The following letter was hand-delivered to a representative of Minister MacKay at the Department of Foreign Affairs in Ottawa

Honourable Peter MacKay,
Minister of Foreign Affairs
125 Sussex Drive,
Ottawa, Ontario CANADA

27 July 2006

Dear Minister MacKay,

We, Montreal-area residents and organisations, are writing to express our outrage at the Canadian government’s uncritical stance and unconditional support for Israeli aggression in Lebanon, as well as in the occupied Gaza Strip.

The Israeli attacks on Lebanon are not just “disproportionate” – the term being used by those who want to level a minimal rebuke at Israel – they are unjustified, unjust and criminal. (more…)

‘HUMAN CHAIN’ MARKS OPPOSITION TO HARPER’S WAR SUPPORT
 
Buses leave Montreal: 3300 Cremazie east, Thursday, 27 July at 9:00am
Rally in Ottawa: Department of Foreign Affairs, 125 Sussex Drive at 12:30pm

A human chain encircling the Department of Foreign Affairs will convey opposition to Israeli war crimes in Lebanon, with buses arriving from Montreal to be joined by Ottawa supporters.

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EXPRESS YOUR OUTRAGE AT CANADA’S SUPPORT FOR ISRAELI WAR CRIMES

In Lebanon as in Gaza, hundreds of people have been killed; bridges, roads, buildings, power plants, petrol stations, ports, airports, vehicles have been destroyed. Israel is maintaining a land, sea and air blockade of the country, with devastating consequences. People are abandoning their homes and fleeing in the hundreds of thousands. Yet the Prime Minister of Canada, continues to frame the military assault as a matter of Israel’s legitimate right to self-defence and to characterize it as “measured”. Peter MacKay, the Minister of Foreign Affairs in a 12 July statement, condemned Hizballah for its actions against Israeli military targets but remained absolutely silent about Israel’s crimes against civilian populations.

Please CALL, FAX and EMAIL Foreign Affairs Minister Peter Mackay TODAY, as buses from Montreal travel to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Ottawa to bring the message that WE WILL NOT TOLERATE his support for war crimes.

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Source: The Guardian, 21 July 2006
(www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,,1825670,00.html)

350 dead, almost entirely civilian population. At least 1/3 children.

Energy

• Jiye power station, 20 miles south of Beirut, repeatedly hit; electricity generator hit in Sibline.
• Electricity in Beirut said to be “feeble and flickering”, with large areas cut off.
• In south, electrical supply almost completely cut. Estimated total of 750,000 people without electricity.
• Four gas stores hit; 17 fuel stores destroyed; 12 petrol stations bombed. Prices have rocketed sixfold in some cities, such as Tyre.

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Here are some MacKay “truisms”, and responses
 
Fiction: “A ceasefire and a return to status quo is a victory for Hezbollah.”
 
Fact: A ceasefire will save the lives of hundreds of innocent civilians, including those in Israel, and end the barbaric destruction of Lebanon’s infrastructure in urban and rural areas. Hezbollah has agreed to a ceasefire. The U.N. and other nations including France, which have no sympathy for Hezbollah, have joined the U.N. in its call.

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Our latest program includes live interviews with Bassem Chit of the Sanayeh Relief Center in Beirut, Wissam Moussa of the Lebanese Muslim Youth Association in Montreal and Hachem Safiedine, freelance Lebanese journalist based in Montreal. Also included is an excerpt from the latest Democracy Now! report on the using of cluster bombs and white phosphorus in Lebanon by the Israeli army.

» Listen to the July 25th Radio Tadamon! program on CKUT Montreal

» Go to the July 21st Radio Tadamon! program on Electronic Intifada

Photo essay of some of the solidarity actions this weekend in Montreal:

http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article5187.shtml

by Montreal photographer and solidarity activist Darren Ell

A first-hand account from Beirut

Letter from Rasha [a young woman] in Beirut:

“Dear All,

I am drafting this entry in this unusual diary at 11:30 pm. I have about half an hour before the generator shuts down. Most of Beirut is in the dark. I dare not imagine what the country is like. Today was a relatively calm day, but like most calm days that come immediately after tumultuous days, it was a sinister day of taking stock of damage, pulling bodies from under destroyed buildings, shuttling injured to hospitals that have the capacity to tend to their wounds more adequately. The relative calm allowed journalists to visit the sites of shelling and violence.
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INTERNATIONAL DAY OF ACTION AGAINST ISRAELI AGGRESSION

Saturday, July 22

MONTREAL

TWO STARTING POINTS:
1:30pm, corner Mackay and de Maisonneuve
2:00pm, corner Peel and Rene-Levesque
MARCHING TO: Complexe Guy-Favreau

As Israeli attacks on civilians continue and escalate day after day in Lebanon and Palestine and as the world’s governments support Israel’s crimes or, at best, turn a blind eye to its actions it is time for the people to speak.

Saturday July 22, 2006 has been declared “International day of action against Israeli aggression”. We call on people all around the world to rise up on that day and be heard.

UPDATE: Please read on for a list of actions in Canada and elsewhere.

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Mon Jul 17, 4:47 PM ET

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) – US Ambassador John Bolton said there was no moral equivalence between the civilian casualties from the Israeli raids in Lebanon and those killed in Israel from “malicious terrorist acts”.

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