The New Zealand Red Cross has launched an appeal to help the victims of Israel's war against Lebanon. In keeping with the Red Cross's commitment to impartiality, they will be assisting those in greatest need regardless of race, nationality, or religion, including those forced to flee their homes on both sides of the border.
You can donate online here, or you can make a $20 donation by calling 0900 31 100.
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Here’s How To Halt This Horror by By RALPH NADER
http://yalibnan.com/site/
Dear President Bush…
By RALPH NADER
You have been a weak president, despite your strutting and barking, when it comes to doing the right things for the American people within the Constitution and its rule of law. This trait is now in bold relief over the Israeli government's escalating war crimes pulverizing the defenseless people and country of Lebanon.
With systematic efficiency, the Israeli government has already destroyed innocent homes and basic public facilities, ports , airports, highways, bridges, power stations which are critical to delivery of food, medicines, health care, ambulances, water and other essentials for a civilian population. This bombardment, by U.S. made bombers, military vehicles, ships and missiles with American taxpayer subsidies, places an inescapable responsibility upon your shoulders which does not mix with your usual vacuous messianic rigidity.
As the leading player in official Washington's puppet show, it is time for you to assert the interests of the American people and those of the broad Israeli and Palestinian peace movements, by standing up to the puppeteers. For without this conflict, Hezbollah would not be in today's news.
The time has come for you to return to Texas for a private meeting with your father, his former national security advisor, Brent Scowcroft and his former Secretary of State, James Baker. You need to say to them 'I can't trust my advisors anymore; there have been so many tragic blunders. What do you advise me to do about the destruction of a friendly nation by the world's fifth most powerful military?'
Here is what I think they should say to you:
1. Take personal command of an immediate rescue effort for the tens of thousands of Americans trapped in Lebanon by Israel's calculated blocking of air, land and sea escape routes. You've said the safety of Americans is your top priority. Prove it by using the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Navy facilities to immediately evacuate all our people desperate to escape the terrorization of Lebanon.
2. You have been so docile and permissive to Israeli demands that any modest deviation from this posture will make your next move credible. Announce that you are sending two prominent negotiators perhaps James Baker (Republican) and former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell (Democrat) to Israel and Lebanon to arrange for a cease fire between the combatants.
Announced at a televised White House news conference with your two envoys, you can punctuate your seriousness by raising the questions of violations of the Arms Export Control Act and the Foreign Assistance Act. Using U.S. supplied weapon systems to commit civilian atrocities on homes and fleeing vehicles with children and to inflict collective punishment on mass civilian populations are not using these weapons for legitimate self-defense and internal policing, as our federal law requires. Israeli planes have even fire-bombed wheat silos and gasoline stations in Lebanon. More mayhem is on the way.
3. Stop acting like an impulsive, out-of-control West Texas Sheriff and start reading, thinking and listening for a change. When Israel, Britain and France violated international treaties against aggression in 1956, and invaded the Suez Canal, President Dwight Eisenhower used his influence to make them withdraw from Egypt.
In 1982, following a year without any PLO skirmishes over the Lebanese-Israeli border, Israeli armed forces invaded Lebanon anyway. They created a path of destruction all the way to Beirut and militarily occupied south Lebanon for 18 years before they withdrew, except for retaining Shebaa Farms.
In 1982, the New York Times reported "indiscriminate bombing" of Beirut by Israeli planes. At least 20,000 Lebanese civilians lost their lives in that invasion and many more were injured. From that conflict Hezbollah was born, composed of many people whose relatives were casualties in that illegal invasion.
History, George, does not start two weeks or two months ago.
You must read about past U.S. Presidents who, at least, sent high-level emissaries to quell similar border fighting. It worked and prisoners were often exchanged.
You are doing and saying nothing about what the rest of the world believes is a hugely disproportionate attack against innocent adults and children in violation of the Geneva Conventions, the UN Charter and other treaties and federal statutes.
