Israeli Attack on Lebanon

[Hovik]

Post News related to the above topic here please

[Hovik]

Armenian Assembly of America: Update on Situation in Lebanon

UPDATE ON THE SITUATION IN LEBANON

July 19, 2006



As many Armenian-Americans have family and friends in Lebanon, the Assembly would like to ensure that our members and readers are informed of the specific advisory and updates issued by the U.S. Government regarding its evacuation plan for U.S. citizens. In addition, please also find a summary of the efforts by the Armenian Government in response to the situation in Lebanon.



U.S. GOVERNMENT UPDATE AND ADVISORY FOR U.S. CITIZENS



U.S. Department of State General Advisory for U.S. Citizens in Lebanon

July 19, 2006



More than 1,000 U.S. citizens were evacuated today, July 19, from Lebanon. About 2,000 are planned to be evacuated tomorrow, July 20, and 4,000 on July 21. U.S. citizens in Southern Lebanon are urged to register with the U.S. Embassy online at https://travelregistration.state.gov or by fax at + 961-4 544 209 or + 961-4 544 037. Buses will be provided to transport U.S. citizens in Southern Lebanon to ships for departure. Information regarding the evacuation of U.S. citizens may be obtained at 888-407-4747 (from the U.S.) or 202-501-4444 (from outside the U.S.). U.S. citizens wishing assistance in departing Lebanon should register with the State Department by calling the above referenced numbers.



U.S. Department of State Bureau of Consular Affairs Lebanon Situation Update

July 19, 2006



This Warden Message is to update Americans to the ongoing security concerns in Lebanon. The Embassy is monitoring the situation in Lebanon closely and is reviewing all options for assisting Americans who wish to depart Lebanon. The U.S. Department of State continues to work with the U.S. Department of Defense on a plan to help American citizens safely depart Lebanon. Additional information on departure plans, as it becomes available, will be released via the media, Embassy warden announcements, and on the Embassy website. The Department of State continues to work around the clock to ensure the safety and well-being of its citizens.



Beirut International Airport, which is severely damaged by bombings, remains closed. Americans who wish to depart Lebanon should prepare important travel documents such as a valid U.S. passport, birth certificates, and other civil documents such as marriage certificates, and medical records.



Once U.S.-sponsored travel arrangements are in place, travelers will each be allowed only one small suitcase. We give priority to U.S. citizens but will consider departure assistance to Legal Permanent Residents accompanying an immediate family member who is a U.S. citizen. ONE guardian may accompany an American citizen minor, even if that guardian is not an American. The guardian must have a valid passport and a U.S. visa, if traveling to the U.S. We understand that neither Lebanese nor Americans need a visa to enter Cyprus. Pets will not be allowed to travel.



The Department of State has issued an updated Travel Warning, available at http://travel.state.gov, alerting American citizens that, due to ongoing security concerns in Lebanon, the U.S. Embassy has been granted authorized departure status. Family members and non-emergency American employees have permission to depart Lebanon.



We continue to urge Americans to remain in a safe location. Although we understand that Syria is willing to admit Americans without visas, there have been reports of damage to the border crossings at Mesnaa and along the northern Lebanon-Syrian border. However, if people encounter difficulty at the border crossing into Syria, they should contact the American Embassy in Damascus at 963-11-333-1342. Americans who attempt such crossings are advised to exercise great caution when traveling on major roads as they are subject to an air strike at any time.



The U.S. Embassy remains open for business; however, Nonimmigrant Visa processing has been suspended. American Citizen Services and Immigrant Visa processing are functioning normally. American citizens are urged to continue to evaluate their personal security and to keep in contact with the U.S. Embassy for continuing information on developments.



For the latest security information, Americans should regularly monitor the Department's web site at http://travel.state.gov where the current Worldwide Caution Public Announcement, Travel Warnings and Public Announcements can be found. Up-to-date information on security can also be obtained by calling 1 (888) 407-4747 toll free in the U.S., or, for callers outside the U.S. and Canada, a regular toll line at 1 (202) 501-4444. The available time for these numbers of 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday (except U.S./federal holidays) has been extended to 24 hours a day until further notice.



