[WCUSP] Letter Exchange

Mon Aug 14 09:48:23 CDT 2006

I didn't forward you Shirine's letter when I initially received it because
it was garbled in code. Shirine, a member of our Lebanon section, is
studying in Japan. Her email is below a response from her Georgian
classmate. I hope reading this exchange increases our awareness of the human
cost of war.

in peace,
c.j.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Tamara Tsereteli <tamaratsereteli at gmail.com>
Date: Aug 13, 2006 11:02 PM
Subject: Dear Shirine
To: pcs-2005 at tufs.ac.jp

Dear Shirin

Thank you for your letter in which you shared your feelings to us.

I just do not know what to say, I've experienced the terror of war when I
was just only 10 years old, but I still remember how terrifying it
was.....and this memories will  always be with  me.

Your question.......this is the same question which I am asking myself
already for  14 years... But me, as other 300,000 Georgians in exile
couldn't get an answer.....

Yes, we study about conflicts and peace believing that we'll be able to
find the best solution, get an experience and make our contribution for the
peace in our countries or even worldwide, but...still,sometimes, I'm asking
myself, what exactly can I do in a world where violence is stronger then
humanity, intelligence, knowledge .........what exactly am I doing in Tokyo
?  the answer I find is just  my will, I am following my will (some of my
senpais and classmates told me many times that I am like trying to see what
I want to and not just explore the reality) my  will  to be different from
the people who think in a easy way just like weapons (My English is not so
good but I hope you can understand what I mean while talking about people
who think like weapons - weapon can not think nor feel but they can hurt!
for me there is not difference between the person who ordered, who shot and
the weapon which has completed their will).

I don't know what to say...and don't know what to do. The only thing I can
tell you is that if  you'll need my help, my  presence wherever, please
know that I'll be there...I think this is the best thing of  being here, in
TUFS, where we are surrounded by friends and professors from all over the
world, sharing different culture, religion but still thinking in a same way
against the violence.

