Lebanese Charities, NGOs, Orgs

2006-07-18T03:00:00.000-07:00

Letters and Appeals from Lebanese Charities, NGOs or Organizations and some peaceful blog comments by fellow citizens of the world

Letter One: Lettre de L’IRAP : Le Liban va Renaitre De Ses Cendres, Il Vivra

Je me trouve en voiture sur une route à circulation très ralentie, Partout une concentration autour des supermarchés et des magasins …Les personnes qui circulent ont des regards éteints ou révoltés…Seule dans ma voiture je revis ce que j’ai cru oublié.

Branchée sur la radio pour m’aviser du danger qui peut surgir d’une seconde à l’autre, voilà que j’entends à nouveau la musique de FLASH /INFORMATION Radio Liban, celle que nous entendions durant les moments les plus difficiles et les plus graves de la longue guerre au Liban, celle que nos oreilles ont enregistré pour toujours, celle qui a fait vibrer nos entrailles… et celle qui continue à nous donner la chaire de poule...: «Ici le bureau de rédaction : les villages du sud Kleya, Debl, Marjehyoun et tant d’autres localités sont dans une situation très critique – les gens sont entassés dans les églises et les hall des municipalité, dans une situation d’extrême précarité. Ils font appel à toutes les instances pour les aider à évacuer les lieux – malades – handicapés - vieux- blessés sont coincés depuis 3 ou 4 jours - routes et ponts coupés- pas de vivres ni médicaments, sans eaux ni courant – un Appel Humanitaire…de premier ordre, la situation ne peut plus durer »

Deux secondes plus tard. Un autre appel : « le jardin public de Beyrouth voit arriver des centaines de familles dans le dépouillement total : Nous faisons Appel à toute personne capable de nous aider, pour organiser l’accueil et distribuer les premiers secours… »Plus tard, quelques secondes encore, la même musique - la même voix grave : la banlieue de Zahlé subit un bombardement intensif, la centrale électrique est touchée…nous faisons appel à toutes les personnes pour prendre garde et nous leur demandons de ne circuler qu’en cas d’extrême nécessité. »

Le mobile sonne ; une amie qui habite Achrafieh, Beyrouth, me contacte pour me demander de lui trouver un coin sûr pour évacuer sa mère…Oui, la guerre cette fois-ci prend une nouvelle tournure, celle d’anéantir un pays, un peuple…C’est la bataille des ponts, des routes et de toutes les infrastructures publiques ou privées.Toutes les régions sont visées.Aucune région n’est à l’abri : le sud, la Békaa, le nord, la côte, Beyrouth,Tout le monde est en danger…Les gens déjà sont exténués et on nous laisse comprendre que la fin n’est pas pour demain…

MAIS !… dans cet enfer et dans cet état de désolation générale, il y a toujours un point de lumière qui veille, pour se rallumer en temps voulu, pour aider, pour donner de l’espoir, pour motiver et encourager…En effet, a l’IRAP, les gens grouillent dans le salon, les corridors et les classes …une famille a fuit déjà un quartier chaud à l’aube du jour.Une autre famille, vient d’arriver de Hamra-Beyrouth.Janine donne la clé d’une maison, pas loin de l’école pour loger une famille de 6 personnes... Rouleaux de papiers hygiéniques, médicaments, couvertures et oreillers…stock de vivre, pharmacie pour les petits en proie à de violentes diarrhées, sont en partance vers un centre d’accueil à Bourg Hammoud. Matelas, draps et enveloppes données discrètement pour soutenir des familles avec des enfants en bas âge. Des classes se transforment en chambre de fortune.Les autres lieux de l’IRAP se préparent pour accueillir des familles, qui peuvent arriver d’une minute à l’autre. Des coups de fil, et contacts se font pour coordonner avec les instances sociales capables d’aider immédiatement.Les assistantes sociales de Ain Biacout prennent en charge les vagues humaines qui déferlent de tout part vers la maison notre Dame, cherchant abris et secours.Nous contactons tant bien que mal nos amis du sud coincés dans des « souricières », isolés sans aucune aide, aucun secours.

