Long

From : mona isk

please check these two sites

http://www.theuncampaign.org/
http://www.tecklb.com/index2.php

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From: jacqueline nerette jnerette40@yahoo.com
Subject: Fwd: Fw: We need your help!
Sent: 09 August 2006 06:39:04

Dear friends,

The attached call for help is from my daughter, Aisha Bain whom many of you know is currently in Lebanon on a humanitarian's mission along with a group of Activists. They are planning to have a Citizen Convoy on Saturday, August 12 where a group of hundreds plans to drive to South Lebanon to provide humanitarian assistance which is desperately needed to thousands of stranded in the conflict (children, disabled, old people and women), too poor to have means of trnsportation or money to leave..

As you know, Israel is bombing any and all cars moving in South Lebanon, suspicion possible Hezbollah's fighters. PLEASE READ THE DETAILS BELOW.

I am forwarding this to you, asking for your help in several front. 1) PLEASE CIRCULATE THIS TO AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE, PARTICULARLY THE MEDIA. 2) I ask for your PRAYERS and 3) assist however you can as requested in the message below.

I need not to tell you that I am very concern. I feel this is potentially suicidal

Thank you for your assistance.
Jacqueline

----- Original Message -----
From: Aisha Bain
Sent: Tuesday, August 08, 2006 4:24 PM
Subject: We need your help!


Ok, finally what the hell am i doing here?

I am wirting to you quickly and informally as I have much to do and many people to contact.

Long story short, after many meetings with local activists, NGOs, etc. we have come up with a campaign of Lebanese Civilian Resistance Against Israeli Agression. This campaign will come in parts and serve to do many things:

Citizen Convoy THIS Saturday the 12th.
1) provide much needed relief to those trapped in south Lebanon and who are still not receiving aid (this information is CONFIRMED) through citizen convoys of all Lebanese and internationals in solidarity.
2) Promote national unity and inclusion for all parts of Lebanese society - Shiite, Sunni, Druse, Christian, the displaces, upper class, lower class - all have been invited aside from any politicians or political groups.
3) Send a political message to the Israel and the international communtiy that this is their country and their people whom they will travel to and support without seeking Israel's permission despite the continued bombing of the very roads that are preventing this very aid from being delivered.

In short - we are organizing hundreds of people and roughly 100 cars to carry much needed aid, supplies and medicine to the south. We wil be reaching a southern location and then branching out to reach the various villages that have been cut off. We may have to bring them by hand and traverse the countryside since mostroads are gone. We are counting on safety in numbers, having a large international presence and excellent media coverage for security. The state of Israel and the Israeli press are all being notified and international media governments are being informed of this notification so that Israel can not claim ignorance to this event and attack "by mistake." Appropirate permission has been obtained from Hezbollah to ensure not being fired upon from the Lebanese side, they have agreed to cooperate. All cars will be covered with a Lebanese flag, no other flags will be presented, humanitarian aid agencies have been informed but they must abide by the same rules to join the convoy. this is not an international organization response, this is a Lebanese civilian resistance convoy joined by the support of internatonals to join in solidarity.

There will be other convoys and missions to follow, many based on information from this first mission and info adam, huwaida, myself and others will collect in the next few days with some Lebanese activists.

We are also working on assisting the return of some of the displaced in definance of Israel's attempt to cleanse the south of it's people.

Many things are needed. Though we have been able to secure food aid supplies from humanitarian organizations on the ground for this mission, gas is serious problem and we will need to gather funds to support future convoys. There are also other logistical costs we will need to raise funds to cover.

Second, many have asked me about the children and then displaces. I have found a great Lebanese organization that is helping the 100,00s of displaced and especially the children called Sami Doun. I have seen their work directly - not only providing much need supplies like beds, clothes, diapers and necessary goods - which are still very much lacking, but also other important things like toys for children. I have gotten to know many of them personally, all of whom are volunteers, are amazing and sacrificing much everyday to carry out this work. they also coordinate with other grassroots NGOs to try and ensure all the needs are being met for this overwhelming population. They are also focusing on the displaced in the buildings scattered around the city - the ones i told you are being ignored by the government. And they work in the mountains and in the south.

