A delegation of Italian Civil Society Associations will go to Lebanon to
show solidarity with the civilians and support Lebanese civil society which
is actually engaged with the difficult task of informing and raising
awareness on the conflict and of providing assistance to the population
struck by the war
In Lebanon there are not only war and victims, there is also an active and
committed civil society that, throughout these difficult times, has engaged
itself to rebuild the Country, to consolidate society, to promote human
rights and democracy, and re-establish national sovereignty.
“Nothing can describe the feeling of having worked tirelessly for 15 years
rebuilding a country from the ruins of war, only to see it once again laid
waste within a period of days”
This sentence was quoted within the call of a group of Lebanese
non-governmental organizations that was asking to international civil
society to mobilize against the war e to support their work. Networks and
coordinations of Lebanese and Palestinians NGOs have formed, in order to
face the emergency. They are working together to rescue and give support to
the thousands refugees and displaced; this, more than anything else, showing
the maturity of the Lebanese civil society.
As an answer to this call and to the many others that have been circulated,
a delegation of peace associations, Italian NGOs that support the peace
movement and the Social Forum activities, and which have been working during
the last decade all over Lebanon on reconstruction and development projects,
will go to Beirut to meet the local partners in order to:
· assess how to support Lebanese Civil society associations in their call
for an immediate cease fire and in the relief activities for the refugees
and displaced that they are engaged with;
· Reassure them that Italian Civil Society will be by their side to provide
help and support to the most vulnerable part of the population even after
the end of the war.
This delegation:
· Firmly condemns the unjustified Israeli attack towards a sovereign Country
and charges as war crimes the use of forbidden weapons and the blanket
shelling of infrastructures and civilians. The Qana massacre being the most
shocking example of this.
· Expresses its solidarity to all the civil victims of the conflict,
Lebanese, Palestinians, and Israelis. Every single attack against civilians
is unacceptable.
· Asks to all the party engaged in the war an immediate cease fire on no
conditions and the opening of negotiations: let’s give the power back to
diplomacy
· Believes that a lasting peace in the Middle East can only build on the
respect of International Law and on the enforcement of all the United Nation
resolutions; beginning with that calling for the withdrawal of Israel from
the occupied territories in Palestine, Syria and Lebanon.
· Demands respect for all the international Humanitarian conventions.
The delegation will travel to Beirut from the 5 to the 9th of August:
· Will meet the representatives of civil society associations and networks,
Lebanese and Palestinian, secular and religious. Will meet the Lebanese
governmental institutions, the Italian Embassy, the Delegation of the
European Commission to Lebanon and the International Relief Organizations.
· Will visit hospital and other emergency gatherings where the displaced are
temporarily hosted.
· Will report on the findings of the mission during a press conference for
the national and international press that will be held in Beirut on the 8th
of august.
The delegation represent:
– Un Ponte Per
– Arci
– Assopace
– Libera
– Pax Christi
– Rete di Lilliput
– Servizio Civile Internazionale
– Associazione ONG Italiane - Gruppo Li- bano