Mais chez beaucoup les lignes téléphoniques sont coupées ou n’existaient pas.Une volonté de vivre et de faire vivre émanent des murs de la maison. Toute la potentialité de l’IRAP est mobilisée pour la cause la plus grave, qualifiée de catastrophe humaine de 1ère catégorie.Les possibilités sont limitées mais la volonté d’entraide fait réagir …Chrétiens, Chiite, sunnites …tous subissent le même sort, ils sont :Unis par la violence qui s’acharne sur eux.Unis parce qu’ils sont libanais.Unis parce qu’ils aiment leur terre.Unis parce qu’ils sont fidèles à leurs racines. C’est cet esprit de solidarité que nous portons haut, loin de tout autre sentiment qui voudrait nous abattre.

La paix pour laquelle nous sommes mobilisés dans la prière, nous devons la construire à chaque instant en nous et recommencer et recommencer…L’espérance est en nous, encrée depuis l’aube de l’existence !Le rêve ne quittera jamais les yeux de nos enfants ! Nous sommes là.Nous restons actifs, organisés en contacts avec les différents organismes d’entraide au Liban qui eux à leur tour attendent l’aide humanitaire qui arrivera, nous l’espérons. (Hier un camion de secours médical en provenance d’un pays arabe, a été visé sur la route de la Bekaa).

Le Liban comme à chaque fois va « renaître de ses cendres » Il vivra !L’espérance de Claudel et la foi de nos grands saints du Liban nous habitent.Notre Dame de Harissa veille sur ce petit pays, jardin de dieu, « morceau du ciel sur terre », comme le répète un chanteur libanais, que chacun voudrais posséder.Nous lançons un appel à tous nos amis, aux organismes qui ont déjà travaillé avec nous, aux personnes de bonne volonté qui peuvent faire une chaine de prière , une chaine d’entraide, susciter l’intérêt, bouger l’opinion en faveur de la souveraineté du Liban ...

Toute geste de solidarité serait le bienvenue.Pour l’équipe de l’IRAP Janine et Mona irap@sodetel.net.lb IRAP No. de compte : 0003 090 (138 676) 01 1Société Général de Banque au Liban Agence Antelias Code Swift : SGLILBBX

Letter Two: Al-Amal Institute for the Blind
Subject: Emergency relief for those displaced from Israel’s present aggressions.

Dear Sirs,
Innocent civilians running out of villages in South of Lebanon and the South suburb of Beirut appear every hour in Broummana and surrounding towns as the area is considered safer and is not too far from the capital. The Government & UNDP declared half a million displaced till 20th of July. Many do not reach a care center safely.
Al-Amal organizes a practical and immediate relief program depending on produce of people with special needs in safely reached rural areas. Within its “Sweater & Wheat” program, it focuses on helping these people play an economic and social role in the country. Broummana and surrounding towns already lodge 1000 families (appr. 6000 persons) mostly children under 15 years old and mothers. We can provide these displaced people with their annual need of 4 crops as follows: 9kg of burghol made of fresh wheat, 3kg of lentils, 2kg of chickpeas (homus) and 1kg of beans (fool). These crops are excellent for mothers who are in the stage of breastfeeding, especially that babies’ milk is not found anymore in the market. Also, we can provide them with detergents, soup and diapers. Of course, we will provide them with the “Winter Sweater” which we manufacture since 1992 at our center.Every 70 US $ will help a displaced person relax after loosing his home, surviving shelling and bearing the danger on his way out .Your support will help him faster than the official relief service depending on purchasing imported food-staff which has become unavailable and expensive due to the siege & some merchants.Kindly send your donations to the following bank address: First National Bank , Verdun branch – Beirut, Al-Amal Institute for the disabled account No.: swift: FINKLBBE .

