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News :: Civil & Human Rights : International Relations : Israel / Palestine : Media : Peace : Protest Activity |
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Letter from Lebanon |
Current rating: 0 |
by Kostas
(No verified email address) |
02 Aug 2006
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LEBANON IS KIDNAPPED! |
Letter from Lebanon: LEBANON IS KIDNAPPED!
Dear Family and Friends,
Ha! I think I am becoming a reporter now! First, we are still safe, but hardly anyone sleeps. The bombing has been continuous, day and night with no reprieve. We are in the mountains and we are awakened by the sound of the explosions. And it's not as if you imagine what it is like if you are in Beirut. The situation is extremely serious.
I want to reiterate that we need your help in disseminating this information and hopefully getting it to the press. The news you are receiving is skewed. This is a well orchestrated war that Israel is carrying out. This is not a reaction to Hizbullah's apprehending two of its soldiers. It becomes clearer by the day that there is a master plan that Israel is executing. Israel has literally kidnapped the entire country. One by one they are destroying every single road that leads out of the country. Just this evening around 8:00 p.m. we heard Israeli planes flying overhead only to hear a few minutes later on the radio that they destroyed a mountain road that leads to the Bekaa valley. This road is further up the mountain from where we live, in a primarily Christian village.
On the news earlier we heard that of the 93 Lebanese killed, only 3 were soldiers. As of 8:30 p.m. more than 120 Lebanese are dead and over 500 wounded.
Yesterday they bombed a small port in Amchit, a Christian village about one hour north of Beirut. Why? The Israelis got wind that a French ship carrying medical supplies was arriving. Damaging the port they prevented these critical medical supplies from reaching their destination.
Yesterday, my niece was attending a wedding-poor couple-could they really delay their wedding after months of planning? The wedding was held not too far from Jounieh, a major port about 25 minutes north of Beirut, a Christian town (and definitely not a Hizbullah stronghold). Everyone was on the terrace celebrating when Israel repeatedly attacked the Jounieh port. My niece said that everyone ran into the church and prayed. The bride was crying. The groom was crying. My niece left the wedding flying down the main highway while bombs whistled by. Nice memories for the newlyweds.
This afternoon, the Israelis decimated a small Christian village,Ain Ebel in the south of Lebanon. The mayor was pleading with the UN for a cessation of the Israeli bombing so they could evacuate women and children, and eventually to get food and medical supplies. Again, Ain Ebel is far from being a Hizbullah basis.
In the southern suburb of Beirut, Israelis knocked out all telecommunications-both land and mobile.
They just struck the airport again, as I have been writing this. This must be the sixth or seventh time, I lost count!
Over 1 million Lebanese, that's nearly one third of the entire population has been displaced! Hotels, homes in the mountains are packed to the brim trying to accommodate these people made refugees in their own country.
Are you still convinced that Israel is attacking only Hizbullah targets?
Are you still convinced that Israel has a right to defend itself-and if so, in this way?
Even during the 15 years of war, never ever were all roads, ports, and airports simultaneously blocked. When I was in Saudi, we would fly to Cyprus then take the boat to Jounieh to visit my husband's family. Now there is no way out. Israel has kidnapped and trapped the entire country.
There are more than 17, 000 French citizens, more than 10, 000 English, more than 25, 000 Americans and many more other foreign nationals trapped because Israel has blown up all major roads, bridges, airports and ports. Their actions are barbaric. The British Ambassador made a public announcement on television telling his compatriots that the roads are not safe enough to travel on for an evacuation and urged them to just remain at home. How reassuring! You hear news of evacuations, but we are all wondering how anyone can get out when roads, bridges and ports have been
damaged so severely.
Now, to end with a little story. A news item that I am sure did not make big news in the American press:
On June 21, 2006, about three weeks ago, The Daily Star, the local English newspaper published an article about Lebanon expecting complete support from the UN Security Council about a complaint the Lebanese government was presenting to them. The Lebanese were following proper international protocol. What was discovered? The Mossad, the Israeli secret service (like the U.S.'s CIA), has a network in Lebanon and has assassinated at least 3 Lebanese citizens which the Israelis believed to be "terrorists." I ask you: What is worse? Hizbullah's kidnapping two Israeli soldiers or Israeli agents coming onto Lebanese territory and assassinating its citizens? It's like having a North Korean secret service cell in the U.S. killing American citizens. Would the U.S. sit back and do nothing? It's an outrage. Yet, Israel destroys Lebanon with impunity and no one pays attention to the infractions that Israel does. And what right does Lebanon have to defend itself? If Lebanon, dared to do what Israel is doing to it now, it would be labeled "terrorist."
I once again plead with you to get this news out. Israel is destroying Lebanon while the United States puts its head in the sand! These atrocities must stop!
10:10 p.m. The bombs are exploding. Another sleepless night ahead..
Rosie AKL.
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Selected Images of protests around the world against the US funded and supported Israeli aggression on Lebanon and Palestine
http://arab-americans.blogspot.com/2006/07/images-of-international-protests.html#links
What the US media won't show: images and descriptions from the ground in Iraq, Palestine, and Lebanon
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article14069.htm
http://uruknet.net
http://www.palestine-info.com/arabic/child.htm
http://electronicintifada.net
http://www.maannews.net/en/
UN appalled by devastation of Beirut (text and images)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5207478.stm
Black Commentator: Israeli Apartheid by Bruce Dixon, The Black Commentator Friday Jul 21st, 2006 10:21 AM
http://indybay.org/newsitems/2006/07/21/18290328.php
Israel's Terrorism by Gabriel Ash
http://dissidentvoice.org/July06/Ash18.htm
U.S. Speeds Up Bomb Delivery for the Israelis By DAVID S. CLOUD and HELENE COOPER
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/22/world/middleeast/22military.html
Israel attempts to isolate and destroy Palestinians take a new twist: increased denial of entry to both Palestnians and their supporters from Western countries
http://electronicintifada.net/bytopic/443.shtml
http://www.alhaq.org
See also: Human rights activist denied fair trial, to be deported as "security threat"
http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/2006/07/23/mariadeport
Green Party Press Release: Press Israel to end attacks on Lebanon
http://www.gp.org/press/pr_2006_07_20.shtml
Puerto Ricans Condemn Israeli Aggression, Prensa Latina,July 21, 2006
http://www.plenglish.com
In a heavily attended press conference today at Cosatu House, the Palestine Solidarity Committee of South Africa demanded an end to the Palestinian genocide ...
http://www.southafrica.indymedia.org/news/2006/07/10727.php
A blog in the Houston Chronicle (please post comments)
http://blogs.chron.com/gazawia/
Anti-Zionist Orthodox Jews activities in support of Palestinian rights and against the abomination of Zionism: http://www.nkuk.org/
New US Military Base in Israel: Cementing US-Israel military alliance against the people of the Middle East (also at the expense of US taxpayers):
http://www.rense.com/general66/excl.htm
Tom Hayden: Things Come 'Round in Mideast
In this essay, veteran social activist Tom Hayden, drawing upon his own rude political awakening to the realities of Israeli and Middle East politics during the 1980s, warns that the Israel lobby in the U.S. aims to "roll back the clock" and "change the map" of the region and that its neoconservative supporters will probably try to use the current Middle East crisis to ignite
a larger war against Hamas, Hezbollah, Syria and Iran.
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20060718_tom_hayden_things_come_round/
LinkTV.org translates and broadcasts unfiltered coverage from the Middle East TV channels "on line and in some TV
networks" (they claim to enter 1 of every 4 American houses) .
http://www.linktv.org/mosaic/streamsArchive/ |
This work is in the public domain |
