Today, July 30^th, another massacre was committed in Lebanon: More than sixty civilians, among them 37 children, were killed by Israeli bombs while they were sleeping in shelters in the village of Qana. They died not very far away from the mass grave holding the bodies of 106 civilians burned by a previous Israeli attack in April 1996 inside a shelter provided by a UN battalion

Reacting to these terrible news, Pope Benedict XVI said today: “In the name of God, I call on all those responsible for this spiral of violence so that weapons are immediately laid down on all sides.” And in more simple terms, the Swedish Foreign Minister expressed the feeling of citizens worldwide: “It is time to end this madness.”

The only sane decision that needs to be made immediately is that of a ceasefire.

A ceasefire would allow for humanitarian relief to reach the innocent victims, for the bodies to be buried instead of being eaten by the dogs, and for all the underlying problems to be negotiated and eventually solved. More victims can only produce more hatred.

In the last few days, Lebanon has been promised by the EU, the UK and the US help in rebuilding its infrastructure and humanitarian aid to assist the eight hundred thousand internally displaced persons and “humanitarian corridors”, but they stopped short of demanding a ceasefire, which encouraged Israel to continue with its “mission” of unilaterally enforcing the resolution to disarm Hezbollah. With that same logic, Hezbollah could argue it has a mission to enforce the many UN Security Council resolutions demanding Israel to withdraw from the occupied Palestinian territories.

On July 27, Israeli Justice Minister Haim Ramon said that Israel had given civilians ample time to leave southern Lebanon. “All those now in south Lebanon are terrorists who are related in some way to Hezbollah,” he said, according to the BBC.

“Just because the Israeli military warned the civilians of Qana to leave does not give it carte blanche to blindly attack,” said Kenneth Roth, Executive Director of Human Rights Watch. “Through its arguments, the Israeli military is suggesting that Palestinian militant groups might ‘warn’ all settlers to leave Israeli settlements and then be justified in targeting those who remained.”

The escalating violence in Lebanon can not be solved unilaterally with self-proclaimed righteousness by any party. Peace is negotiated between enemies, not with friends. And the first step to any negotiation is a ceasefire. Or is it that every child has to die so that they do not grow into “terrorists”?

A year ago, the UK Prime Minister championed the cause of including in the UN mandate the “responsibility to protect populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity”. Yet the UN, the European Union, The United States and the United Kingdom have failed in their responsibility to protect the Lebanese children. Or even to clearly condemn that criminal act.

The international civil society and social movements are raising their voice and mobilizing throughout the world not only to express their indefectible solidarity with the Lebanese people, but also to build a huge international barrier against the global war of re-colonization of the world.

–  An immediate and unconditional cease-fire, in Lebanon as well as in the Palestinian Occupied Territories!
–  The implementation of full sovereignty to Lebanon and the national rights of the Palestinian people!
–  No NATO forces on the Lebanese territory!
We support the call of the international solidarity delegation in Lebanon for an international day of protest and solidarity on August 12^th.