You've sworn to uphold these laws. Do so. Because of the Israeli government's overwhelming military power, the imbalance of terror against civilians and their property has always been to its advantage. As has its occupation of Palestine and confiscation of land and water sources.
4. You can't take sides and be an honest broker. Just about all our knowledgeable retired military, diplomatic and intelligence officials believe resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the key to deflating other agitations in the region. Freedom and justice for the Palestinian state and security and stability for the Israeli state must both be achieved.
You have turned your back on the courageous and prominent Israeli peace movement which normally reflects the positions of half of the Israeli population. You've never met with any of its leaders – even those in the Knesset or former officials in the military, intelligence and Justice Ministries. Hundreds of reserve combat officers and soldiers of the IDF have refused, in their words, "to fight beyond the 1967 borders to dominate, expel, starve and humiliate an entire population." They pledged only to fight for Israel's legitimate defense. ( www.seruv.org.il/defaulteng.asp)
5. Once in a while, ask your aides for a sample of Israeli opinion that rejects the notion that there can be a military solution to this conflict, despite the military imbalance. For example, reports and editorials in Haaretz, arguably the most respected newspaper in Israel, would educate your judgment. In a recent editorial, Haaretz argued that the present Israeli government has "lost its reason" through the brutal incarceration, devastation and deprivation of innocent people in Gaza.
In another Haaretz commentary dated July 16th, Gideon Levy writes:
In Gaza, a soldier is abducted from the army of a state that frequently abducts civilians from their homes and locks them up for years without a trial – but only we're allowed to do that. And only we're allowed to bomb civilian population centers.
6. One final bit of advice could come from Papa Bush's circle. If the Israeli army decides to invade Lebanon with troops, your support of the aggression can possibly unleash a domino of warring actions and reactions over there. As is it, Americans are increasingly fed up with the Iraq quagmire.
Moreover, we know they don't like many of your domestic policies favoring the wealthy, the post-Katrina debacle, exporting jobs, and among our conservative base, your enormous deficits. So our Republican Party's control of government is at stake in November. Don't you have your hands full with Iraq whose invasion we all urged you to avoid in 2003?
PS: 1- This letter was written before the butchery of Qana in which 54 people were killed, mostly children.
2- The US government has already evacuated thousands of Americans from Lebanon via Cyprus
Posted by Anonymous : 8/02/2006 07:58:00 PM
It is't Israel's war against Lebanon so much as the U.S. government's war against the Lebanese democracy ... Mr Bush is now rushing depleted uranium (DU) bombs to Israel. This supports their colossal act of homicide and will increase further global contamination by radioactive DU particles.
www.stop-du.org/
Posted by Anonymous : 8/02/2006 08:03:00 PM
It isn't Americans doing the destruction - you can't hold Americans responsible.
This is a war on Lebanon alright:
BEIRUT: Lebanese authorities are working to put together an emergency clean-up operation after the most disastrous oil spill in the country's history. The leakage of more than 10,000 tons of heavy fuel oil from the Jiyye power plant, due to repeated air strikes by Israeli warplanes on July 13 and 15.
www.dailystar.com.lb
Posted by Anonymous : 8/02/2006 08:20:00 PM
913,760 Displaced
3,243 Injured
841 Dead
Yep it certainly looks like a war on Lebanon.
http://web.naharnet.com/
Posted by Anonymous : 8/02/2006 08:37:00 PM
Pittsburgh Tribune Review
WASHINGTON "Everyone in southern Lebanon is a terrorist and is connected to Hezbollah," - Israeli Justice Minister Haim Ramon on Thursday. "Every village from which a Katyusha is fired must be destroyed," - Israeli general in a quote bannered by the nation's largest newspaper, Yedioth Ahronoth.
Posted by Anonymous : 8/02/2006 09:10:00 PM
Why isn't it Hezbollah's war on Israel, I/S?
Posted by stephen : 8/02/2006 09:17:00 PM
NEWS SUNDAY: "Tony Blair demands Lebanese Army take control of southern Lebanon."