I'm afraid for the moment, sending money is a much better alternative than sending actual supplies because getting themhere can be a logistical nightmare depending on Israel's bombing of strategic roads.

For those who can raise funds this is a great organization, and i can make sure that the money goes where it is directly needed and will have an incredible impact.
For those of you who have the capacity to help, raise funds, work on coordination, have media access, raise funds, etc. please let me know, we can really use your help.

We will also need volunteers for these convoys and some to work with these organizations.

There is a website but it was just put up and is still in progress. if anyone can offer "on call" web assistance it would be greatly appreciated as there is a 7 hour time difference and we may need updates more regularly.

the website is www.lebanonsolidairty.org

Please spread the word and tell me what you're interested in and if you can help at all.

Also please be aware that Saturday Sugust 12th is an International Solidarity Day with Lebanon and their are activities are protests happening all over the world. Find the nearest protect near you - damn, i can not say that with a striaght face.

anyway, that's the LONG short story. I have a ton to do and have been here eight years trying to upload 12 measly photos!! THE AGONY!!

one of the press releases is pasted below. The call for action is on the wedsite.

much love and one more update to send you written at 4 a.m.- good times. damn these photos and man do need a shower!

i'm noy even spell checking this - gotta run
much love,
me
_____________________________

‘Lebanon: An Open Country for Civil Resistance’
Civilian Resistance: Call For Action & Solidarity For Lebanon

We, the people of Lebanon, call upon the local and international community to join a campaign of civil resistance to Israel’s war against our country and our people. We declare Lebanon an open country for civil resistance.

In the face of Israel’s systematic killing of our people, the indiscriminate bombing of our towns, the scorching of our villages, and the attempted destruction of our civil infrastructure, we say NO!

In the face of the forced expulsion of a quarter of our population from their homes throughout Lebanon, and the complicity of governments and international bodies, we re-affirm the acts of civil resistance that began from the first day of the Israeli assault, and we stress and add the urgent need TO ACT!

We urge you to join us in defying Israel’s aggression against our country and in defending the rights of the inhabitants throughout Lebanon, and particularly in the South, to live on their land. When the United Nations, created to preserve peace and security in the world, is paralyzed; when governments become complicit in war crimes, then people must show their strength and rise up. When justice and human rights are scorned, those who care must unite in their defense.

Building on our belief in our country, the various efforts of Lebanon’s already vibrant civilian resistance, and on the arrival of the internationals coming to Lebanon for solidarity, we declare that Lebanon is an open country for civil resistance, starting from August 12.

On August 12 at 7 am, we will gather in Martyrs’ Square to form a civilian convoy to the south of Lebanon. Hundreds of Lebanese and international civilians will carry relief as an expression of solidarity for the inhabitants of the heavily destroyed south who have been bravely withstanding the assault of the Israeli military.

After August 12th, the campaign will continue with a series of civil actions for which your presence and participation is needed. Working together in solidarity we will overcome the complacency, inaction, and complicity of the international community and we will deny Israel its goal of removing Lebanese from their land and destroying the fabric of our country.

To sign up to join the convoy, contact either:
Rasha Salti convois.citoyens.sud.liban@gmail.com 03 970855
Rania Masri mailto:rania.masri@balamand.edu.lb&cc=&bcc=&subject=&body=&curmbox=00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000001&a=8ae4f095393d260ad5374cf7db75de7eba1abdc8b6f5f100490c1cf523abe60c 03 135279 - or - 06 930250 x 5683 or x 3933

Please check the website of this campaign after midnight tonight: www.lebanonsolidarity.org

This campaign is thus far endorsed by more than 200 organizations, including: The Arab NGOs Network for Development (ANND), International Solidarity Movement (ISM), Cultural Center for Southern Lebanon, Norwegian People’s Aid, Lebanese Center for Policy Studies, Lebanese Association for Democratic Elections, Frontiers, Kafa, Nahwa al-Muwatiniya, Spring Hints, Hayya Bina, Lebanese Transparency Association, Amam05, Lebanese Center for Civic Education, Let’s Build Trust, CRTD-A, Solida, National Association for Vocational Training and Social Services, Lebanese Development Pioneers, Nadi Li Koul Alnas, and Lecorvaw.