Sorry can't do anything more

Be strong

Your Georgian friend Tamara

On 8/14/06, Shirine ElJurdi <shirinejurdi at hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>   *Will I go back home soon? I want to, but ... *
>
>
>
> I send you this from Tokyo, where I am preparing to study for a PhD in the
> Peace and Conflict Studies Program (PCS) at Tokyo University of Foreign
> Studies (TUFS).  The sad thing for me now is that I am not in Lebanon,
> while Lebanon is being flattened, my people are being massacred, the
> Lebanese terrain is being blown apart, air is being bomb-polluted, and the
> sea and marine life are being environmentally destroyed. In short, at the
> same time my country's existence is at risk and its sovereignty is being
> violated, I realize that this is the first and longest time for me away from
> my parents, far from my homeland. Lebanon, the message to the world, as
> described by the late Pope John Paul II in his visit in 1997 (first visit to
> the Middle East by a Roman Catholic pontiff since 1964, and the first ever
> official papal visit to Lebanon since the Apostle St. Peter), is now under
> the "Operation Just Reward that was later renamed Operation Change of
> Direction".
>
>
>
> The aggression against Lebanon started one week before my final exams in
> my Nihongo (Japanese) beginner class, during which I've had classmates of 10
> nationalities who have been observing the daily escalation of the bloodshed
> with me. To a large extent, I owe them a great deal of support in helping me
> pass through this difficult period, as well as the students at the dorm, not
> to forget my colleagues in PCS, the Embassy of Lebanon, and the Lebanese
> community in Tokyo. Most of the Japanese people I met, particularly my
> professors, were in great support to Lebanon. Add to this, the role played
> by my family who are in Lebanon under the attack, as well as friends inside
> and outside of Lebanon, who all gave me the power to go on.
>
>
>
> During the first week of August I should have arrived at Rafic Hariri
> International Airport, with my parents, sisters, brother, brother-in-law,
> relatives and friends waiting for me. Even my grandmother was to receive me
> with them. I wanted to approach them with a surprise that I will not mention
> now, as I want to keep it for my next visit to Lebanon. Of course, I wanted
> to introduce myself in Nihongo and have this encounter be filmed to show my
> Nihongo teachers and colleagues, and to show my friends in Japan as well,
> the characteristics of Arab social bonds within the family and among
> relatives. I wanted to make sure that my mom will not cry when she sees me,
> although it will be impossible. I also wanted to see if my dad did stop
> smoking as he promised, to hear what my brother has to say about my Japanese
> language, and to see whether my sisters brought flowers, or maybe balloons,
> for me. And even my 18-month old niece was to be waiting for me, most
> probably calling me Sheshe for the first time in person. I have been
> thinking, throughout my stay in Tokyo, how she will receive me.
> Unfortunately, I won't know soon. I have to continue to wait for an answer
> to this question.
>
>
>
> Now, the most insisting question in my mind is when will this war end? And
> by then, will I still be able to enjoy my niece's first words to me? Another
> question drags itself immediately - who will work, among the active players
> in the war, for the best realization of Lebanon and the Lebanese people?
>
>
>
> What is happening to this beautiful country, to the place that is supposed
> to be a message to the world? Why can't I go back home? How can the only
> country with no boundaries as imprison and impose a forced siege on an
> independent sovereign civilized country as Lebanon? Why does not a sovereign
> country enjoy the full privileges of being under the protection of the UN
> charter? And why does it not have the last say in its future? How can
> another country violate your rights and your freedom of choice and impose a
> war of no choice on you and on your country? Does this all mean that Lebanon
> is not part of the international community? But, No! Lebanon was one of the
> founding members of the United Nations in 1945, where nineteen signatories
> of the United Nations Charter in 1945 were graduates of the American
> University of Beirut (AUB). Yet, why doesn't the UN help stop the aggression
> against Lebanon? Is it because the country does not protect human rights?
> But here again, on 10 December 1948 Lebanon was represented by the Chairman
> and writer of the UN Human Right Charter, Dr. Charles Malek, a graduate of
> AUB himself. Didn't the day following the signature mark the issuing of
> Resolution 194, which calls on the Right of Return to the Palestinian People
> who were expelled from their homeland, Palestine, by Israeli Defense Forces
> terrorist measures? Fifty eight years later, this resolution, is yet to be
> implemented, and now, they themselves are extending their aggression against
> my country causing more than thousand mass murder and forcing more than a
> million people out of their homes.
>
>
>
> I planned this summer to bring with me, back from Lebanon, some images of
> Lebanon as I see it. I wanted to show you Lebanon through my lens; I wanted
> to have my favorite traditional meal in the restaurant where I used to meet
> my friends. But now, how to reach my country across bombarded bridges? I
> wanted to attend, and film, my friends wedding to let you discover our music
> and dance, but now how will the expatriate groom make it to his bride? I
> wanted to document for you the procedures of making Lebanese wine, olive
> oil, olive soap and rosewater, but all the vineyards are left behind, and
> all the farmers are in shelters, fleeing the bombs that took them away from
> their land and their fields. I wanted to photograph for you the Barouk
> Forest Cedar Reserve, but now the cedars are ripped to shreds by shrapnel
> from laser-guided missiles shot from air strikers. I wanted to enjoy the sun
> at our sandy beach down the walkway from my house. I am sad as I think that
> the sea gull that used to fly above my home must now be crippled because of
> the oil that leaked from the destroyed oil barrage 20 km to the south of my
> home. I wanted to bring you our handcrafted souvenirs sculptured out of
> Lebanese soil, but the sculptures body is yet to be found under the ruins of
> his shop. All that I planned for this summer, I myself won't be able to
> enjoy and you will not see what I wished to share with you. I realize that
> the next time I can visit my country I may not be able to do any of these
> things anymore.
>
>
>
> For more than a month now, Israel has proved once more that it is a
> country that does not and will not comply with International Law or
> humanitarian law, nor with the morals and ethics that a country should
> adhere to in times of war. Constant usage of internationally prohibited
> weapons such as cluster bombs and white phosphorus, depleted uranium as well
> as unknown weapons had been observed. One cannot but ponder how pathetic
> this assault is, aiming primarily at besieging an entire land, impeding
> planned development projects, and bringing the dreams and ambitions of
> hundreds of thousands of people to a halt.
>
>
>
> However, despite all the loss, I am determined to go back.
>
> Will the UN be able to Unite the Nations or will it Unite Nothing?
>
> Will I go back home soon?
>
> Of course, my patience has a limit.
>
>
>
> IN PEACE
>
>
>
> SHIRINE JURDI
>
>
>
>
>

-- 
タマラ・ツェレテリ
東京外国語大学
府中市朝日町３−１１−１
国際交流会館 N１
E-mail: tamaratsereteli at gmail.com
Web-site: http://www.tufs.ac.jp
-------
Tamara Tsereteli
Tokyo University of Foreign Studies
Fuchu-shi, Asahi-cho 3-11-1
Kokusai Kouryuu Kaikan N 1
E-mail: tamaratsereteli at gmail.com
Web-site:http://www.tufs.ac.jp

-- 
---------------------
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Women's International League for Peace and Freedom
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