Americans living or traveling in Lebanon who wish assistance departing Lebanon and have not yet registered are encouraged to register with Department of State by calling 888-407-4747 in the United States or (202) 501-4444 outside the United States.



ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT RESPONSE



According to the Armenian Foreign Ministry, the estimated number of Armenian citizens in Lebanon prior to the start of the recent campaign was 1,200. In addition, 80 to 120 thousand Lebanese-Armenians are believed to be residing in the country. No information is available on any casualties involving either Armenian citizens or Lebanese-Armenians.



Prior to the escalation of the situation into a full-scale air assault on the infrastructure of Lebanon and its naval blockade, the Armenian Government began evacuating its citizens by buses from Beirut to Damascus and further to Aleppo, from where they were airlifted to Yerevan on board chartered flights of an Airbus-319 of the Armavia Airlines. The Armenian Government, in cooperation with the Syrian and Lebanese Foreign Ministries, also ensured expedited processing of consular formalities for the evacuees at both the Lebanese-Syrian border, and the Aleppo Airport. There have been two Armavia Airlines flights from Aleppo to Yerevan evacuating 178 people, including both citizens of Armenia and foreign nationals of Armenian descent. The first flight transported 77 people, and the second – 101. Armavia is planning one more airlift from Aleppo this week.



On July 18, 2006 the Armenian Cabinet held an emergency session to address the crisis. A task force was formed including Ministers of Territorial Administration, Finance and Economy, Transport and Communications, Health, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Heads of the National Security Service, Police, National Civil Aviation Agency, and relevant directorates of the executive staff of the Cabinet. The task force coordinates national emergency response, in the form of evacuation/airlifts, medical assistance/counseling, as well as consular, logistic and other support.



The Civil Aviation Agency is instructed to increase, as necessary, the number of flights to/from Aleppo, including emergency flights. Evacuees are transported free of charge. The cabinet has been considering sharing the cost of these flights that are otherwise conducted at the expense of Armavia Airlines.



The Ministry of Health is instructed to provide medical help and counseling to all evacuees upon their arrival in Armenia.



Effective July 18, Embassies of Armenia in Beirut and Damascus, and the Consulate General in Aleppo are mobilized into a round-the-clock duty regime. Armenian missions in Syria and Lebanon are enhanced by two additional Foreign Service officers, dispatched to coordinate airlifts and transportation of evacuees from Syria to Armenia, in addition to facilitating all other necessary procedures.



Armenia is issuing 3-month entry visas, free of charge, to all interested citizens of Lebanon of Armenian descent, as well as both affected foreign citizens in Lebanon and family members of citizens of Armenia in Lebanon who are willing to find accommodation in Armenia.



Armenian Foreign Ministry has established the following hotline for all related inquiries, requests and other communication: (+37410) 586-017, from 9:00 am to 9:00 pm Yerevan time (Eastern U.S. Daylight Saving Time + 9).



Following is contact information for Armenia’s diplomatic / consular missions in the region:



Embassy of Armenia to Lebanon, Beirut: Rabieh, Mtaileb, Jasmin St., Beirut, Lebanon; Tel.: (961 4) 402952; Fax: (961 4) 418860



Embassy of Armenia to Syria, Damascus: Malki, Ibrahim Hanano St., P.O. Box 33241, Damascus, Syria; Tel.: (963 11) 6133560; Fax: (963 11) 6130952



Consulate General of Armenia in Aleppo, Syria: Al-Kawakibi 4, Taha-Hussein 12, Aleppo; Tel: (963-21) 268-7240; Tel: (963-21) 268-7241; Fax: (963-21) 268-7291

[Joseph]

An email from an Armenian colleague in Lebanon

I just wanted to note that there is*NO evacuation of ethnic Armenians who are not citizens of Armenia. The government of Armenia is providing accomodation for Lebanese-Armenians who would want to leave the country, but that can hardly be termed "evacuation". Very few people so far have expressed readiness to leave, and most probably those few*will return in a few weeks, immediately after this*barbaric attack on the country's civilians and infrastructure is over.

