BEIRUT HOLDS ANTI-WAR RALLY

by Curious, Tuesday, August 01, 2006, 18:28

The capital saw its first anti-war rally Thursday morning. Lil Hayat (For Life), a gathering of 40 voluntary organizations and NGOs, made the call. The 300-odd demonstrators marched from UN House (headquarters of the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia) to the Saifi headquarters of the European Commission. There, organizers read a letter to EU envoy Patrick Renauld calling on the EU to press Israel for an immediate cease-fire.

Israel "is using a policy of collective punishment by bombing civilians," the letter read, "systematically destroying Lebanon's infrastructure as well as public and private property and by [en]forcing a siege through land, air [and] water on Lebanon ... The situation has led to complex humanitarian and health problems."

"Israel is violating international regulations as well as EU declarations, particularly the Euro-Med Partnership agreement [to which it's a signatory]."

En route from ESCWA to the EU offices, demonstrators paused to sing a verse of the Lebanese national anthem and generally tried to dissociate themselves from politicos - at both ESCWA and the EU - who materialized to speak or chant in favor of Hizbullah.

"We're not deluding ourselves," said Lil Hayat organizer Wael Hmaidan. "Civil society must express itself independently of politics. This is a humanitarian crisis and everything is getting worse. Everyone's leaving. Already we have half-a-million displaced people in the country."

*SNIP*

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