WAR on LEBANON: 1 Year Later
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A Montreal Community Commemoration of Testimonials
& Reflections on the 2006 Israeli Attack on Lebanon.
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SATURDAY, JULY 14th, 6pm
Côte-des-Neiges Community Center
2nd Floor, 5347 Côte-des-Neiges
Directly Beside metro Côte-des-Neiges
Suggested Donations: 0-20$
A network of community groups & Middle East solidarity organizations in Montreal are calling on people in Montreal to participate in a major social event to remember & reflect on the 2006 Israeli military attack on Lebanon 1 year later.
Community Event will Include…
*War Testimonials & Open-Microphone: A series of live testimonials from those who experienced the Israeli bombardment of Lebanon and those who lived the war from Canada, including words from HASSAN EL AKHRAS, a surviving member of the El Akhras family, 11 of whom were killed on July 16th, 2006 in an Israeli air strike in Aitaroun in southern Lebanon, who will be addressing Israeli war crimes & strategies to challenge international impunity.
*Photo Display / Slideshow: Including photographs of the Montreal mobilizations throughout the summer of 2006 captured by local photographers & information concerning the Israeli attack on Lebanon provided by Canadians for Justice & Peace in the Middle East(CJPME).
*Discussions: This event is being organized to provide an opportunity for local activists to discuss, strategies & build on local resistance movements to the Israeli attack on Lebanon in 2006 which formed in Montreal during the summer. Multiple local groups & organizations, including thousands of individuals were actively organizing in opposition to the Israeli attack on Lebanon & the Canadian governments open support for the Israeli attack. Importantly this event will also be an opportunity to discuss the current situation in Lebanon, the consequences of the siege on Nahr el-Bared refugee camp which has lead to a humanitarian disaster for tens-of-thousands of Palestinian refugees.
*Community Dinner: Local community groups, individuals & restaurants which will be providing food for the community dinner as an expression of solidarity with ongoing work to support the struggle for self-determination in Lebanon, Palestine & throughout the Middle East.
*Arabic, English & French Poetry / Literature Reading: Including live readings from:
Ehab Lotayef, Montreal based activist / poet with CJPP.
Ghada Chehade, poet & PhD student at McGill University
Haydar Moussa, community activist & poet from AJLM.
Hisham Elsalfiti, Palestinian community activist with CPF
- Background Information:
On July 12th, 2006 the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers as part of an ongoing campaign to free thousands of Arab political prisoners from Israeli jails, which in certain cases have been locked-up for over 20 years. On that same summer day Israel attacked Lebanon in a violent military campaign of which left over 1300 Lebanese civilians dead, large parts of the national infrastructure destroyed and southern Lebanon covered in over 1 million unexploded cluster bombs. An Israeli military campaign of collective punishment unleashed on the people of Lebanon continued for 33 days until a U.N. brokered ceasefire on August 14th, 2006.
As bombs fell on Lebanon, social justice and human rights activists took the streets throughout the world from Johannesburg, to London, to Cairo, to New York and on the streets of Montreal. As the Canadian government issued multiple public statements of support for the Israeli bombardment of Lebanon, which Conservative Prime Minister labeled a “measured response”, thousands of people in Montreal quickly responded to the crisis facing Lebanon.
Through street protests, direct actions, spontaneous mobilizations, lobbying work, public education campaigns, & many other actions the people of Montreal expressed a localized resistance to the Israeli attack on Lebanon, one of the strongest political responses in a city outside of the Middle East. Many in Montreal from the Lebanese community & beyond also heavily grieved for family, friends & comrades lost to Israeli attacks throughout Lebanon.
Join us for an evening of resistance, reflection & community building!
Organized by:
* Association des jeunes libanais musulmans (AJLM)
* Al Hidaya Association
* Canadians for Justice & Peace in the Middle East (CJPME)
* Tadamon! Montreal
INFO:
514-664-1036 / tadamon[at]resist.ca
“Israeli military attack on Lebanon” ???
Comment by Adir — July 16th, 2007 @ 5:47 AMShould I remind you that this conflict started when Hizballah attacked an Israeli army patrol inside Israel?
A point of clarification Hezbollah captured 2 Israeli soldiers from a Israeli military base. Let us clarify the fact that until today Israel continues to occupy Lebanese territory, only last week the U.N. ” transmitted messages to Israel in recent weeks that the organization’s mapping experts have determined that the controversial Shaba Farms on Mount Dov near the Lebanese border.” According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, link below.
* UN to Israel: Shaba Farms is Lebanese territory
http://tadamon.resist.ca/index.php/post/759
In terms of international law, under the U.N. Charter article 51, the right to resist finds application within the framework of the right of legitimate defense because “a state which forcibly subjugates a people to colonial or alien domination is committing an unlawful act as defined by international law, and the subject people, in the exercise of its inherent right of self-defense, may fight to defend and attain its right to self-determination.”
Within this framework Lebanon maintains a right to armed resistance, from capturing soldiers for a prison exchange or resisting the ongoing violations of Lebanese territory by the Israeli military, from frequent flights over Israeli air space by the IDF, to the historical pattern of invasion & occupation throughout south Lebanon on the part of the Israeli military.
Thank you for writing, simply wanted to point out a few simply facts & clarifications regarding international law as relating to Lebanon & Israel.
Comment by Stefan Christoff — July 16th, 2007 @ 2:42 PMTiming is everything…
at the time of the Hizballah attack on Israel the UN position on the boarder location was different. ( http://www.un.org/Depts/DPKO/Missions/unifil/0047411E.pdf )
at the time of the Hizballah attack, the UN position was that Israel has complied its decision regarding the location of the Israel-Lebanon border.
(the boarder line was marked by UN experts (“the blue line”)).
you can not justify the attack that happened a year ago with last week news..
Comment by Adir — July 18th, 2007 @ 6:28 AMThank you for your note. Point to be understood is that Shaba Farms is part of Lebanon, as recognized by the U.N.. Shaba Farms is currently Lebanese land occupied by Israel, was occupied land in 2006 and has been under Israeli occupation for decades…
Timing is everything…? In 2007 Shaba is occupied by Israel, in 2006 Shaba was occupied by Israel. Sadly as time passes Israel continues to ignore their international obligation to pull out of all illegally occupied territories, including Shaba, the Syrian Golan Heights and the Palestinian territories of the West Bank & Gaza Strip.
Until Israel’s occupations of Lebanese, Syrian and Palestinian land firmly ends – meaning the removal of all illegal settlements and the granting of full control of territorial airspace and land borders – violence in the Middle East will continue.
This opposition to Israeli expropriation of Lebanese, Palestinian & Syrian land – illegal under the Geneva Convention – has been illustrated as a clear point of contention for decades to Israel by political movements of all stripes internationally and Arab governments throughout the Middle East. The equation is clear, peace will be a possibility once Israeli occupations are halted…
Below is an interesting link to background information on Israel’s illegal settlements from the internationally respected Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem…
B’Tselem: Land Expropriation & Settlements.
Comment by Stefan — July 18th, 2007 @ 9:50 PMhttp://www.btselem.org/English/Settlements/