We have lived in this country in the harshest times -- what's happening now is nowhere near the atrocities this country witnessed during the 15 year*civil war-- and at no point in time the vibrant community here considered evacuation, mainly because Armenians here are an integral point of the Lebanese fabric and not foreigners who work or spend their vacations in this country. I, and many others like me, can leave the country, at least temporarily, but choose not to do so. Many many*Armenians*made the decision to leave*the country during the period but that's no evacuation.

I would like to take this opportunity to underline one more thing. The western media might be portraying this as a war against Hizbolla, but only civilians are getting killed here. This is a*military operation*against an enemy that "doesn't exist". An enemy that doesn't have army bases, military compounds, which is why Israeli targets have mainly been bridges, civilian*infrastructure, seaports, airports, trucks, highways. Regardless of what I personally, or what others, think about Hizbolla, and about the fact that they unilaterally and without consulting the Lebanese government*took the decision of taking this country to war, this war is less and less about punishing Hizbolla, Syria, Iran, and more and more about destroying a country and making an example of it.

I need to cut this short because this is not the place nor the time for a lengthy analysis, but let me just say that this is not a war of the*"Peace-loving"*guys against the "Axis of Evil" folks. The 300 civilian death and more than one thousand injured in 1 week bear witness to that fact.

[Gavur]

Israel hints at full-scale Lebanon attack

AP - 1 hour, 9 minutes ago
BEIRUT, Lebanon - Pitched battles raged between Israeli forces and Hezbollah fighters on the border Thursday, and Israel warned hundreds of thousands of people to flee southern Lebanon "immediately," preparing for a likely ground offensive to set up a buffer zone.
http://news.yahoo.com/

[Gavur]

Jewish march against Zionism

http://youtube.com/watch?v=jTd08SPfckg&mode=related&search=

[Gavur]

Christian Town Opens Arms to Moslem Refugees

Christian town opens arms to Moslem refugees

Scoop.co.nz (press release), New Zealand
July 22, 2006

By Henri Bou-Saab www.scoop.co.nz correspondent in The Republic of
Lebanon

It is now the middle of summer in my village in Mount Lebanon,
Dhour el-Choueir.

It is beautiful here, high up above the Sea, the heavy heat of Beirut
on the coast cannot reach us

It is Friday afternoon.

Normally I would be down in that heat at my business, trying to find
some customers to buy the beautiful Brazilian bathroom accessories
that I sell.

But not today.

Not yesterday, either.

Not since the Israel air force decided to destroy Beirut's brand new
world-class international airport runways. There have been bombings
in the very ancient Christian fishing village north called Byblos,
bombs in the mainly Maronite Catholic Beirut suburbs of Hadaath and
Ashrafi'eh and in the mixed Christian and Muslim village of Zahle
as well.

Factories are being destroyed. Businesses blown up from the safety
of the super jets.

Lebanese are keeping away from trucks after a truck carrying medical
supplies was blown up .

Rita, my wife, works for pharmaceutical and medicine distribution
company GlaxoSmithKline. The company is still distributing medicines,
but Rita also has not been going into her office and she and our
children, Christopher and Bryan, are here with us at my parents home
in the Mountain.

So here I am stuck at home and not going into the office because
trucks go past my office. The office is also close to the port and
the air force bombed our world-class international seaport which is
very close to my office in the Antellias suburb.

The history of Antellias is very interesting.

The Armenian Christians set up their church headquarters here after the
destruction of the Armenian people by the Turkish Army in the 1920s.

In the 1920s, the communities of this Mountain - Greek Catholic, Greek
Orthodox but mostly Marounite Catholic - we accepted the Armenian
Orthodox and Armenian Catholic refugees escaping from their suffering
in Turkey. And in 1948, Lebanon accepted the Palestine refugees that
even to this day are still not allowed to return to their homeland,
which is Israel and Israel should be responsible for them, but instead
refuses to take responsibility for their needs.

