CITIZEN’S ARREST: LATEST FROM BEIRUT, LEBANON

Fuel tanks at Beirut’s international airport following Israeli missile attacks on July 14, 2006.

LATEST FROM BEIRUT, LEBANON
08/25/2006

In the August 24th edition of The New York Times, John Kifner reported from Beirut, Lebanon, that Amnesty International had “accused Israel of war crimes in its month-long battle with Hezbollah, saying its bombing campaign amounted to indiscriminate attacks on Lebanon’s civilian infrastructure and population….”

Amnesty Internationals views mirror our outrage at the criminal actions of Israel and, by extension, the Bush Administration. They not only gave the go-ahead for the bombing of Lebanon, but, according to Seymour Hershs August 21, 2006, article in The New Yorker, were involved in advanced planning for this campaign. All they were waiting for was an excuse to launch this terrible destruction.

Our government must create foreign policy that treats citizens of the Middle East with equal concern. Beyond the present wars and acts of violence that are taking place in Lebanon, Iraq, and throughout the Middle East, we fear that continuing on the course that President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney have mapped will end in further disaster.

We are, therefore, citing President Bush for driving American Foreign Policy in a reckless manner and have set up a Citizens Action Line to invite your views and comments as described in the ad below.

LATEST FROM BEIRUT, LEBANON

Following is an excerpt of an article by John Kifner that ran on the New York Times International page on August 23, 2006. Greg Myre contributed reporting for this article.

Human Rights Group Accuses Israel of War Crimes
Civilian Casualties Are Attributed to Indiscriminate Strikes

BEIRUT, Lebanon, Aug. 23 Amnesty International accused Israel on Wednesday of war crimes in its month-long battle with Hezbollah, saying its bombing campaign amounted to indiscriminate attacks on Lebanons civilian infrastructure and population.

“ ‘Many of the violations examined in this report are war crimes that give rise to individual criminal responsibility,’ Amnesty International, the London-based human rights group, said in a report on the Israeli campaign. ‘They include directly attacking civilian objects and carrying out indiscriminate or disproportionate attacks.’

“ ‘During more than four weeks of ground and aerial bombardment by the Israeli armed forces, the country’s infrastructure suffered destruction on a catastrophic scale,’ the report said, contending this was ‘an integral part of the military strategy.’

“ ‘Israeli forces pounded buildings into the ground,’ the report went on, ‘reducing entire neighborhoods to rubble and turning villages and towns into ghost towns as their inhabitants fled the bombardments.’

“ ‘Main roads, bridges, and petrol stations were blown to bits. Entire families were killed in airstrikes on their homes or in their vehicles while fleeing the aerial assaults on their villages. Scores lay buried beneath the rubble of their houses for weeks, as the Red Cross and other rescue workers were prevented from accessing the areas by continuing Israeli strikes….’ “