[VegChat] Public demonstration, Saturday, July 22nd at 11 am on Parliament Hill for Lebanon and Palestine

[Edelweiss DAndrea]

Hello David,

The public demonstration was not in support of Hezbollah. Rather, it was a protest 
against the powerful attacks on Lebanon and Palestine, which have been downplayed by the 
media. 

While there is violence by Israelis, Palestians, and the Lebanese militia Hezbollah, the 
number of Palestian and Lebanese dead and wounded or being held captive in Israeli 
prisons far exceeds the number of Israelis dead and wounded or being held captive in 
Palestinian and Lebanese prisons.  

You mention that Hezbollah has murdered hundreds of innocent people in bomb attacks 
carried out on public transit buses. Why not mention Israel's many well-documented 
attacks on Palestinian and Lebanese civilians prior to the latest round of bomb attacks? 
Over forty-nine Palestian civilians (many of them women and children) were killed in 
June 2006 before the Israeli soldier was abducted. 

The same can be said for prisoners. Among those imprisoned in Israeli jails are 359 
Palestinian children, 105 Palestinian female adults and over 9000 Arab males (mostly 
Palestian), including 1000 "administrative detainees" currently being held without 
charge. Israeli military courts say that these people are terrorists, but many groups 
despute this.  In contrast, two Israeli soldiers are being help captive in Lebanon and 
one in Gaza. I sincerely hope they will all be released healthy and unharmed.

I attended another rally this week, that of Jewish and Arab Women for Peace. Jewish and 
Arab women from Ottawa united in their call for an end to the violence in the region. 
They spoke of how the destiny of the Jewish and Arab peoples are interlinked, and that  
there can be no winners unless they build a future together.

I want the rocket attacks on Haifa and other Israeli towns to cease immediately. 
Nevertheless, to make all of Gaza and Lebanon pay for the attacks is unfair and 
unacceptable. The UN's Jan Egeland has condemned the devastation caused by Israeli air 
strikes in Beirut, saying it is a violation of humanitarian law. Mr Egeland, the UN's 
emergency relief chief, described the destruction as "horrific" as he toured the city. 

Respectfully yours,

Edelweiss


On Jul 22, David Scott <em664 at freenet.carleton.ca> wrote:
> 
> Remember that,
> 
> The terrorist group Hezbollah in Lebanon has murdered literally hundreds 
> of innocent people in bomb attacks carried out on public transit buses. 
> The U.N. as asked the government of Lebanon to disarm Hezbollah, the 
> last time in 2004. But the government of Lebanon has been unwilling or 
> unable to do so.
> 
> Hezbollah deliberately targets the civilian population. Innocent people 
> on a public transit bus are a target the same as army soldiers.
> 
> Recently the Hezbollah had been receiving weapons from Iran. Some more 
> advanced weapons that even the Canadian military does not have. It's 
> unfortunate that this situation has resulted in these brutal attacks.
>