ADVERTISEMENT

But as much my family's life has been turned upside down I know
that what has happened to us is nothing, nothing compared to what's
happening in the South of my country.

The majority of people in South are Shii'aa. They are Muslim.

So far, most of the 300 Lebanese civilians that lost their lives in
this total destruction of my country have been Shii'a and tens of
thousands of these civilians are escaping to find refuge in other
parts of the country.

My village has opened its arms to the refugees from the South. We
are not just doing this because our church leaders told us to, but
because we want to.

We want to help with shelter and with food. People are doing what
they must do.

We open our churches to our Muslim brothers and sisters.

I am afraid that if the Israeli Airforce continues this war for a very
long time then many more Lebanese Christians especially will join
the other Lebanese Christians that have already left the country to
go to America and Brazil and Canada and Argentina.

Not because we don't love our country but because we get pushed into
making a choice between what to do for our children, what is really
best for them.

I don't want to go. We don't want to.

But whatever happens I will never fight against the Muslims just
because that is what the Israeli Government wants me to do.

Israel wants a war between Muslims and Christians.

They can murder our civilians by the hundreds as they have already,
but they can't force us to kill each other on their behalf.

Never.

I promise you that.

[Gavur]

But they are terrorists!

Roof of Red Cross Ambulance bombed by Israeli Air Force, Qana, South Lebanon (July 24, 2006) http://www.stop-israeli-aggression.org/

[Joseph]

Turkish MP Resigns From US and Israeli Friendship Groups Due to Israeli Attacks
By Cihan News Agency
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
zaman.com

A member of the Turkish Grand National Assembly has resigned from Turkish parliamentary friendship groups with the USA and Israel in protest at Israel's attacks on civilians in Lebanon.
Mehmet Yildirim, deputy of the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) for Kastamonu, said on Monday that he had resigned his membership from the Turkey-USA and Turkey-Israel Parliamentary Friendship Groups in protest at Israel's attacks on Lebanon which have been backed by the US.
Yildirim stated that he decided to resign from the Israeli group since Israel had continued its attacks on innocent people in Lebanon on the pretext of rescuing its soldiers.
The CHP deputy added that he had earlier left the US group because they supported Israel's military offensive while they failed to take any concrete actions against the PKK, which they have listed as a terrorist organization.
"As a parliamentarian and a human being, it was impossible for me to be indifferent to the cruelty inflicted by Israel", remarked Yildirim, adding that he had received many thanks and congratulations for his decision.
For further information please visit http://www.cihannews.com

[Varouj]

Entire Lebanon Population Support Hezbollah

01.08.2006 17:27 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Armenian community of Lebanon, as the entire population of the country, believes that Hezbollah is an important part of the country population, which is represented in the Parliament and the Government, Head of Hay Dat Office, ARF Dashnaktsutyun Bureau member Kiro Manoyan told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.

«Entire population of Lebanon support Hezbollah in response to unceasing bombardment of peaceful population by Israel. The Armenian community is a part of the country’s population as well,» Manoyan underscored.

! Reproduction in full or in part is prohibited without reference to «PanARMENIAN.Net».


http://panarmenian.net/news/eng/?nid=19002

[Hovik]

An excellent piece on the recent Qana Massacre



The Qana massacre 2
01/08/2006 18:37 MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti political commentator Vladimir Simonov) - The Lebanese town of Qana, 10 km east of Tyre, has been fated to witness horrible tragedies on a more or less regular basis.

Ten years ago the Qana massacre took place. This is how people in Lebanon call Israel's shelling of the UN base where refugees from the south of the country were hiding. The tragedy killed 107 civilians and wounded over 100, and the world was appalled at the disproportionate and blind brutality of Israel, unable to tell an armed enemy from a civilian.