Letter Three: Libami
Quelques informations sur les familles de « Libami »

Je ne doute pas que vous pensez à nous en ces temps tragiques que vivent les Libanais, et spécialement les personnes déplacées dont beaucoup ont tout perdu. J’ai pensé que vous seriez intéressés de recevoir quelques nouvelles. Ces quelques lignes ne prétendent pas décrire la situation au Liban ou en faire des commentaires ou une analyse. Les médias français s’en chargent amplement ; il est d’ailleurs impressionnant de constater combien le drame vécu par les populations civiles y occupent une place de choix. Ce dont je voudrais vous parler est très ciblé, et tourne autour des familles, aidées par Libami, et de leurs enfants.

Notre Association « Libami » - LIBan- AMItié - est apolitique et aconfessionnelle. Nous avons une assistante sociale musulmane sunnite, une maronite, et une troisième grecque orthodoxe. Elle assure actuellement le suivi social des enfants de 88 familles, confrontées à une situation chronique très précaire mais devenue dramatique depuis le déclenchement des hostilités entre Israël et la milice chiite le « Parti de Dieu ». Chacune de ces familles suivies par Libami reçoit la visite mensuelle d’une des assistantes et toutes les mamans se rendent au local de l’Association, non seulement pour toucher l’aide que nous leur apportons à la fin de chaque mois, mais aussi pour confier leurs difficultés et leurs souffrances (chômage, épouses battues, problèmes de santé, dettes accumulées).

Comme vous le voyez chaque jour à la TV, les bombardements, d’une extrême violence, ne s’étendent toutefois pas à l’ensemble du pays, comme pourraient le faire croire certains médias, et visent en fait principalement trois régions.

D’abord le Liban-sud, d’où partent les roquettes lancées contre Israël. Comme les miliciens du « parti de Dieu » se fondent dans la population, il en résulte le bombardement de nombreux villages, dont la population a fui. Beaucoup de réfugiés - on parle de plus de 500.000 - se replient aujourd’hui sur les zones non menacées, essentiellement dans la « région chrétienne » et les villages de villégiature de la montagne.

Puis à Beyrouth, la banlieue-sud, fief du Hezbollah. Par contre le centre ville, en pleine réfection, et qui fait l’admiration des visiteurs étrangers, n’est pas touché, pas plus que le reste de Beyrouth, dont notre quartier d’Achrafieh. A ce propos, quelques précisions sur les « bombardements » du ce quartier, le mercredi 19 juillet, dans la matinée. Il me semble bon d’apporter quelques éclaircissements à ce sujet. Il y avait dans un parking deux perceuses de puits, ressemblant étrangement, vues de haut, à une rampe de lance-missiles. Deux roquettes, tirées à partir d’hélicoptères israéliens, touchèrent l’un des deux véhicules. La zone a été rapidement bouclée par l’armée et la police, tandis que les hélicoptères et les dromes (avions sans pilotes) continuaient à survoler le secteur. Un quart d’heure plus tard, deux autres roquettes se sont abattues au même endroit ; elles ratèrent leur cible de quelques mètres. Bien sûr, panique des habitants du quartier. En fait, je me trouvais dans notre appartement à environ deux kilomètres et n’ai rien entendu. Parler de « bombardements » est donc pour le moins exagéré. Cela dit, cet incident mineur, qui n’a pas fait de victimes, prouve que les moindres coins de Beyrouth (et probablement de tout le Liban !) sont sous la surveillance très étroite de l’armée israélienne.

Enfin, et de plus en plus, la région de Baalbek, célèbre par son festival, très bombardée ces derniers jours. La ville regroupe de nombreux partisans du Hezbollah, mais contrairement à la banlieue-sud, il ne semble que ses partisans y soient armés ; c’est du moins ce qu’ils prétendent.

Certaines positions de l’armée ont également été touchées, dont quelques casernes et les radars disposés le long de la côte, afin que des informations ne puissent être transmises à la milice libanaise. Samedi 22 juillet, des antennes de télévision, dont celle située dans la région chrétienne, à Fatha, à une trentaine de kilomètres de Beyrouth, tout près du couvent Notre-Dame du Mont, tenu par les sœurs maronites de la sainte Famille.