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From: Seyed Hossein Shahidi hshahidi@aub.edu.lb

Tens of thousands of people marched through central London on Saturday, 5 August, to call for peace in the Middle East and justice for the Lebanese and Palestinian peoples. The march started at noon at the Speaker's Corner, in Hyde Park, passed by the United States Embassy and the British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s residence at Downing Street, and ended at 5pm after speeches in Parliament Square.

The organizers - the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Stop the War Coalition, Muslim Association of Britain and the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament - said between 80,000 to 100,000 had taken part. The police put the number at 20,000. The organizers had asked the participants to bring along children's shoes - commemorating children killed in the war on Lebanon - to be placed outside Downing Street and at nearby memorials to the British war victims.

Pictures by Hossein Shahidi Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences AUB http://www.iranian.com/Shahidi/2006/August/London/index.html

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From: Maria Velinova Koinova <mailto:mk102@aub.edu.lb&msg=10CC1238-335E-4C61-9BDF-63B0F515954B&start=0&len=309114&src=&type=x>
Subject: [aub-faculty] Three upcoming actions

Dear Colleagues,

I hope you are staying safe and out of harm's way in these horrible times. Please distribute the following information to your contacts about two upcoming actions in Washington D.C. (Aug. 6, Sunday and Aug 8, Tuesday) and about a global action (Vigil) organized by Amnesty International US for Monday, Aug. 7.

Please urge your friends and contacts to participate.

Thank you!
With many prayers and hopes that the end of this nightmare is near,
Dr. Maria Koinova
Assistant Professor, PSPA

Upcoming Actions (chronologically):
1. Silent Vigil, Washington, D.C., this Sunday, Aug 6, 2006 - 8-10 p.m. starts at Farragut Square Park and ends in front of the White House, black or white clothes, bring candles. Please see info below.
2. Organize your own vigil or join an existing one in line with the global action of Amnesty International US. Action planned for Monday, Aug. 7, 2006, see web-site: http://www.amnestyusa.org/countries/israel_lebanon/vigil.html
3. Humanitarian Relief Action, Lebanese Embassy and 15 Arab-American Organizations, Washington D.C.area, Tuesday, Aug 8, 2006 5-8 pm. See flyer attached.

On Point One: the Silent Vigil in Washington this Sunday, Aug. 6, 2006.
The Lebanese American Community of the Washington Metropolitan Area
In association with Arab American Associations and Human Rights Activists
Is organizing a Silent Vigil In Protest of the Invasion of Lebanon and commemoration of the Qana Massacre....one week after
Date: Sunday August 6th Time: 8:00- 10:00 pm
Location: We will meet in Farragut Square Park at K Street and Connecticut Ave, NW - across the street from Farragut North Metro Station. Then at sunset, we will walk as a group to the White House with lighted candles where the vigil will end at 10 pm.

The purpose of the Vigil is:
* To demand an immediate ceasefire in Lebanon
* To mourn and express outrage at the loss of innocent civilian lives in Lebanon
* To condemn the internal displacement of one third of the population of Lebanon
* To deplore the systematic destruction of the country

What you can do:
* Please come in big numbers, women, men and children
* Forward this message to all your contacts
* Bring American and Lebanese flags
* Wear black or white Bring candles with you (bring drip guards or votives on a plate or tray to catch the wax)

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From: Ayse Gul Altinay altinay@sabanciuniv.edu
Subject: [iipe2004] Fwd: we accuse - itham ediyoruz - www.weaccuse.net
Sent: 08 August 2006 14:27:35

Dear all,

below is a petition that has originated in Turkey, but is rapidly moving around the globe.

If you are interested in signing it, you can do so using the form on the website.

I hope everyone is safe and well!
ayse

The statement we wrote in order to condemn US, British and Israeli belligerency is at http://www.weaccuse.net . If you support this declaration, you can include your signature with the form presented at the website.

