Peace Activists Bear Witness to War in Beirut

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ACTION ALERT * UNITED FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE
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Dear friends,

Recently, we reached out to you for help in placing an ad in an Iraqi newspaper,
asking Prime Minister al-Maliki to meet with a delegation from the US peace
movement. Thanks to your generous support, that ad ran in Assabah Al-Jadid on July
25 (http://www.unitedforpeace.org/article.php?id=3339), and resulted in an
invitation from five Iraqi Parliamentarians for a meeting in Jordan.

Again with your critical support, our delegation was able to travel to Jordan for
this historic meeting (http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/080606G.shtml), and some of
its members -- UFPJ National Co-Chair Judith LeBlanc, Medea Benjamin and Gael Murphy
of UFPJ member group CODEPINK (http://www.codepinkalert.org/), and peace activist
and author Diane Wilson -- have now continued on to Lebanon.

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STAND UP FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE IN THE MIDDLE EAST!

• Find Gaza/Lebanon emergency actions near you or post an event on our calendar:
http://www.unitedforpeace.org/calendar.php?sortby=&caltype=42

• Call your Congressional representatives and the White House every day. Call
202-456-1111 or email comments [at] whitehouse.gov today to reach the White House! Call
Congress at 202-224-3121 for the Capitol switchboard.

• Demand an immediate, unconditional ceasefire. Tell them that anything less -- a
"cessation of hostilities" set for some time in the future, a one-sided ceasefire
imposed on Hezbollah but not on Israel -- sets the stage for the war to continue,
and for more civilians to be killed.

• Get informed and spread the word: Click here for background information on the
current crisis:
http://www.unitedforpeace.org/article.php?id=3332
http://www.endtheoccupation.org/article.php?id=1250

• Click here for information on why the proposed UN Resolution is unjust and
unworkable: http://www.unitedforpeace.org/article.php?id=3349

• Support this critical work: Donate to United for Peace & Justice:
http://www.unitedforpeace.org/donate

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We will post a full report on the Jordan meeting next week, but right now we wanted
to share with you this first-hand report that Judith LeBlanc just emailed to us from
Beirut:

"On day 29 of the war, Beirut is a blend of many realities. The facts are that 1,000
have died, and over 3,000 have been injured in Lebanon. Most are children. Whole
villages and sections of cities have been evacuated, and life continues. Every night
there are new bombings of apartment buildings in Beirut and homes in southern
Lebanon. Tyre has been blockaded and every major highway has been bombed. The United
Nations says their humanitarian aid programs are paralyzed now. The spiral of
continued war and failed diplomatic initiatives leaves the Lebanese government
unable to make a full accounting of the extent of the damage to the infrastructure
or the impact on the economy.

Some Lebanese feel that the world has abandoned them. Many believe that Lebanon will
survive as it has in the wars of the past. Time is not standing still. With every
day the situation becomes more dire. Families are trying to survive together and,
when possible, they have sent their relatives to Syria or other countries even
further away. One man who waited in line behind me to use the pay phone told me he
sent his wife and children to another country. He stayed behind because his
90-year-old mother refused to leave her apartment. There are families crowded into
apartments waiting for the war to end. The families in the south of Lebanon sit for
another day in the parks under tarps, while others sit in public schools....

Not too far offshore oil tankers are waiting behind the Israeli Naval blockade,
while the hospitals report that they only have two days of fuel left. The tankers
won't move without written permission from the Israelis....

In the Hamra neighborhood where Muslim, Christian and Druze live together, small
shops stay open while periodic power outages compel the use of small generators. It
is less than 2 miles away from the southern neighborhoods bombed in the last few
days. Haret Hraik, a neighborhood in southern Beirut, has been bombed for three
nights in a row. Almost all the small shops are closed except for an occasional tire
repair shop. We went to photograph the damage. When we got out of the car, there
were many press photographers who asked where we were from. We went on to another
block where a group of men were watching the bulldozing of buildings bombed two
nights ago. They asked where we were from, of course, and then they offered us
chocolates!

We talked of the war and its impact. At one point, a man came up and asked what
media we represented. He was from Hezbollah. They have set up guards and street
patrols. He told us where to go to register to get an inside tour. The second time
we were stopped, a man on a scooter pulled the car over. He told us not to
photograph at all and gave us the address to register for permission.

Amidst the rubble of a bombed-out building, I spoke with a man named Idriss. We were
watching the bulldozing of a building that had been bombed two nights before. He had
lived in New York City before September 11, 2001. When he was deported from the
U.S., the immigration officials told him they were sorry, but because he is Arab and
Muslim he would have to leave. We chatted about New York City and he asked where I
lived. When I told him that I can see Yankee Stadium from my bathroom window, he
wanted me to go see his good friend Sami at his corner store at 161 Street in the
Bronx. He spoke of the senselessness of the bombing, but also reminded me that the
bombs were sold to Israel by the US. I took his picture and promised to go to see
his friend.

Over the past three days, many have said that Hezbollah is not the issue now. It's
the war. Some have said that Bush and the Israelis began this war to split the
people along religious lines. More than one person said they believed this war was
planned long ago. Some also believed the bombing was to force the people to decide
to be for or against Hezbollah.

At noon time, as we photographed the clean-up of one bombed out neighborhood, we
were told by the press that another Israeli air raid had happened.

We thought we saw leaflets falling outside our window. Now they are reporting on CNN
that leaflets are being dropped in central Beirut. That has been the practice before
a bombing. CNN is reporting that the Israeli government has decided to bomb closer
to the center of the city.

There are many realities that are going on here. There is hope and there is fear.
There is also a struggle to bring people together and lay the basis for a better
future even while the end of this war is not in sight."

As this report makes clear, it is more important than ever that the antiwar movement
stands up and speaks out. The Iraq war hasn't brought peace or security to the
people of Iraq or the U.S. Bombing civilian populations has not and will not bring
greater peace or security to the people of Lebanon, Palestine, and Israel. We must
demand an immediate, unconditional ceasefire and a just peace for the Middle East.
Click here for more information and action ideas:
http://www.unitedforpeace.org/article.php?id=3341


Yours, for peace and justice,


UFPJ National Staff

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Help us continue to do this critical work: Make a donation to UFPJ today --
http://www.unitedforpeace.org/donate

ACTION ALERT * UNITED FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE
http://www.unitedforpeace.org | 212-868-5545
To subscribe, visit http://www.unitedforpeace.org/email