Ainsi les Libanais sont depuis presque deux semaines témoins impuissants d’une confrontation décisive. Il est clair qu’Israël tente d’affaiblir au maximum la milice chiite. Je ne pense pas toutefois qu’elle ait la naïveté de penser que, malgré les moyens les plus sophistiqués dont elle dispose , elle est en mesure d’en venir totalement à bout. Tout le monde sait en effet (et la milice elle-même le proclame haut et fort) que le « parti de Dieu » dispose de troupes bien entraînées, très mobiles, et hyper motivées, politiquement et religieusement. D’ailleurs la guérilla n’a jamais été la spécialité de l’armée israélienne. Sans compter qu’Israël ne dispose pas dans ses rangs de « candidats au martyre », comme c’est le cas pour le Hamas et le Hezbollah.

On voit mal comment Israël consentirait à un cessez-le-feu sans récupérer ses soldats et obtenir des garanties selon lesquelles le Hezbollah sera désarmé, et ramené à un simple parti politique. Par ailleurs comment celui-ci accepterait-il de remettre les soldats qu’il détient sans un échange de prisonniers ?

Ce qui complique la situation, c’est que le « Hezbollah » aurait dû être désarmé, comme les autres milices, à la fin des hostilités en 1990.Il ne l’a pas été, car considéré par beaucoup comme le fer de lance de la résistance contre Israël. Aujourd’hui des membres de la milice font partie du gouvernement libanais…
Tout le monde semble avoir été surpris par la puissance de feu de la milice. Depuis des mois, des armes étaient acheminées de Syrie. D’où une question (parmi bien d’autres) : Israël n’était-elle pas au courant, alors que tous les journaux libanais en parlaient, et pourquoi n’est-elle pas alors intervenue plus rapidement, ne serait-ce qu’en bombardant les convois, sous le couvert de la légitime défense ?

Je voudrais maintenant dire quelques mots sur les divers sentiments ressentis par les familles dont nous assurons le suivi social, grâce aux trois assistantes sociales, Rana, Diana et Nadine.

Déceptions
Pour la première fois, l’Association avait pris en charge l’organisation complète d’une colonie, au lieu de placer seulement les enfants dans d’autres centres, comme les années précédentes. Nous avions mis beaucoup d’enthousiasme pour la préparer, au profit de 65 jeunes, accompagnés par une quinzaine de moniteurs, dont plusieurs appartenaient aux familles de Libami. Effectivement cette colonie débuta le vendredi 7 juillet. Inutile de vous dire la joie des enfants de quitter Nabaa pour partir en montagne. Personne ne pleurait en quittant les parents, alors que dans ce milieu très pauvre, les liens entre parents et enfants sont très profonds et que les séparations sont souvent pénibles. Au début des hostilités, nous avons « duré » deux jours, mais avons finalement dû renoncer, car les parents demandaient avec insistance de retrouver leurs enfants. La colonie se termina donc le vendredi 14, alors qu’elle aurait dû se prolonger jusqu’au 21. Quand ils ont appris la nouvelle, la plupart des enfants pleuraient. Nous avons promis que nous organiserions des « day-camps » quand la situation serait calme. Espérons que notre désir se réalisera. Ce qui est assez extraordinaire, c’est que certains parents s’informèrent du lieu où nous avions amenés leurs enfants seulement quand la situation devint critique ! Nous y avons vu une preuve de la confiance aveugle qu’ils ont envers nous.

Craintes
La grande crainte des familles est que les bombardements israéliens s’étendent dans notre région. Beaucoup de réfugiés du Liban-sud et de la banlieue-sud de Beyrouth se trouvent parmi nous. Les écoles officielles étant envahies, on annonce que la rentrée scolaire de ces établissements sera retardée peut-être jusqu’au mois de janvier, en attendant que les réfugiés aient libéré les locaux.
Parmi ces réfugiés, de nombreux partisans du Hezbollah qui souhaiteraient déployer ostensiblement le drapeau de leur parti, mais les chefs de municipalité et l’armée s’y sont opposés. Dans la banlieue où se trouve l’association Libami, on a même voulu hisser le drapeau du Hezbollah en haut d’un minaret ; le cheikh l’a interdit. Les assistantes sociales me disaient hier que plusieurs de nos familles ont accueilli chez elles des réfugiés : hospitalité libanaise !