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Right now a tragedy is unfolding in the Middle East. Thousands of innocent civilians have been killed or wounded in the bombings in Lebanon, Palestine and Israel and the death toll is rising every day. If the US, Syria or Iran get involved, there is a chance of a catastrophic larger war.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has called for an immediate ceasefire and the deployment of international troops to the Israel-Lebanon border, and been strongly supported by almost every world leader. This is the best proposal yet to stop the violence, but the US, the UK, and Israel have refused to accept it.

I have just signed a petition calling on US President Bush, UK Prime Minister Blair, and Israeli Prime Minister Olmert to support Kofi Annan\s proposal. If millions of people join this call, and we advertise our views in newspapers in the US, UK, and Israel, we can help pressure these leaders to stop the fighting. Go to the link below and sign up now!

http://www.ceasefirecampaign.org

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From: Edel Havin Beukes edel@beukes.net

The War on Lebanon and the Battle for Oil
by Michel Chossudovsky
GlobalResearch
Wednesday July 26, 2006 http://tinyurl.com/e6lhr

In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.

Is there a relationship between the bombing of Lebanon and the inauguration of the World's largest strategic pipeline, which will channel more a million barrels of oil a day to Western markets?

Virtually unnoticed, the inauguration of the Ceyhan-Tblisi-Baku (BTC) oil pipeline, which links the Caspian sea to the Eastern Mediterranean, took place on the 13th of July, at the very outset of the Israeli sponsored bombings of Lebanon. One day before the Israeli air strikes, the main partners and shareholders of the BTC pipeline project, including several heads of State and oil company executives were in attendance at the port of Ceyhan. They were then rushed off for an inauguration reception in Istanbul, hosted by Turkey's President Ahmet Necdet Sezer in the plush surroundings of the Çýraðan Palace. Also in attendance was British Petroleum's (BP) CEO, Lord Browne together with senior government officials from Britain, the US and Israel. BP leads the BTC pipeline consortium. Other major Western shareholders include Chevron, Conoco-Phillips, France's Total and Italy's ENI. (see Annex)

Israel's Minister of Energy and Infrastructure Binyamin Ben-Eliezer was present at the venue together with a delegation of top Israeli oil officials. The BTC pipeline totally bypasses the territory of the Russian Federation. It transits through the former Soviet republics of Azerbaijan and Georgia, both of which have become US "protectorates", firmly integrated into a military alliance with the US and NATO. Moreover, both Azerbaijan and Georgia have longstanding military cooperation agreements with Israel. In 2005, Georgian companies received some $24 million in military contracts funded out of U.S. military assistance to Israel under the so-called "Foreign Military Financing (FMF) program" Israel has a stake in the Azeri oil fields, from which it imports some twenty percent of its oil. The opening of the pipeline will substantially enhance Israeli oil imports from the Caspian sea basin.

But there is another dimension which directly relates to the war on Lebanon. Whereas Russia has been weakened, Israel is slated to play a major strategic role in "protecting" the Eastern Mediterranean transport and pipeline corridors out of Ceyhan.

Militarization of the Eastern Mediterranean

The bombing of Lebanon is part of a carefully planned and coordinated military road map. The extension of the war into Syria and Iran has already been contemplated by US and Israeli military planners. This broader military agenda is intimately related to strategic oil and oil pipelines. It is supported by the Western oil giants which control the pipeline corridors. In the context of the war on Lebanon, it seeks Israeli territorial control over the East Mediterranean coastline. In this context, the BTC pipeline dominated by British Petroleum, has dramatically changed the geopolitics of the Eastern Mediterranean, which is now linked , through an energy corridor, to the Caspian sea basin: "[The BTC pipeline] considerably changes the status of the region's countries and cements a new pro-West alliance. Having taken the pipeline to the Mediterranean, Washington has practically set up a new bloc with Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey and Israel, " (Komerzant, Moscow, 14 July 2006)

Israel is now part of the Anglo-American military axis, which serves the interests of the Western oil giants in the Middle East and Central Asia. While the official reports state that the BTC pipeline will "channel oil to Western markets", what is rarely acknowledged is that part of the oil from the Caspian sea would be directly channeled towards Israel. In this regard, an underwater Israeli-Turkish pipeline project has been envisaged which would link Ceyhan to the Israeli port of Ashkelon and from there through Israel's main pipeline system, to the Red Sea. The objective of Israel is not only to acquire Caspian sea oil for its own consumption needs but also to play a key role in re-exporting Caspian sea oil back to the Asian markets through the Red Sea port of Eilat.

