 |
 |
 |
J/P Alert is the newsletter of the Justice and Peace office of CMSM. It is intended to inform and stimulate discussion and involvement among the members. Its contents do not necessarily represent official positions of CMSM.
Lebanon and Gaza – a spiral of violence
[The following report from the Redemptorist Community in Zahle, Lebanon, by Rev. Elias Joseph Sader CSsR, was distributed by Scala, the Redemptorist information service. The opinions expressed are those of Father Elias.]
This is an attempt to share with you the situation in Lebanon at the moment [July 20, 2006] and the situation of our Redemptorist mission in the Bekaa and in Beirut.
Today marks the seventh continuous day of Israeli bombings in Lebanon. According to the Ministry of Health, 240 Lebanese have been killed. 690 citizens have been injured, many of them permanently maimed. The Ministry of Defense reported that the bombs used in most regions are of a type internationally prohibited.
Displaced Lebanese people now number 500,000. They are particularly fleeing from the southern villages and the southern suburbs of Beirut. Refugees, numbering 60,000, are being sheltered in various public schools around Lebanon or in tents pitched in public parks. They are taken care of by the International Rescue Committee and the Red Cross, while others are finding shelter at monasteries, churches, or private charities.
Villages are under siege, the target of heavy bombing. Rescue teams are not able to help the injured or recover the dead. The bridges and roads leading to each village have been bombed with missiles creating craters 20 meters wide and 15 meters deep. The bulldozers trying to repair the craters are also being bombed.
Yesterday, every truck loaded with food or medical supplies was also a target of the bombing. So, many truck drivers are being killed for no reason and much needed supplies are going up in smoke. The Israelis claim that these trucks are carrying weapons from Syria to the Hezbollah. We disagree. Inside the city of Zahle, seven trucks were bombed. There was no concern that they were passing beside civilian homes, religious institutes, or cars filled with passengers. One of the trucks was bombed beside the "Sainte Famille" school administrated by Catholic nuns. A huge fire ensued. The truck was totally engulfed in flames along with all the donated medical supplies from the Arab Emirates. Seven people nearby the bombing and fire were injured and one of them died a few minutes later.
Truck drivers are refusing to drive. So refugees in the refugee centers are not receiving enough supplies. The Interior Security jeeps and the Red Cross vans are too small to transport the sufficient amount of supplies that large trucks are capable of carrying.
The bombing of factories has begun. The Israeli claim is that some of these factories are hiding weapons for the Hezbollah. But we know of one factory near us owned by a peace-loving Catholic that was bombed. Today five huge explosions shook the ground all over the city and a chicken farm was bombed. We deplore the destruction of innocent civilian enterprises needed to provide much needed food and services to our people at this critical time. As I write this, five families are buried in the wreckage of their homes. No one can rescue them because the bombing continues unabated. We may suffer soon from epidemics due to the fact that many bodies are not being recovered and buried.
This is how we see it: The war started after two Israeli soldiers were kidnapped by Hezbollah. We understand that the Israeli Government needs to maintain the confidence of the Israeli people, especially after its failure to recover the kidnapped soldier in Gaza. But it is our understanding that the two soldiers kidnapped by Hezbollah were given orders by their commanding officers to patrol near the Israeli-Lebanese border with the knowledge that the Hezbollah were seeking to kidnap Israeli soldiers for the purpose of an exchange for Lebanese and Arab detainees in Israeli prisons. We believe the Israeli government put these soldiers at risk in order to have an excuse to invade Lebanon.
Today the Lebanese Army lost four Lieutenants and seven soldiers, killed after a bombing on the Army headquarters in east Beirut. This is the fifth attack on army centers, killing highly trained and educated army personnel at the same time the Israeli government claims that it wants the army's presence in the south of Lebanon to protect its Northern borders.
The Redemptorist Community in the Bekaa is sheltering many refugee families, and due to what we mentioned above, we have a big shortage of food and medication. The situation is getting worse everyday. We wonder whether we are being put through another Massada.
We would like to ask for any help in the form of funds and supplies and ask the world to convey our predicament to as many people as possible. The Church leaders of Lebanon are sending the same cry. Your voice can make the military leaders, governments and world public opinion understand the importance of creating a "secure passage" for food and medical supplies.
[…and from the Poor Clares in Jerusalem]
As you probably have heard in the news, the situation is still very grave [July 22]. From north to south:
Southern Lebanon is being slowly destroyed and depopulated. Only the poor, aged and infirm are staying in place; well, and also the Hizbollah. Ground fighting is fierce, as is aerial bombardment by Israel. The Lebanese Ministry of the Interior says there have been 362 deaths so far and 350 wounded. Of these, probably 80-90% are civilian noncombatants. We have not heard from our sisters at Yarze; I'm writing them again today.
The rocket and missile attacks on Northern Israel continue. They are directed at residential and industrial zones within a 70 km radius of the launching sites. Included is the major city of Haifa, the border towns, the area around the Sea of Galilee (including Tiberias), Nazareth, Afula and other Jewish and Arab towns and villages. People are starting to leave. The two major industries of the area, aside from the petrochemical plants and oil refineries, are tourism and agriculture. Both are hopeless at the moment. I understand that the US is going to send "smart missiles" to Israel. I hope that is a good thing.
We have no further news from our sisters in Nazareth, but we know from other friends that Nazareth has not been hit again.