News WEDNESDAY: "Israeli aircraft attacked a Lebanese army base in south Lebanon, killing three soldiers. The casualties bring to 28 the number of Lebanese army soldiers killed in Israeli airstrikes since the start of the Israeli offensive against Lebanon on July 12."
http://english.aljazeera.net
Posted by Anonymous : 8/02/2006 11:07:00 PM
America' War On Lebanon - End of Day 19:
1/ Human Toll in Lebanon
- 700 civilian deaths, a third of which are children (this number might double once rescue workers are able to reach 13 inaccessible villages where bodies are buried underneath destroyed residential buildings)
- 1600 injured civilians
- 750,000 refugees (representing 12% of the population), of which 100,000 are sleeping in empty schools, parking lots and public gardens
- 65 killed and wounded (mostly women and children, many handicapped) in Qana when an Israeli airstrike leveled a four-story residential building
used as a shelter by refugees
- 4 international UN observers killed in an attack on their post in Khiyam even though the UNIFIL had warned the Israeli army several times that they
were hitting too close
- 2 Indian UN peacekeepers wounded in an Israeli air raid on their post
- Attempts at creating a humanitarian corridor unsuccessful because of the destroyed bridges and roads that do not allow access to the villages that have the greatest humanitarian needs in the South
- Inability for ambulances and civil defense crews to reach areas with heavy civilian casualties because of intense bombardment
- Only 10% of the humanitarian aid needed has arrived to the country by ship or plane
- Refusal to allow for a 72-hour truce as requested by Jan
Egeland, the UN's top official for humanitarian relief, to evacuate the wounded, the children, the elderly and the disabled from the crossfire
- Bombing of a medical convoy from the Emirates
- Bombing of 2 Red Cross ambulances
- Bombing of 3 hospitals
- Bombing of fleeing civilian cars and buses
- Over 4500 air attacks mostly on villages where civilians haven't been able to evacuate because of the bombings and destroyed roads
2/ Human Rights and War Crimes implications
- The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights claims that Israel's actions in Lebanon could lead to the prosecution of its military commanders. A statement was issued suggesting that the failure to spare civilians is a clear violation of international criminal law.
- Human Rights Watch claims that Israel has used artillery-fired cluster munitions in populated areas of Lebanon. Researchers on the ground in Lebanon confirmed that a cluster munitions attack on the village of Blida on July 19 killed one and wounded at least 12 civilians, including seven
children. Human Rights Watch researchers also photographed cluster munitions in the arsenal of Israeli artillery teams on the Israel-Lebanon border.
- Human Rights Watch claims that Israel may be guilty of war crimes, citing: the destruction of about 60% of a nine square blocks area of southern Beirut composed mostly of apartment buildings, attacks on the village of Srifa, in which 10 houses were destroyed and at least 42 civilians killed, attacks on a vehicle of villagers fleeing Marwaheen, in which 16 civilians were killed.
- Blackened bodies of children and civilians are showing up in hospitals with no sign of being burnt (hair is still present) indicating weapons with toxic material. Tests indicate the presence of an unidentified chemical substance.
Human Rights Watch is still to verify whether phosphorus weapons are being used
- Amnesty International has denounced "blatant" violations of international law and called on the UN to deploy an immediate fact-finding mission to investigate attacks against civilians and other breaches of international
law.