The strategic implications of this re-routing of Caspian sea oil are farreaching. In April 2006, Israel and Turkey announced plans for four underwater pipelines, which would bypass Syrian and Lebanese territory. "Turkey and Israel are negotiating the construction of a multi-million-dollar energy and water project that will transport water, electricity, natural gas and oil by pipelines to Israel, with the oil to be sent onward from Israel to the Far East, The new Turkish-Israeli proposal under discussion would see the transfer of water, electricity, natural gas and oil to Israel via four underwater pipelines. "Baku oil can be transported to Ashkelon via this new pipeline and to India and the Far East.[via the Red sea]" "Ceyhan and the Mediterranean port of Ashkelon are situated only 400 km apart. Oil can be transported to the city in tankers or via specially constructed under-water pipeline. From Ashkelon the oil can be pumped through already existing pipeline to the port of Eilat at the Red Sea; and from there it can be transported to India and other Asian countries in tankers. (REGNUM )

Water for Israel

Also involved in this project is a pipeline to bring water to Israel, pumping water from upstream resources of the Tigris and Euphrates river system in Anatolia. This has been a long-run strategic objective of Israel to the detriment of Syria and Iraq. Israel's agenda with regard to water is supported by the military cooperation agreement between Tel Aviv and Ankara.

The Re-routing of Central Asian Oil

Diverting Central Asian oil and gas to the Eastern Mediterranean (under Israeli military protection), for re-export to Asia, serves to undermine the inter-Asian energy market, which is based on the development of direct pipeline corridors linking Central Asia and Russia to South Asia, China and the Far East. Ultimately, this design is intended to weaken Russia's role in Central Asia and cut off China from Central Asian oil resources. It is also intended to isolate Iran. Meanwhile, Israel has emerged as a new powerful player in the global energy market.

War and Oil Pipelines

Prior to the bombing of Lebanon, Israel and Turkey had announced the underwater pipeline routes, which bypassed Syria and Lebanon. These underwater pipeline routes did not overtly encroach on the territorial sovereignty of Lebanon and Syria.

On the other hand, the development of alternative land based corridors (for oil and water) through Lebanon and Syria would require Israeli-Turkish territorial control over the Eastern Mediterranean coastline through Lebanon and Syria. The implementation of this project requires the militarisation of the East Mediterranean coastline, sea ways and land routes, extending from the port of Ceyhan across Syria and Lebanon to the Lebanese-Israeli border. Is this not one of the hidden objectives of the war on Lebanon? Open up a space which enables Israel to control a vast territory extending from the Lebanese border through Syria to Turkey.

"The Long War"

Israeli Prime minister Ehud Olmert has stated that the Israeli offensive against Lebanon would "last a very long time". Meanwhile, the US has speeded up weapons shipments to Israel. There are strategic objectives underlying the "Long War" which are tied to oil and oil pipelines. The air campaign against Lebanon is inextricably related to US-Israeli strategic objectives in the broader Middle East including Syria and Iran. In recent developments, Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice stated that the main purpose of her mission to the Middle East was not to push for a ceasefire in Lebanon, but rather to isolate Syria and Iran. (Daily Telegraph, 22 July 2006)

At this particular juncture, the replenishing of Israeli stockpiles of US produced WMDs points to an escalation of the war both within and beyond the borders of Lebanon. [no wonder no-one found any WMD's in Iraq ... they're all in the USA!!!! duh!!!]

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Bush Told to Plan for Chávez Oil Shock
by Andy Webb-Vidal
Caracas Monday July 24, 2006 http://msnbc.msn.com/id/14001903/

In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.

