[van-announce] Sat Aug 5: Rally in Support of Lebanon and Palestine

[Stephanie Smith]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 2 Aug 2006 17:49:42 -0700 (PDT)
From: Harsha <harsha a t riseup net>

PLS DISTRIBUTE WIDELY

EMERGENCY RALLY IN SUPPORT OF LEBANON AND PALESTINE

*** WRITE A LETTER TODAY- SAMPLE LETTER BELOW ***

Palestinian and Lebanese community groups in Vancouver will be 
demonstrating to demand an end to Israeli terrorism in Lebanon 
and the Gaza Strip, and will be calling for an immediate end to 
Israel's unjustified aggression and for Canada to end its support 
for the Israeli regime.

SATURDAY AUGUST 5TH 2006 - 4:00 PM
VANCOUVER ART GALLERY (Robson Side)

For the second time in eight days, the Israelis committed a war 
crime yesterday. They ordered the villagers of Taire, near the 
border, to leave their homes and then - as their convoy of cars 
and minibuses obediently trailed northwards - the Israeli air 
force fired a missile into the rear minibus, killing three 
refugees and seriously wounding 13 other civilians. The rocket 
that killed them is believed to have been a Hellfire missile made 
by Lockheed Martin in Florida - Robert Fisk in The Independent

Sunday saw the worst attack on Lebanon in this latest string of 
Israeli aggression. Israeli bombings killed at least 65 Lebanese 
civilians in the village of Qana, 37 of whom were children.

The Israeli Justice Minister has continued to call for further 
acts of terrorism against the civilian population of southern 
Lebanon. In a security cabinet meeting, he called for villages to 
be "flattened" in southern Lebanon, according to the Globe and 
Mail. In the UK paper the Telegraph he was quoted as saying, 
"Everyone in southern Lebanon is a terrorist and is connected to 
Hizbollah."

With latest estimates of up to 750 killed, 1800 wounded, up to 
800,000 displaced in Lebanon alone, and the infrastructure of 
Lebanon and Gaza being destroyed; the leadership of the 
Conservative party continues to defend and justify Israel's 
actions and have refused to withdraw their position that Israel's 
response is "measured".

Join us to show your support for the Palestinian people of Gaza 
and the people of Lebanon! Express your outrage against the 
Israeli military invasion of Gaza and Lebanon! Call on the 
Canadian government to act!

Organized by: Lebanese Information Centre-BC, Adala, Lebanese 
Canadian Cultural House, Al Awda - Palestine Right of Return 
Coalition, and supported by a wide range of social justice 
groups.

For more information: Email solidarity.lebpal at gmail.com 
or Call 778-858-5831

For updated information check:
http://tadamon.resist.ca/
http://electroniclebanon.net
http://beirut.indymedia.org/

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

CONTACT THE MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS TODAY !

The Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs and International
Development will hold an emergency debate August 1. Please contact
Minister of Foreign Affairs, a sample letter is provided below.

CONTACT INFORMATION: Minister of Foreign Affairs
125 Sussex Drive, Ottawa, Ontario CANADA
Telephone: (613) 992-6022
Fax: (613) 992-2337
EMail: MacKay.P at parl.gc.ca


Dear Minister MacKay,

I am writing to express my outrage at the Canadian government’s uncritical
stance and unconditional support for Israeli aggression in Lebanon, as
well as in the occupied Gaza Strip.

The Israeli attacks on Lebanon are not just “disproportionate” - the term
being used by those who want to level a minimal rebuke at Israel - they
are unjustified, unjust and criminal. Appallingly, Prime Minister Harper
has so far not even recognized the disproportionality of Israeli actions.
Rather, he has consistently qualified them as “measured” and as legitimate
self-defence. Yet, no less a figure than the former Canadian Supreme Court
Justice Louise Arbour — currently the United Nations Commissioner for
Human Rights - has indicated that Israeli Generals and Ministers could be
held criminally responsible under international law for authorizing the
bombing of civilians in Lebanon.

The current position of the Prime Minister’s Office and the Foreign
Affairs Department on the Israeli attacks and invasion is one of
acquiescence, if not encouragement, of Israeli oppression of the Lebanese
and Palestinian peoples. It lacks any sense of balance; any measure of
critical perspective on the actions of the Israeli state and it indicates
a failure to understand the deeply rooted, historical injustices that are
at the foundation of the impasses and hostilities in the Middle East.

I call on the Canadian government to condemn the illegal and unjustified
Israeli attacks on the people of Lebanon. Furthermore, I call on the
Canadian government to hold Israel to account for subjecting entire
populations in Lebanon and Gaza to the most violent and ruthless forms of
collective punishment, the rationale for which is based a racist one.
Under the 1949 Geneva Conventions, attacks on civilian populations or on
civilian targets are prohibited. The Israeli state is in clear violation
of these rules of international conduct. Canada must demand Israel’s
immediate withdrawal from Lebanon, and a cessation of its military
aggression.

The current situation in Lebanon has drawn attention away from ongoing
Israeli Occupation Forces attacks on civilians in the occupied Gaza Strip
(as well as the occupied West Bank). I call on the Canadian government to
demand that Israel lift its siege of Gaza and end its campaign of
collective punishment including the deliberate destruction of the civilian
infrastructure, homes, shops and government buildings.

There are issues that underlie the current conflict which also need to be
addressed and resolved to set the conditions for real peace with justice.
Therefore, I also call on the Canadian government to demand the end of
Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands, the immediate release of both
Palestinian and Lebanese political prisoners held by Israel, the respect
of the Palestinian people’s rights of return and self-determination and
the dismantlement of the Israeli apartheid wall.

Ultimately, the aspirations of both the Lebanese and Palestinian people
need to be respected, and not treated with contempt as your government has
done in both word and deed with its unconditional and uncritical support
of Israeli aggression and occupation.

I call on you and your government to radically change your position on the
Palestine-Israel conflict and Middle East peace to one that is consistent
with principles of justice, equality and self-determination.

Sincerely,