- Amnesty International has also called for an arms embargo on Israel and Hezbollah amidst concerns on the transfer of weapons from the US to Israel,
via Britain
3/ Lebanese Infrastructure, Economical and Industrial Toll
- Air, sea and terrestrial blockade
- Bombing of the Beirut International Airport
- Bombing of Qaleiat domestic airport
- Bombing of the ports of Beirut, Jounieh, Tripoli and Tyr
- Bombing of the roads from Beirut to Damascus
- Destruction of at least 5000 private homes and residential buildings in villages in the south of Lebanon, in the south of Beirut and in Christian east Beirut Achrafieh suburb
- Bombing of hundreds of firms and industrial factories
- Destruction of the main Lebanese milk factory, « Liban LAIT », of a tissue paper factory, a bottle factory, a packaging firm and a wood plant
- Bombing of food and humanitarian trucks
- Destruction of all the main bridges (at least 100 bridges, most of them newly built, including Mdairej bridge, the highest one in the Middle East,
which cost an estimated 44 million dollars), dams and overpasses
- Destruction of more than 600km of roads (many in the south, making it impossible for civilians to flee their villages)
- Bombing of religious symbols: Imam Ali mosque (Baalbeck), prayer centers and Greek Orthodox church
- Bombing of most power plants, power stations, sewage plants, water facilities, fuel stations and transport trucks
- Bombing of the historical port of Byblos - a Christian fishing village north of Beirut
- Destruction of the historical headlight of Manara
- Bombing 300 meters away from the World Heritage site of Baalbeck's ancient Roman temples of Jupiter and Bacchus, the largest ever and best preserved temples which carry the six highest Roman columns in the world.
- Bombing of Lebanese military barracks and radar installations - weakening the national army which Israel claims it wants to control the south of the country
- Bombing of the telecommunication infrastructure - mobile networks of Faraya, Jounieh, Zghorta (all in the Martonite Catholic northern areas of Lebanon where Hizbullah has no presence), radio antennas, TV stations LBC and Manar
- Biggest ecological crisis ever in the Mediterranean resulting from the bombing of the Jiyeh power plant: 10,000 to 15,000 tonnes of oil have spilled into the sea, affecting not only 1/3 of the Lebanese coast, its sea
life and marine ecosystem (including the endangered green turtle. This oil spill is of
the size of the Erika oil spill that affected Spain and France but its impact more serious onsidering that it is not an open ocean as with the Erika oil spill.
- In days, all 15 years of reconstruction efforts have been shattered.
-Lebanon's fragile democracy is now the weakest it's ever been, both in its ability to function and in the eyes of its people.
ISRAEL'S STATED MISSIONS: (1) Get back the 2 Israeli soldiers that Hizbullah illegally abducted and (2) Destroy Hizbullah.
Questions: If, as America and Israel claim, Hizbullah is purely an Iranian/Syrian terrorist group -Why not attack the army of Syria?
Why do all of this to the one Arab state that actually tries to be more liberal, more open, more tolerant and more democratic?
Posted by Anonymous : 8/02/2006 11:21:00 PM
To answer the questions
> If, as America and Israel claim, Hizbullah is purely an Iranian/Syrian terrorist group -Why not attack the army of Syria?
And Iran? Israel doesn't have the capacity to wipe out the resistance in both of those countries - except with nukes, possibly.
Besides they are trying to keep this as a limited war.
> Why do all of this to the one Arab state that actually tries to be more liberal, more open, more tolerant and more democratic?
Because that is the state shooting rockets at them. I guess the suggestion is it obviously isn't trying hard enough - at least on the "tolerant" front.
Besides the south of the country is a bit lawless by the sounds of it.
Posted by Genius : 8/03/2006 07:21:00 AM
Questions: If, as America and Israel claim, Hizbullah is purely an Iranian/Syrian terrorist group -Why not attack the army of Syria?
They don't claim that. You made it up. They are an indigenous Lebanese group, specifically a southern Shia group, and all Israel claims is that they get money and arms from Syria - which they do. Given how outraged you are already, I cannot imagine what you would think if Israel did declare ware on Syria, but yeah, genius has it.
Why do all of this to the one Arab state that actually tries to be more liberal, more open, more tolerant and more democratic?
Because it is the one Arab state with a contiguous border with Israel where an armed force is firing a great many shells into Israel.
Yeah, this is a terrible disaster for Lebanon. But ask yourself what you would do if you were the Israeli government or an Israeli citizen and everywhere from Haifa north was being shelled daily. Do you think you could successfully advocate for a policy of just sucking it up? Really?