Richard Lugar, chairman of the US Senate foreign relations committee, has urged the Bush administration to adopt specific "contingency plans" for a potential disruption to oil supplies from Venezuela. In a letter sent to Condoleezza Rice, secretary of state, last Friday, a copy of which has been obtained by the Financial Times, Mr Lugar warned the US that it needed to "abandon" reliance on a "passive approach" to energy diplomacy. Mr Lugar's warning follows the release last month of an investigation by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) that the US was ill-prepared for an oil embargo by Venezuela, the world's fifth largest exporter.

President Hugo Chávez, whose government has been emboldened by a torrent of oil revenues, has several times warned that he would "cut off" oil supplies to the US if Washington persisted in allegedly plotting his overthrow. "Venezuela's leverage over global oil prices and its direct supply lines and refining capacity in the US give Venezuela undue ability to impact US security and our economy," Mr Lugar wrote in his letter to Ms Rice. The GAO study, commissioned by Mr Lugar, a Republican, estimated that a Venezuelan oil boycott would raise oil prices by $11 (EUR9, £6) per barrel over a six-month period and reduce US economic output by $23bn. Bernardo Alvarez, Venezuela's ambassador to the US, dismissed as "absurd" the GAO study's premise that Mr Chávez would purposefully shut off oil supplies, citing the economic impact it would have on his own country.

Venezuela ships two-thirds of its oil to the US, or about 1.5m b/d and oil accounts for about 80 per cent of export revenue and half of fiscal revenue. Mr Lugar, while acknowledging that an embargo seemed unlikely, said that it would be "negligent" of the US to rely on "ad hoc" responses, such as use of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. "However unrealistic Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez's repeated threats to disrupt oil supply may be, we have a responsibility to plan appropriate contingencies that protect the American people," he wrote. Mr Lugar added that there was a "real risk" that Venezuela could "act in concert" with other countries to disrupt oil supplies. Mr Chávez is due to visit several countries in Asia over the next two weeks, including Iran. Myles Frechette, a former US ambassador and now a consultant on Latin American affairs, said: "Lugar believes that when an opportunity presents itself, Chávez will try to break his oil links with the US."

Venezuelan oil exports to the US fell six per cent in the first four months of 2006 to 178m barrels, compared with the same period last year. One of Mr Chávez's policy goals is to reduce dependence on the US as its main market and send more oil to China. ["But murder, far more callous, is about to be perpetrated by the Democratic Party as it enters the 2006 midterm campaigns with what is surely--barring a miracle--going to be one of its major planks in 2008: "Don't worry," they will promise, "the Democrats will restore cheap gasoline for all and find a no-pain answer to all of our energy woes. High prices are the fault of greedy oil companies and price gougers, not a lack of supply." I can promise you now, Hillary Clinton, that if the Democratic Party adopts this approach it will find in me an enemy that will make FTW's editorial posture towards the Bush administration over the last five years look like abject friendship." - _Michael Ruppert, April 29, 2006, speech at in NYC at the Local Solutions to the Energy Dilemma]

[There is no plan for a Chavez oil shock because there is no spare capacity on the market to replace what the U.S. would lose. The only possible plan is that of regime change or war. That is what Senator Lugar is referring to when he says the U.S. must "abandon a passive approach" to energy diplomacy with Venezuela. - MK]

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Lebanese Hospital Struggles With Wounded
by Kathy Gannon
Associated Press Monday July 24 2006 http://tinyurl.com/q5xf7

In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.

Dirty bandages hid the worst of 8-year-old Zainab Jawad's swollen, bloodied nose Monday. Her arm was strapped to her chest and fractured in two places. Stretched out on a bed a Najem Hospital, Zainab squeezed shut her brown eyes as memories of the attack flooded back, some of her words muffled as she fought sobs. A day earlier, Israeli bombs destroyed her family's home in the southern village of Ayta Chaeb. Then rockets slammed into the car as they fled.

"I don't want to remember, but I can't help it. What I remember most is the sound, the sound of the planes and I was scared because I thought there were so many," she said. "I fell asleep last night, but all I could hear in my sleep were planes."