Obviously, Israeli leaders have not grown any wiser since then. Early last Sunday an Israeli bomber destroyed a three-storey building, killing at least 57 Lebanese refugees, 27 of them children. The Israeli authorities offered an explanation similar to the one they had given ten years before: we are sorry, but this is a tragic accident, the attack had a military target, but, alas, the cursed Hezbollah guerillas use people as human shields...

However, the UN investigation that ended in May 1996 established beyond doubt that the tragedy could not have been an accidental mistake, no matter what Israel claimed. It was established that Israeli helicopters and an unmanned scout aircraft were barraging the UN base in Qana, coordinating the fire. Moreover, Israeli artillery used shrapnel bombs that explode in the air and are designed specifically for the mass killing of people.

I have little doubt that investigations into the new Qana massacre and the killing of four UN observers on July 27 will find sufficient proof that the actions of Israeli generals, if not the government, were planned. UN officers' desperate phone calls to Israeli commanders asking them to stop the bombing will be the main evidence in future charges.

Unfortunately, these historical parallels and heart-rending details have so far brought only emotional responses from the world's political leaders. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan refused to shake hands with the Israeli ambassador. Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora refused to meet U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, saying they had nothing to discuss unless she brought a ceasefire agreement.

But she will not bring one yet. The United States is trying to give Israeli bombers and task forces at least another 10-14 days to destroy Hezbollah's military structure. Consequently, the latest resolution of the UN Security Council, adopted under the strict supervision of the U.S. representative, John Bolton, does not even mention an immediate ceasefire, but emphasizes the importance of conditions for a "long-term and stable truce," the euphemism the U.S. and Israel use to continue the massacre in Lebanon.

However, it is no more possible to eliminate Hezbollah, a social and political movement which embraces at least 40% of the Lebanese population, than to cut out 40% of a man's body and hope that he will survive. Remarkably, on Sunday Siniora thanked Hezbollah's leader, Sheikh Hasan Nasrallah, for the heroic deeds of those who, as he put it, sacrificed their lives for Lebanon's independence.

One could also note that the Israeli army, one of the world's best, has been milling about a small part of Lebanese territory for the third successive week. It is unable to break through the complicated system of dugouts, underground passes and other military infrastructure that Hezbollah's military arm built during the years of the truce.

Parallels between the U.S.-led war in Iraq and Israel's war in Lebanon are remarkable. The blind and counterproductive efforts presented as a war on terrorism in fact generate more terrorism on a global scale. Moreover, they kindle hatred towards people of other races and different faiths in any Arab, no matter where he lives. Prominent British politicians and cultural figures must have realized this when they sent an open letter to their prime minister, saying that his government had isolated Britain from the rest of the world through its actions in Iraq and that they did not encourage the repetition of that disastrous foreign policy.

All this can be dwelled on at length, but it is unlikely to persuade Washington, whose position will have a great influence on the future of the Israeli-Lebanese war, which has already killed about 1,000 innocent people. Still, the U.S. administration, as well as the entire international community, can no longer ignore two very important considerations.

First of all, the second massacre in Qana has drastically changed peacekeeping priorities. The scale of the human tragedy leaves no choice as to further action: there must be an immediate ceasefire. It is no coincidence that George W. Bush's closest ally, Tony Blair, has changed his rhetoric. In a joint statement with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, he acknowledged that "the tragic events of today have underlined the urgency of the need for a ceasefire as soon as possible". Still, he should have acknowledged it two weeks earlier.

And secondly, the Lebanese-Israeli conflict has escalated the confrontation between the Old and New World, which had subsided since the beginning of the war in Iraq. Israel is driving a Lebanese wedge into U.S.-European relations. Washington's refusal to rein in its Middle East ally has caused outrage in European capitals and led officials and the population to fear that Muslim suburbs in Europe could explode once again.

Two thousand years ago Jesus Christ chose Qana for one of his Biblical miracles: he turned water into wine. Now everything there is turning into blood. The international community should unite its efforts in order to achieve a new goal: turning the 48-hour time-out announced by Israel into a lasting ceasefire. After all, a political settlement cannot be reached through bombing.