Il paraît qu’en certains endroits l’on fait des différences dans les aides apportées aux réfugiés sunnites et chiites, ces derniers (parti du Hezbollah) étant bien sûr favorisés. En fait on peut craindre une tension grandissante entre des deux branches des croyants musulmans ; les sunnites, comme aussi beaucoup de chrétiens, reprochant aux chiites de vouloir prendre toute la place. Durant longtemps, ceux-ci furent considérés comme des citoyens de seconde zone, si l’on peut dire, et de ce fait déconsidérés par les sunnites.

Espoirs
Tous espèrent qu’un cessez-le-feu survienne le plus rapidement possible, avec toutefois la crainte que l’arrêt des hostilités ne règle rien, si le Hezbollah garde son armes, même s’il se trouve fortement affaibli.
Espoir aussi que les puissances occidentales, et la France en particulier, ne nous abandonne. Beaucoup de « nos » familles sont très sensibles à l’engagement de notre pays, et nous disent notre reconnaissance.

Une préoccupation majeure
Pour terminer, voici notre plus grand souci pour le moment : permettre à toutes ces familles de manger ! Elles n’ont pas été touchées dans leur logement (qui se réduisent souvent à une ou deux pièces insalubres ! ), mais elles nous confient leur angoisse devant la flambée exorbitante des prix.

J’avais prévu de prendre l’avion demain pour Paris. Pour le moment, je ne compte pas quitter le Liban, et n’ai pas l’intention d’être « rapatrié ». Je pense que notre présence n’est pas inutile en ces jours d’épreuves, et que les Libanais y sont sensibles.
Très cordialement

P. Francis Leduc

Letter Four: Afel

Mes cheres amies,

Je me permets de vous lancer cet appel, encouragιe a le faire connaisant votre sens moral et l'interet que vous portez a l'enfance libanaise depuis plus de 10 ans. Actuellement, l'enfance libanaise est defavorise, malheureuse, victime et sequelle des conflits tragiques que traverse notre pays.

Je ne m'attarderai pas a vous presenter la situation catastrophique que vit le Liban, depuis plus de deux semaines. Avec les mass media, vous devez etre au courant des destructions ιnormes que vit le Liban, celle des infrastructures, de l'electricite...
Le bilan en pertes de vies humaines atteint des proportions tragiques: plus de 1500 blesses et 400 tues, plus d'un demi million de personnes deplaces. Jusqu'aujourd'hui, il y a une perte financiere de plus de deux milliars de dollars. Il y a aussi des manques de nourriture de premiere necessite, d'approvisionnements mιdicaux. Des maisons, des usines, des maisons de commerce ont ete completement detruites, engendrant un nombre incalculable de chaumeurs.

Et comme vous le savez, l'AFEL s'occupe de 220 familles nιcessiteuses et de 500 enfants auxquelles ils appartiennent, La majoritι soit 90% des pores de famille sont des ouvriers journaliers et sont donc au chτmage jusqu'a ce que la paix soit rιtabli.

C'est donc un S.O.S. que je vous lance, Aidez-nous, autant que possible a depasser ces malheurs qui frappent notre pays. Aidez-nous a assurer le minimum aux familles dont nous avons la charge. Nous refusons de mourir ou de voir mourir nos compatriotes.

Quelle que soit votre aide, elle sera la bienvenue.

N'hesitez pas a nous aider. Etant sϋre que ce que vous aurez l'amabilitι et la gιnιrositι de nous accorder, aussi minime que sera votre donation, nous sera tres utile. Un proverbe libanais ne dit-il pas "Un caillou soutient une amphore".

