Mothers, sons, daughters, sisters, brothers, uncles, cousins, neighbours and fathers are invited to symbolically die in in front of Marks and Spencers, 173 Oxford Street, 4.30pm in solidarity with the Mothers, sons, daughters, sisters, brothers, uncles, cousins, neighbours and fathers who are dying in Lebanon.

And then for a Collective Scream against War in Trafalgar Square at 5pm

Come and join us!

(Simultaneous action taking place in Glasgow.)

An Open Letter From Naomi Klein

I urge all who are horrified by the Israeli government's inflicting of collective punishment on the people of Lebanon to join me in supporting the Sanayeh Relief Center. It is a remarkable coalition of a grassroots activists in Beirut who have rapidly joined together to provide emergency relief to many victims of this human-created disaster. I have researched their work and feel confident that all support we send is going to the urgent task of distributing basic supplies such as food and medicine to people suffering under the Israeli bombing, including thousands of internally displaced refugees being housed in 32 displacement centers.

Virtually the only response from western governments to Israel's sickening decision to wage all out war on the people of Lebanon has been to send helicopters and boats to rescue their own citizens. Millions of people without such precious passports are left behind without aid, trapped by Israeli bombs that have systematically targeted roads, bridges and the airport.

There is no "international community" that is coming to save the day, only our own anti-war networks that we have built in our communities and online. So at the same time as we raise our voices to demand an immediate end to Israeli aggression, we must also offer our financial support to trustworthy, on-the-ground activists like those at the Sanayeh Relief
Center. In a world increasingly governed by brute force and indifference, the Sanayeh Relief Center is a beacon of humanity and mutual aid, please do what you can to increase its strength. It is a concrete act of peace.

Naomi Klein
Wednesday, July 19th



URGENT APPEAL FOR SOLIDARITY WITH LEBANESE SOCIETY
Relief Center – Sanayeh
17/7/2006

The Israeli offensive against Lebanon is an act of aggression against the whole Lebanese people. The IDF claims to be attacking an “infrastructure of terror”, but the attacks on bridges, roads, airports and ships are cutting the country into pieces, threatening to create a disastrous situation by impeding the transportation of food and medicines, and terrorizing everyone. Besides the hundreds killed and injured, thousands of people are fleeing the country, and thousands of people are fleeing from the areas where the bombing is heaviest into central Beirut. Even here in the “safe” parts of the city we can hear the bombs throughout the day and night, and electrical and water supplies are tenuous.
Political and civil society organizations here are organizing to help people deal with the effects of the invasion, but there is only so much we can do on our own. We are calling on our brothers and sisters in the rest of the world to do two things to help us.
First we call on you to protest at Israeli embassies and consulates, as we hear some groups are already doing. The Israeli government must be held accountable for its criminal and terroristic actions here and in Palestine. We also ask you to send us information about any such protests you carry out.
Second, we are asking you to help us with our work with displaced people here in Beirut. The group we are part of, the Relief Center - Spears, is working in 32 displacement centers in the central areas of Beirut, which were housing more than 6,000 people as of the night of July 16th (we don’t know how many thousands more are in other areas). People there are sleeping 10 or 15 to a room without enough mattresses, and they are only receiving food and water irregularly from the government. Many are children or elderly.
Besides the humanitarian aspect of the situation, helping displaced people is crucial to the reconstruction of Lebanon after this crisis ends. One aspect of the Israeli offensive is an attempt to foment tensions between different cultural groups in Lebanon. This is the only way they can hope to achieve their goals without an all-out war, but in the end it would do more damage to Lebanese society than any amount of physical destruction. A broad relief effort is an essential part of avoiding such a disaster.
We urgently need money to buy the supplies we need to help the internally displaced population here. We ask everyone who can to send donations, however small, the Relief Center – Spears in the care of the following two people by bank transfer. Please contact your bank to find out how to do this.

CLIENT NAME: GREENLINE ASSOCIATION
ACCOUNT NMBR: 6189003
BANK: BANK OF KUWAIT AND THE ARAB WORLD
SWIFT: BKAWLBBE

Greenline Association address:

3rd floor, Yamout building, Spears 174,
Sanayeh, Beirut, Lebanon
Telefax: (+961 1) 746 215 or (+961 1) 752 142
E-mail  greenline@greenline.org.lb

These are difficult days for everyone in Lebanon, but we are confident that with your support we can overcome this situation as we have others before.

For more information, please contact: +961 3 647 605, +961 3 670 783,  sanayeh.center@gmail.com

 http://sanayehreliefcenter.blogspot.com/
 http://lebanonupdates.blogspot.com/