Zainab's aunt was in the next bed. Her mother, Usra Jawad, and 4-year-old brother, Mohammed, were across the hall. Mohammed's eyes fluttered as he slipped in and out of consciousness; his leg was in a cast to his hip. His mother's leg was in traction, with steel pins in several places.

The week before, Usra Jawad's three sisters visited her village to see the new family home. When the bombing started, the four sisters fled in a car with the two children, hoping to reach their parents home north of Tyre. But rockets hit their car. Two of the sisters, both teachers, were killed.

"Now I have no house. My sisters are dead," Usra Jawad said. "I can't do anything."

Jawad Najem, a surgeon at the hospital, said patients admitted Sunday had burns from phosphorous incendiary weapons used by Israel. The Geneva Conventions ban using white phosphorous as an incendiary weapon against civilian populations and in air attacks against military forces in civilian areas; Israel said its weapons comply with international law.

"Mahmoud Sarour, 14, was admitted to the hospital yesterday and treated for phosphorous burns to his face," Najem said.

Mahmoud's 8-month-old sister, Maryam, suffered similar burns on her neck and hands when an Israeli rocket hit the family car. The children were with their father, mother and other relatives when the car was hit by an Israeli missile. The father died instantly. The Sarour family was evacuated from Tyre to Cyprus on Monday aboard a ferry chartered by Germany. The Sarours had to go to the port by taxi because the Lebanese Red Cross suspended operations outside Tyre after Israeli jets blasted two ambulances with rockets, said Ali Deebe, a Red Cross spokesman in Tyre. In the incident Sunday, one Red Cross ambulance went south of Tyre to meet an ambulance and transfer the wounded to the hospital.

"When we have wounded outside the city, we always used two ambulances," Deebe said. The rocket attack on the two vehicles wounded six ambulance workers and three civilians - an 11-year-old boy, an elderly woman and a man, Deebe said. "One of the rockets hit right in the middle of the big red cross that was painted on top of the ambulance," he said. "This is a clear violation of humanitarian law, of international law. We are neutral and we should not be targeted."

Kassem Shalan, one of the ambulance workers, told AP Television News that nine people were injured. "We were transferring the wounded into our vehicle and something fell and I dropped to the floor," he said.

Amateur video provided by an ambulance worker confirmed Deebe's account of damage to the vehicles, showing one large hole and several smaller ones in the roof of one ambulance and a large hole in the roof of the second. Both were destroyed. The Israeli military said it was investigating the incident.

Israeli rockets have been hitting around Najem Hospital for most of the last two weeks, said nursing director Inaya Haydar. "I don't sleep very much at night, sometimes two hours, sometimes I don't sleep at all." Six members of Haydar's family were killed three days ago in Srifa, her home village southeast of Tyre.

Before the Israeli assault began July 12 in response to Hezbollah militants capturing two Israeli soldiers, Haydar commuted 30 minutes a day to her village. Since the bombardment began, she has not left the hospital. Haydar's parents and younger sister have fled to the mountains north of Tyre. Her fiance, a Lebanese studying engineering in Sweden, wants Haydar to leave as well. "At midnight last night he called me and said: 'Please leave there and come to Sweden.' But I can't. If I leave ... then who is left here in the hospital to help our people and our country. I am Lebanese, this is my country. I love my country. I should stay." She gestured toward another hospital room by way of explanation. Inside, lay a day-old infant in an incubator. The baby was born in Tibnin, south of Tyre; his mother stayed home because she was too ill to travel after a Caesarean delivery. "He was two hours old when he came and so sick," Haydar said. "They had to get him here quickly. If we were not here, who would help him?"