Merci d'avance pour le "caillou" que vous pourrez nous envoyer pourdes secours d'urgence: nourriture, frais mιdicaux, sous vetements, etc.

Merci pour votre collaboration et votre aide.
En toute confiance et amitie

Simone Warde
Presidente de l'AFEL
afel@idm.net.lb
Banque: B.N.P.I - Achrafieh
Compte N° 12824900186

Letter Five: Offre-Joie
*Urgent, Urgent, Urgent* Nous avons contacté Offre-Joie pour voir comment on peut aider : Il nous faut d'urgence : du lait pour nourissons du lait pour enfants des couches pour nourrissons des produits de nettoyage (Dettol, détergents,...) En besoin aussi : Des matelas en mousse Des couvertures De la nourriture De l'eau dans des citernes Merci de répondre au plus tôt et de voir qui peut aider dans chacun des points plus haut. Through Rotary: Gerard Dahan +9613656678 Rony Farra +9613408044 André Gholam +9613234667 Coordonnées Rotary Club de Baabda Bank of Beirut Sassine Branch swift: BABELBBE Titulaire du Compte : Rotary Club Baabda Account # : 1140125849500

Appeal One: Leb Org Appeal Lebanon Will Survive: Calling For Cease Fire http://www.leb.org/v3/lebanon appeal@leb.org
Calling for a cease-fireJuly 20th, 2006 Israel is destroying Lebanon. It has no right to do so. Children, women, innocent civilians are being killed by the Israeli attacks. Entire families are being chased out of their home villages. Bridges, roads, airports, ports, highways, energy plants and communication networks are being pounded to the ground. The whole country has been cut off from the rest of the world.
We, Lebanese people, are sad, we are suffering, we are angry, we are determined and mobilized to work together towards saving our nation. Israel's initiative is an unfair disproportionate collective punishment inflicted upon Lebanon for the wrong reasons: what is happening today goes beyond the issue of a prisoners exchange. Neither the government nor the innocent people of Lebanon had been informed or agreed on the kidnapping of the two Israeli soldiers.
Lebanon is in despair: it's a humanitarian and economic disaster.We call for an immediate cease-fire under the auspices of the UN,We call for the establishment of the government's sovereignty on all Lebanese territory in cooperation with the UN,We call for your help to pressure Israel to stop its attacks.
Help us achieve it as soon as possible. So that Lebanon will survive. Lebanon will survive.

Peaceful blog comments from citizens of the world:

Comment one:
....for once in my life I can find no words, there is just this sick feeling of shame and anger for what has deliberately been allowed to happen in Lebanon...Yes. Stop! Yes. Let the UN do it’s job properly - unshackled!
Jacquie Bunker

Comment two:
De toutes les paroisses de France, ce matin de Viviers sur Rhone les priθres montent pour qu'enfin les dirigeants comprennent qu'il y en a assez de voir des enfants mourir pour rien.
Si chacun d'entre eux regardait son enfant dans les yeux avant de repartir vers sa mission politique peut-κtre qu'il rιflιchirait ΰ deux fois avant d'engager la guerre au lieu du dialogue.
Michel Garin

Comment Three:
Thank you for all the prayers for Lebanese citizens, for the outrage, for the desire for peace, for the cry to stop this madness. Lebanon is such a beautiful land which soon will be utterly destroyed... all they will need is take a bulldozer and push aside the rubble and the prize is won. Hard won by the loss of lives of countless innocent children and civillians. Please cry for peace, love and humanity. Thank you for your support of Lebanon and for support of peace.
April Gilley

Comment Four:
The pain, the anguish, the dead, on both sides, the destruction of two beautiful countries is break hearting for me. Innocent people on both sides – the Lebanese and the Israeli have suffered greatly in the past week....I call the Lebanese people: Do something! Free Lebanon from this radical, crazy militant. Be a free country so you can choose your own wars. And I believe that you will choose peace!....
Anonymous

Are you for an immediate cease-fire?
	Yes
	No
	Undecided