Here in Jerusalem, we are starting to receive refugees to the monastery. Last night the first group arrived: eight people, including a mother with children and a person with multiple physical and mental handicaps. They are Arab Christians from a village near Haifa, placed here by their (Greek Catholic) parish priest. Another Arab Christian family, a mother with three little girls (the youngest is 6 months old) will arrive in a day or so when the husband, a policeman, gets leave to drive them here.
You probably also saw the Caritas appeal on Zenit. It's true and important, but I do wish the international NGOs would notice that there are Jews, Muslims and Christians suffering and being bombarded in Israel, too. It's true that the damage is nowhere near as extensive, but even so: One person's suffering does not detract from another's and I think Jesus wants us to be in solidarity with all of the "little" people, all those who suffer….
Thank you for your prayerful support.
[Reproduced below are two letters from Churches for Middle East Peace, signed by Dominic Izzo, OP, as CMSM president, and other church leaders, on the violence in Gaza and Lebanon.]
July 20, 2006
Dear President Bush,
Mr. President, while attention is rightly focused on the Hezbollah-Israel conflict, we write with growing concern for the situation in Gaza and appeal to you to do everything possible to calm the crisis and restore hope for a diplomatic solution to the conflict. We condemn the capture by Palestinian militants of Cpl. Gilad Shalit and pray that he will be released by Hamas without further delay and returned safely to his family.
The escalating violence and regional dimension of the
conflict is alarming. It is urgent that you call on all the parties
to restrain from using
force and, rather, to trust a diplomatic process. We urge the sustained
intervention of the United States at the highest level with both Israeli
and Palestinian officials and with the cooperation of Egypt and the
Quartet. We ask you to work closely with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert
and Defense Minister Amir Peretz toward a diplomatic solution which
will not further impoverish and burden ordinary Palestinians. Our churches
and
institutions in Gaza struggle in despair to try to meet the needs of
the people –both Muslim and Christian. We endorse the call by
the church-related humanitarian and development aid agencies for the
urgent protection of Gaza’s civilians, as specified by the Fourth
Geneva Convention, as well as immediate and unobstructed access for
the delivery of critical humanitarian aid and supplies necessary for
basic human needs.
As religious leaders in the United States, we are deeply moved by the July 7 statement by the Bishops and Patriarchs of Jerusalem. They condemn the abduction of the Israeli soldier and the killing of the young settler by Palestinians, but consider Israel’s response – the destruction of bridges and a power station, the deprivation and deaths of civilians and arrests of Palestinian officials – as without proportion. “Things have gone too far. We call on the International community to intervene and insist on a diplomatic solution to this conflict. All Authorities must change course, and with unflinching International pressure and presence, they have to negotiate in order to reach the just and definitive peace.”
We share and support your vision of a two-state solution. If the Hezbollah-Israel crisis, which threatens to expand into a regional war, continues it could end all hope for a solution that brings peace and security to Israel and the future state of Palestine and their suffering peoples. We hold you in our prayers as you seek a way toward peace in these challenging times.
July 21, 2006
Dear President Bush:
We urge you to work with other world leaders to secure an immediate cease-fire in the violent conflict raging now between Hezbollah and Israel.
We are deeply concerned for the innocent victims of the attacks and reprisals between non-state parties in Lebanon and the government of Israel. This violent conflict has created a grave humanitarian crisis, and no hoped-for benefit should outweigh the cause of saving innocent lives.
If this conflict continues, the current humanitarian crisis could escalate toward a catastrophe. Already in the first days of attacks and reprisals, reports say that 34 Israelis have been killed, including 15 civilians, others injured, and thousands have been made to leave their homes, and, in Lebanon, at least 335 people, most of them civilians, are reported killed and hundreds of thousands have been displaced or sought refuge in other countries.
In the face of such a humanitarian crisis, calls for the fighting parties to be restrained in their actions fall short of what is needed. Your presidential leadership and the full weight of the United States, acting in concert with the international community, must be applied now to achieve an immediate cease-fire and to launch an intensive diplomatic initiative for the cessation of hostilities. This is a necessary first step toward the diplomatic resolution of this crisis and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the way toward a comprehensive Middle East peace.
Sincerely,
Leaders of churches and churches-related organizations
of Churches for Middle East Peace
Prayer for an End to the Violence in Lebanon
God of Solidarity,
We mourn the deaths of over 300 of
our sisters and brothers in Lebanon, and the displacement of over 500,000.
Give us
the ability to feel
compassion.
God of the Poor and the Vulnerable,
You call us to stand for the weak and for those who cannot protect
themselves. Help us to stand for the poor and the vulnerable
by refusing to stand for continued death, destruction, and devastation.
God who gave each person Human Dignity,
You desire that each person can live a dignified life, one
in which basic needs are fulfilled. Because of this war,
people are left
without housing, without sanitation or electricity. Roads,
transportation systems, and the ability to make a daily living
are now destroyed
for many.
God of Peace,
We pray for a true resolution to the conflict between Israel
and Lebanon. The roots of the conflict are deep and much
difficult dialogue will
be needed. We realize that both sides share the guilt for
needless destruction and suffering. Bring peace, O God.
God who gives each of us both rights and responsibilities,
Help us to guarantee the rights of those who suffer by reminding
our leaders of their responsibilities toward the common
good. Call all
involved to dialogue. Let peace come. Amen.
by Jill Rauh, Education for Justice
Your comments and suggestions are always welcome.
How
can the Justice and Peace Office help you get involved?
T. Michael McNulty, SJ, editor
mmcnulty@cmsm.org
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
 |
||||||||
8808 Cameron St., Silver Spring, MD 20910
Tel: 301-588-4030
• Fax: 301-587-4575 • www.cmsm.org