Posted by stephen : 8/03/2006 08:36:00 AM
Stephen, you pose a false choice: "But ask yourself what you would do if you were the Israeli government or an Israeli citizen and everywhere from Haifa north was being shelled daily. Do you think you could successfully advocate for a policy of just sucking it up? Really?"
Noone here has ever expressed the desire that Israel doing nothing. The choice is between targeting the actual combatants and targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure.
Something the rest of us can do meanwhile..:
"http://rickwrites.blogspot.com/2006/07/israel-boycott-against-indiscriminate.html"
Posted by Anonymous : 8/03/2006 08:47:00 AM
It isn't Americans doing the destruction - you can't hold Americans responsible.
If the US can complain about the Iranians supplying Hezbolla with weapons, then we can blame the US for supplying weapons to Israel. The US made a special delivery of bombs to Israel because the Israelis were using them up too fast (all those threatening apartment buildings in Beirut to destroy)
see
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/22/world/middleeast/22military.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin
The US has been blocking UN resolutions in favour of cease-fires, and given Israel "a green light" for another week of bombing.
You can't pretend they're not at least partially morally responsible.
BUFF
Posted by Anonymous : 8/03/2006 09:03:00 AM
stephen - "But ask yourself what you would do if you were the Israeli government or an Israeli citizen and everywhere from Haifa north was being shelled daily."
Well the IDF could stop behaving like terrorists themselves - that would be a bloody good start.
Are you seriously proposing that bombing a contry back to the stone age, subjecting an entire country and its civillian populace to collective punishment and creating a whole new generation of terrorists in the process is a good answer to the situation?
Any answer would take time but the answer lies in slowly increasing the number of moderates on both sides. Not by playing school yard bully.
Fraser
Posted by Anonymous : 8/03/2006 09:22:00 AM
The choice is between targeting the actual combatants and targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure.
This is impossible to do, because the combatants go to great lengths to embed themselves in said civilian infrastructure.
I think Israel should have stopped short after the first couple of days. That would have been smart, and moral. Unfortunately, it is politically impossible. Which brings me to Fraser.
The point I am trying to make is that if your country were being shelled every day - say if rockets were falling on South Auckland from Takapuna every day - you wouldn't agree to a unilateral ceasefire either. Safe island dwellers like ourselves tend to overestimate the ease with which peace can be achieved unilaterally. Israel has a peace movement, but its numbers have dwindled steadily since the start of the second intifada. You think Israel is a bully, but from the average Israeli's perspective their country is surrounded by hostile forces and subject to attack every day. They do not think they are bullies, they think they are fighting for national survival (and are being punished in international opinion for succeeding) and cannot afford to give an inch. How would you act in that position? Not very differently, I suspect.
Icehawk, you say "And while Hizbollah has been signalling its willingness for a ceasefire, Israel has not."
That depends entirely on your construction of their statements. Hizbollah said they would be willing for a ceasefire if there was a prisoner exchange. Olmert said there would be no ceasefire until Hezbollah was disarmed. Both sides have said there can be a ceasefire, while stipulating conditions the other will not agree to. It is not clear to me why you focus on the offer from Hezbollah, but the conditions from Israel.
Posted by stephen : 8/03/2006 09:44:00 AM
stephen - i get your point, and in no way am i saying that israel should just roll over, and not stand up for its rights as a nation.
What im getting at is that the IDF has and continues to carry out acts of terror against civillians.
This is quite different to having a standing army to protect your borders.
"you think Israel is a bully,"
well yes i do, but the statement you are reffering to was made irrespective of sides - it applies to all. In short NO ONE makes friends by being a bully.
as far as cease fires go - i think that these statements are made by both sides to score political or moral points. They both know that the conditions wont be met by either sides.
fraser
Posted by Anonymous : 8/03/2006 12:29:00 PM
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