[Interesting to see Forbes syndicate this AP report detailing how Lebanon is being destroyed. The finance community needs the real-deal news in order to make money. After reading this report I can almost hear the phones ringing in elite circles to negotiate the IMF extortion they call "loans" to rebuild Lebanon. - MK]

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From: Samira Khoury <sk05@aub.edu.lb>
Subject: we must address the roots of the ME crisis: Washington Post (fwd)

Dr. John Waterbury is the President of the American University of Beirut...definitely any solution/proposal/resolution that falls short of addressing the roots of the crisis will always fall short of any realistic credibility/viability...Samira Khoury _______________________________
A Bad Status Quo We Must Address the Roots of the Mideast Crisis
By John Waterbury
Monday, August 7, 2006; Page A15

BEIRUT -- Unfortunately, it is all connected: Hezbollah, Israel, Palestine, Syria, Iran and, indeed, Iraq. One cannot "solve" the Hezbollah problem without coming to terms with all the pieces. Anyone who has dealt with the successive Middle East crises over several decades knows there is a kind of infinite regress of cause and effect. I cut into the process somewhat arbitrarily in 1967. Next June will be the 40th anniversary of the Six-Day War. Six days and 40 years. I wonder if, at the end of formal combat in 1967, Moshe Dayan declared "mission accomplished."

Out of the Israeli triumph of 1967 there emerged a status quo that has prevailed with some modifications ever since, and no matter how unsatisfactory, the international system prefers the status quo to change. Israel has had a distinct preference for the status quo, founded on conventional military superiority over all its neighbors and some strategic depth through its retaining the occupied territories.

While the Cold War continued, the United States was not entirely comfortable with the status quo as it offered the Soviet Union a restive back yard in which to meddle, but the situation was manageable until 1973.

In 1973 Egypt's Anwar Sadat resorted to a limited war against Israel to dislodge it from the Suez Canal and to draw the United States into an active role of mediation. It is doubtful that Sadat anticipated even the limited military success his forces attained. He did anticipate an international crisis. Moscow obligingly threatened intervention, and Henry Kissinger began his famous shuttle diplomacy. Israel gave up the occupied Sinai Peninsula but not the essential ingredients of the status quo: military superiority, Gaza, the West Bank, the Golan Heights. This modification of the status quo was embodied in the Camp David accords of 1979.

From then on, and up to 1989, the Arab states, led by Egypt (and with the exception of Iraq), pretty much abandoned the military option against Israel. Even Iraq was more intent on using its military power against Iran and Kuwait than against Israel. Nor, after 1973, did any of the Arab oil producers, with the exception of Iraq, do anything to drive up prices or interdict oil supply. Arab authoritarians tacitly accepted the status quo in exchange for tacit acceptance of their rule by Washington. Arab governmental, financial and military support for the Palestinians dwindled. Action spoke volumes more than words.

With the end of the Cold War, Washington's alignment with Israel and the status quo in the Arab-Israeli theater become more solid than ever. If Israel seemed willing to move, as under Yitzhak Rabin and Ehud Barak, Washington moved, too. If Israel was unwilling to move, as under Binyamin Netanyahu and Ariel Sharon, Washington asked few questions. Two intifadas shook but did not break the status quo. But time has not healed wounds. There has been none of the oft-trumpeted confidence-building.

The real issues -- safe and recognized borders, settlements, Jerusalem, the occupied territories including the Golan Heights, refugees, nuclear arms -- all remain unresolved. The balance sheet of death and destruction is longer than ever, bitterness on all sides is deeper than ever, and there is no end in sight. Under Barak, Israel unilaterally withdrew from Lebanon, and under Sharon it unilaterally withdrew from Gaza. In neither case was any formal understanding negotiated with Lebanon or the Palestinian Authority. This was a modification of the status quo but not a fundamental change.
It is far too early to tell whether the ferocious battle between Hezbollah and Israel in Lebanon will lead Israel to question the desirability and viability of the status quo, but surely after 39-plus years of pounding away militarily at the symptoms of the Arab-Israeli conflict, it is time to have a go, once again, at the identifiable causes. It requires U.S. engagement -- bipartisan and involving more than one administration. The process will be harder than anything Jimmy Carter or Bill Clinton faced, and it cannot be done quickly.

Perhaps because I work and live in the battle zone, I find the status quo unviable. If this is the devil we know, then Satan, get thee behind me.
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The writer is president of American University of Beirut