Civilian Resistance in Lebanon

von Junge Welt

Etwa 6000 Menschen folgten am Samstag in Berlin dem Aufruf des Dachverbandes der Arabischen Vereine zu einer Demonstration unter dem Motto »Schluß mit den Bombardements, Hände weg von Libanon, Freiheit für Palästina«. Trotz der Appelle der Initiatoren an die Berliner Bevölkerung, sich dem Protest in Solidarität mit der palästinensischen und libanesischen Bevölkerung anzuschließen, beteiligten sich nur wenige Deutsche an der Protestkundgebung. Von der Linksfraktion im Bundestag hatten sich die Abgeordneten Sevim Dagdelen, Nele Hirsch und Ulla Jelpke, die auch auf der Abschlußkundgebung sprach, in den Zug eingereiht. Demonstrationen gegen den völkerrechtswidrigen Angriffskrieg fanden am Samstag u.a. auch in Köln, Stuttgart, Karlsruhe und Bonn statt.

Bereits am Freitag hatte es in Berlin eine von der Jüdischen Gemeinde zu Berlin initiierte Solidaritätsdemonstration für Israel gegeben. Rund 1100 Menschen stellten sich nach Polizeiangaben hinter den Slogan »Für Frieden – gegen Terror von Hisbollah und Hamas«.

Ali Abunimah, co-founder of Electronic Intifada, Electronic Iraq and Electronic Lebanon, talk to Flashpoints Radio about the Israeli assault on Lebanon.

Israel Must Not Use Indiscriminate Weapons
Report by Human Rights Watch

Israel has used artillery-fired cluster munitions in populated areas of Lebanon, Human Rights Watch said today. 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.

“Cluster munitions are unacceptably inaccurate and unreliable weapons when used around civilians,” said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch. “They should never be used in populated areas.”

According to eyewitnesses and survivors of the attack interviewed by Human Rights Watch, Israel fired several artillery-fired cluster munitions at Blida around 3 p.m. on July 19. The witnesses described how the artillery shells dropped hundreds of cluster submunitions on the village. They clearly described the submunitions as smaller projectiles that emerged from their larger shells.

The cluster attack killed 60-year-old Maryam Ibrahim inside her home. At least two submunitions from the attack entered the basement that the Ali family was using as a shelter, wounding 12 persons, including seven children. Ahmed Ali, a 45-year-old taxi driver and head of the family, lost both legs from injuries caused by the cluster munitions. Five of his children were wounded: Mira, 16; Fatima, 12; ‘Ali, 10; Aya, 3; and `Ola, 1. His wife Akram Ibrahim, 35, and his mother-in-law `Ola Musa, 80, were also wounded. Four relatives, all German-Lebanese dual nationals sheltering with the family, were wounded as well: Mohammed Ibrahim, 45; his wife Fatima, 40; and their children ‘Ali, 16, and Rula, 13.

By Omar Barghouti

Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora condemned Israel’s massacre in Qana today as a “heinous crime” and called Israeli leaders “war criminals.” Reacting to an earlier atrocity, he wondered: “Is the value of human life in Lebanon less than that of the citizens of other countries?”[1] The answer, at least as far as Israel is concerned, is an unambiguous “yes!” Israel’s latest bloodbath, which claimed the lives of dozens of children and women hiding from the relentless bombing in what they hoped was a secure basement in Qana, betrays not only Israel’s criminal disregard for the value of Arab human life, a typical colonial attitude towards natives, but also its increasingly fundamentalist perception of Gentiles in general as lesser humans.

Israel apologists who will try to spin this new massacre as yet another “mistake” must expect their audience to have an awfully short memory or a very low IQ. Israel has explicitly indicated in the past few days that it may resort to such atrocious measures, especially since its armed forces have failed to achieve any tangible military gains after 19 days of rolling massacres and wanton destruction across Lebanon. Israeli minister of justice, Haim Ramon, issued a stern warning only days ago that a large area in south Lebanon was regarded by his government effectively as a free-fire zone, advocating indiscriminate bombing of villages inside it to ease the so-far unsuccessful advance of the Israeli army.[2] “These places are not villages. They are military bases in which Hizbollah are hiding and from which they are operating,” he said, adding that, since Israel had ordered Lebanese civilians to leave the area, “All those now in south Lebanon are terrorists who are related in some way to Hizbollah.”

Released by UN News

Convening a meeting today of the Security Council, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said it must condemn last night’s Israeli bombing of a village in southern Lebanon which left scores dead, and must call for an immediate cessation of hostilities, warning that a failure to act decisively would undermine the United Nations itself.

In his address to the Council, Mr. Annan also reported on demonstrations against the UN in Beirut, and appealed to all people everywhere to respect UN personnel.

“We meet at a moment of extreme gravity - first and foremost for the people of the Middle East, but also for the authority of this Organization, especially this Council,” said the Secretary-General, who, under Article 99 of the Charter, “may bring to the attention of the Security Council any matter which in his opinion may threaten the maintenance of international peace and security.”

He said the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) no longer operates in Qana, which was bombed by Israel last night, and therefore had no personnel nearby at the time of the attack - “though Chinese engineers and two medical teams have now managed to reach the area.” They are helping to clear the rubble and giving treatment to survivors.

Citing preliminary reports from the Lebanese authorities, he said at least 54 people have been killed, among them at least 37 children “We must condemn this action in the strongest possible terms, and I appeal to you to do likewise,” said the Secretary-General, voicing dismay that his earlier calls for an immediate cessation of hostilities were not heeded.