[fse-esf] italian peace mission to Lebanon

[internazionale]

Dear all,
here some informations about the mission who will leave to Leanon tomorrow.
Alessandra Mecozzi
  Press release
    ITALIAN PEACE MISSION TO LEBANON



    A delegation of Italian civil society associations will go to Beirut, to
express solidarity to the population stricken by the war and to support
Lebanese civil society groups.



    A Delegation of 10 people representing Italian associations from the
Peace Movement and Italian NGOs operating in Lebanon will leave to Beirut
next Saturday.



    Main aim of the mission is to identify best ways to support Lebanese
civil society groups; to endorse and voice their request, expressed to all
international civil society members, to support the calls for an immediate
cease-fire; and to sustain their efforts to accommodate and assist the
displaced population fleeing the shelling.



    The representatives of Italian civil society groups will be in Beirut
from August 5th through August 9th, and will meet with the representatives
of Lebanese and Palestinian civil society associations and networks, of both
secular and religious orientation; with Lebanese institutions, the Italian
Embassy and the Delegation of the European Commission to Lebanon; with
international humanitarian agencies. The Delegates will visit as well the
hospitals and gatherings where the displaced are being hosted.



    The Delegation strongly calls for an immediate cease-fire and for the
launch of negotiations to put an end to the conflict. The Delegates express
solidarity to all victims of this conflict, Lebanese, Palestian, and
Israeli; they condemn the unjustified Israeli assault over a sovereign
country and the indiscriminate attack against civilians and civil
infrastructures.



    The Delegation is composed of representatives from:



    Un Ponte per, Arci, Assopace, Libera, Pax Christi, Rete di Lilliput,
Servizio Civile Internazionale and Gruppo Libano (AOI) – represented by ARCS
and CISS.



    Document of peace the mission



    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:



      a.. 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.
      b.. Expresses its solidarity to all the civil victims of the conflict,
Lebanese, Palestinians, and Israelis. Every single attack against civilians
is unacceptable.
      c.. 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
      d.. 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.
      e.. Demands respect for all the international Humanitarian
conventions.


    The delegation will travel to Beirut from the 5 to the 9th of August:

      a.. 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.
      b.. Will visit hospital and other emergency gatherings where the
displaced are temporarily hosted.
      c.. 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 Libano





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