Dear Friends,

This is day 13, the whole 4 million population of Lebanon are still kidnapped under the mercy of shelling and bombing from the air, sea and land. As you know Miss Rice visited us yesterday and instead of bringing a smart solution to save the lives of our children and innocent civilians, she brought a promise for Israel to supply their military arsenal with smart bombs to make sure that death can reach people hiding inside shelters, they talked about safe passages to deliver food and medical supplies, but till now we do not know where they are located, and we are still witnessing everyday trucks being targeted who are moving with difficulty and under great risk to deliver the daily needs for trapped people. Day 13, the death toll reached more that 400 among them 175 children and more that 1500 injured treated inside hospitals where all kinds of medical supplies are becoming rare mainly in the South. Today we heard about two ambulances for the Lebanese red cross being hit, this not to mention a car carrying 9 civilians among them 3 wounded who were trying to reach a hospital….so many stories of inhuman behavior classified as crimes against humanity but alas they do not count any more and are not stirring the conscience of the super decision making governments. 800,000 displaced people 500,000 among them 175,000 are children internally displaced while 300,000 fled to nearby countries. When we count the losses of this small tiny country, one cannot really understand beside hitting the roads and bridges, why some factories are totally damaged, for example why was the biggest dairy plant in Lebanon completely destroyed to the ground, to make sure that our children have no more milk???…why were a glass factory, a carton factory, a sponge factory and many others were destroyed, to make sure that the Lebanese economy would never recover anymore???? With losses reaching till now 9 billion dollars, in a country burdened with heavy debts. No logic at all…a country that has been always noted as being the only democratic regime and the only Arab country with a substantial margin of freedom, to target and destroy transmission centers for all TV stations??? This is how democracy loving countries protect freedom of expression for the media??? If all the above is not to be classified under the word terrorism…please let us know the real meaning of that, because no more logic, no more reason, no more questions or answers are left…

Now back to our limited work, families who took refuge inside the Palestinian camps are being taken care of gradually now through committees from different NGOs, ( BAS is a member) In Ein el-Helweh  distribution of food supplies started, in Beirut BAS after starting to receive some donations, we decided on another kind of aid that is to supply some families with underwear garments and training suits that are practical to use. We are now sorting out the numbers and sizes needed to start distribution as soon as possible. We will supply our friends with detailed numbers of families and individuals who benefited from this process.

No need to say how tense is the situation and the longer it goes the more complicated this national catastrophe will become, we depend on you to make our voice reach the hearts and minds of people who care for the sufferings of others, solidarity as I said before is as important as food and medicine, we need a solution that turns one open eye just once to see that we exist and one open ear to listen to our voice……

Best regards

Hanan on behalf of BAS

Vielä samana päivänä Hanan Masri kommentoi Sirkku Kivistölle PSV:n organisoimaa 25 kansalaisjärjestön vetoomusta.

25.7.
Dearest Sirkku,

This is really a great appeal; I hope it would have a practical impact. I was really touched, but not astonished from the part were you mentioned that countries are concerned about evacuating their citizens while leaving the others under the mercy of indiscriminating shelling and bombing, this had a very frustrating impact on the people. It is also crucial that western countries and mainly the US stop shipping arms to the region mainly to Israel who is expecting a great shipment of smart bombs to start another round of stupid bombing I suppose. Thanks dear and love to all.

Hanan

PSV oli nopeasti selvittänyt ulkoasiainministeriön kansalaisyksikön kanssa mahdollisuuksia muuttaa BAS:n välityksellä tehtävään psykososiaaliseen apuun myönnetyn hankeavustuksen käyttötarkoitusta  kriisitilanteessa mielekkäimmäksi. Lisäksi käynnistettiin keräys kiireelliseen psykososiaaliseen työhön Libanonin pakolaisleireillä. Sirkku Kivistö lähetti BAS:iin tiedustelun pankkiyhteyksien toimivuudesta ja sai sieltä vastauksen:

25.7.
Dear Sirkku,

Thanks a lot for all what you are doing. We know how much you care and how sincere is your friendship. Yes the banks are still receiving transfer, and till now the emails and phones are still working mainly in Beirut. With your solidarity we will stay strong.

Love

Hanan

25.7.
Dear Sirkku,

The bank transfers are working and we already received a transefer from Malaysia and Japan.

Hanan

Sirkku Kivistö lähetti tekstiviestillä Kassem Ainalle tiedon Suomen Pysäyttäkää sota –verkoston mielenosoituksista ja PSV:n osallistumisesta sekä tiedusteli avustustarpeita. Vastausviestit kiireisiltä yhteistyökumppaneilta olivat lyhyitä.

Kassem Ainalta:
Good. Hope this war will stop.
Faizah Ainalta:
Yes, Sirkku, we badly need any money. Go on and God help you.