Michel Warschawski, Anti-war Israeli Coalition
> Ziad Abdel Samad, ANND - Arab NGO Network for Development, Lebanese member coordination from Lebanon
> All India Peoples Science Network
> Walden Bello, Focus on the Global South
> Elisabeth Gauthier, Espaces Marx / Transform!
> Christophe Aguiton, European Marches Against Unemployment / WSF IC
> Nicola Bullard, Focus on the Global South / WSF IC
> Gustave Massiah - Alternatives Internationales
> ATTAC-Brasil, member of WSF International Council
> Network for Social Justice and Human Rights (Rede Social de Justiça e
> Direitos Humanos), Brazil
> REMTE (Latinoamerican Network of Women Transforming the Economy / Red
> Latinoamericana Mujeres Transformando la Economia)
> ALAI (Agencia Latinoamericana de Información)
> Ubuntu Forum Secretariat, participant of the WSF
> Habitat International Coalition (HIC)
> IBASE, Brasil, member of WSF International Council
> International Alliance of Inhabitants
> Third World Network
> Network Institute for Global Democratization (NIGD)
> Central Única dos Trabalhadores (CUT), BRASIL
> LGBT South-South Dialogue / Dialogo Sur-Sur LGBT
> Articulacion Feminista Marcosur
> Social Development Network, Kenya, a member of the WSF International
> Council
> Attac Vlaanderen (Belgium)
> Karamat Ali, WSF Karachi Organising Coommittee, and Pakistan Peace
> Coalition.
> Abong - Brazilian Association of NGOs / Associação Brasileira de ONGs
> Jubilee South Asia
> Instituto Paulo Freire
> Red Afrolatino-americana e Afro-Caribenha de Mujeres
> MST - Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra, Brasil
> CLACSO - Consejo Latinoamericano de Ciencias Sociales
> REPEM, Red de Educación Popular Entre Mujeres de América Latina y el
> Caribe
> ARCI, member of Italian Working Group for WFS
> Red Nacional Género y Economía (de México)
> Palestinian grassroots Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign
> Nova, Centre per a la Innovacio Social
> Cheri Honkala, the National Coordinator of the Poor People’s Economic
> Human Rights Campaign (PPEHRC)/Campaña de los Pobres por los Derechos
> Humanos Económicos
> Grassroots Global Justice
> The International Council for Adult Education - ICAE
> FAMES (Forum des Femmes Africaines pour un monde de l’Economie Solidaire)
> Encuentros Hemisféricos contra el ALCA
> Convergencia de los Movimientos de los Pueblos de las Américas (COMPA)
> Centro Memorial Dr.Martin Luther King Jr., Habana, Cuba
> Social Watch
> Transnational Institute
> Habitat International Coalition-Latin America Regional Office (HIC-AL).
> CADTM (Committee for the Abolition of Third World Debt)
> Central de Trabajadores Argentinos (CTA)
> Mesa Nacional del FSM en Argentina (seis comités locales)
> Organización Continental Latino Americana y Caribeña de Estudiantes
> Tavola della Pace (The Peace Roundtable), member of the IC of the WSF
> The Pakistan Institute of Labour, Education and Research, Karachi.
> INESC (Brazilian Institute of Social and Economic Studies)
> Foundation for Media Alternatives
> Ciranda Internacional da Informação Independente / Internationl Ciranda of
> Independent Information
> TWN-Africa
> Peruvian Committee of Support to Global Call against Poverty
> Regina Soares Jurkewicz, Red Latino americana de Católicas por el Derecho
> a Decidir - Brasil
> Jorge Carpio, Foro Ciudadano de Participación por la Justicia y los
> Derechos Humanos, Argentina
> Middle East Peace Now of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA, Florence Steichen,
> president
> Pax Christi Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA, Florence Steichen, coordinator
> Akshara Centre, India
> Tamilnadu Women’s Collective, India
> Focus on The Global South
> Askapena
> Arci
> Attac Italia
> Associazione Per La Pace
> FIOM-CGIL
> Libera
> World Women March-Italy
> Carta-Cantieri Sociali
> Rete Lilliput
> Sin.Cobas
> Un Ponte Per
> Action For Peace Italy
> Forum Sociale Ponente Genovese
> Terre des Hommes
> Social Agenda Working Group,Thailand
> Global Policy Forum.
> Observatorio da Cidadania - Brasil, Fernanda Carvalho
> Action for Economic Reforms
> Associação Latino Americana de Combate a Miséria e a Violência-ONGD
> Red de Salud de las Mujeres Latinoamericanas y del Caribe, RSMLAC / Latin
> American and Caribbean Women’s Health Network, LACWHN
> Intervozes - Coletivo Brasil de Comunicação Social
> Southen Africa Human Rights Non Governmental Organizations Network
> Tanzania Chapter
> Lebanese Women Council
> Down
> Lebanese Court Of Women
> Minar Pimple (MDG campaign)
> Sunie Arima/Action Aid International
> Karine Lacasse, Alternative, Canada
> Mohamad Noman Jalal/Bahrain Center For Studies And Research
> Graciela Rodriguez/EQUIT Coordinator and IGTN Global Coordinator
> Fátima Mello/Brazil-Director-FASE
> Atila Roque/Brazil-INESC
> Driss el Yazami/FIDH
> Mohamed Zeidan/Arab association for Human rights-Israel
> Yao Graham/TWN Africa secretariat-Ghana
> Ana Agostino/ ICAE-International Council for Adult Education-General
> Secretariat/Uruguay
> Simon Stocker/Eurostep
> Anriette Esterhyusen/APC
> Nadim Center, Egypt
> Egyptian Association Against Torture, Egypt
> Tadamoun Wa Tanmya/Lebanon
> Fronteers Center/Lebanon
> ATTAC Lubnan
> Sameer Jarrah/ Arab World Center for Democratic Development
> Marco Berlinguer/ Transform! Italia
> Giampiero Rasimelli/Tavola della Pace
> SILAKA, Camboja
> Europe solidaire sans frontières (ESSF), France
>
> Individuals
>
> Amanda Soares de Brito, estudante, Londrina - PR, Brasil
> Martha de la Fuente, profesional y feminista, Argentina/Holanda
> Elsa Drucaroff, argentina.
> Alejandro Horowicz, argentina.
> Rodolfo Panizza, Médico, Uruguay
> Alicia Guerra
> Claudia Mauri, Casa de la Mujer, Argentina
> Eva Hanfstaengl, Germany
> Moriana Hernández, CLADEM, Uruguay
> Chikako Nishiguchi/Japan
> Valeria Bismar
> Illena rivera/Venezuela
> Jean Kasaparbauer/US citizen, Caucasian-German
> Hadi Bismar/Lebanese Canadian
> Eva Efried Leander/IGC
> Jean Marie Kraemer/Lebanon
> Rafic Baddoura/medical doctor
> Leila Sharaf/Jordanian senate
> Martin Kohr/Third World Network
> Shirley Walters/Cape Town- South Africa
> Yvonne Underhill-Sem, Cook- Islands/New Zealand
> Lea Maria/journalist from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
> Jorge Beloqui/Maths Professor at the University of São Paulo
> Chola Mtonga/Zambia
> Professor Vijay Naidu/Director, Development Studies-Institute of
> Geography-School of Earth-Sciences-Victoria University-Wellington
> Mariama Williams/Jamaica
> Noji Matutu/Johannesburg -South Africa
> Charaf Ahmimed/IDRC-Canada
> Aida Seif El Dawla/Egypt
> Suzan Fayad/Egypt
> Magda Adly/Egypt
> Maha Youssef/Egypt
> Mona Hamed/Egypt
> Ragia El Gerzawi/Egypt
> Amal Abdel hamid/Egypt
> Ashgan Abdel Hamid/Egypt
> Laila Soueif/Egypt
> Lamis Nakkash/Egypt
> Haroon Rasheed/Canada
> Alia Moubayed/Lebanon