[WCUSP] Message from WILPF Vice-President, Samira Khoury

[C.J. Minster]

I think it is important for us all to realize the toll Israel's air, land,
and sea blockade of Lebanon is having on the people of Lebanon, including
our WILPF sisters. So, I'm forwarding you this message from International
WILPF VP, Samira Khoury.

for peace,
C.J.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Samira Khoury <sk05 at aub.edu.lb>
Date: Sep 4, 2006 11:54 AM
Subject: Message from WILPF Vice-President, Samira Khoury (fwd)


I promised to send U this message...sorry if Susi already did...thanx for
ur tolerance....Samira

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 04 Sep 2006 16:17:05 +0200
From: Susi Snyder <susi.snyder at wilpf.ch>
To: susi.snyder at wilpf.ch
Subject: Message from WILPF Vice-President, Samira Khoury

Dear wilpf : dear sisters & friends..
I love you,each & all, those whom I was lucky to meet & befriend,& those who
became friends thru e-mail only,& of course each & everyone of you whom I do
not know, but I am sure were helping, as daring
wilpf women,sparing no effort for the sake of peace & justice...
And I thank you all for all your help ,support & solidarity during the
devastating war on our country...I cannot tell you what it meant to all of
us
here in Lebanon to receive your e-mails,
sometimes your telephone calls,so full of sympathy & concern:for our Lebanon
&
our people, & of course for our persons: your dear sisters/friends...
I was particularly touched by the open invitations I received from some of
you
to come to you & stay with you as long as needed if & when it becomes ultra
dangerous to stay in Lebanon...thank you..
Some of you put us in touch with your media: you gave us the chance to make
our point of view heard: as voices & in written form..thank you..
Others helped as focal points to disseminate our news: they were concerned
for my personal security if I keep long e-mail lists...thank you...
Still others kept a steady contact informing us of your activities, reacting
to
some points of view, & recommending steps for further action.. or just to
tell
us that we are in your thoughts & hearts...You will never guess how much
such
contacts strengthened us...thank you...
And I do apologize for not being able to respond to all of your e-mails
promptly : I hope you do understand that we were working under very strict
electricity rationing & difficult internet access(we still are,but the
situation has improved)...my sincerest apologies are due to those I have not
answered yet,but I shall...
My particular apologies for bombarding you at all hours, whenever I could
reach
you,with all sorts of requests,articles,petitions,photos...
sometimes overcrowding your accounts...very sorry...
And of course I specially apologize for the double or triple sends...and
thank
you for your tolerance...I do promise to try my best to organize my lists so
that this is NOT repeated in the future..( hoping that we will not undergo
such
a horrible terrorizing war in the future)..
And I do regret from the depth of my bleeding heart that I cannot attend
this
IEC.. I was so looking forward to meeting all of you,my dear sisters &
friends,to meeting new sisters & making new friends, to discuss with you,
plan
with you our best course of action for our organization..and to invite all
of
you to come to us & see with your own eyes the systematic destruction of our
beautiful small country...but I cannot be with you...why?
We are under siege...Israel has unilaterally decided on this blockade of our
sea & our air, alleging that it is thus implementing UNSCR 1701,which Israel
is
violating every day !..Israeli Prime-minister Olmert announced that no
airplane
is allowed into Lebanon unless it is checked & approved by Israel & through
Amman airport only...(the Jordanians denied).
Additionally the UK embassy which could be reached only thru a recorded
message
telling us that the visa section is closed until further notice,announced
last
Thursday only,i.e on the 31st of August only, that the UK embassy in
Damascus
is authorized to grant visas to the Lebanese..our IEC Roula Zoubianne is at
the
moment in Damascus trying to get a visa...we hope she does & she attends
this
important IEC,together with our sisters Salwa Maasri & Feryal Abou
Hamdan(hopefully)..but I decided not to...we shall NOT succumb to this
humiliating siege...In fact our Parliamentarians have already started an
open
sit-in in the Parliament House,taking turns of sleeping there...& our
government has started a diplomatic campaign against this blockade which may
reach the UN Security Council..many NGOs will do the same :sit-in tents in
front of the UN house ( & maybe some embassies)...& I plan to be with
them..& I
hope our IEC will grant us its support against this inhuman blockade which
is
costing our country 500 million dollars daily! who will compensate??
You know ,I was/am always in favour of seizing every chance to attend
International Conferences..In fact I have coined a favourite slogan which is
often used to counter boycotting some conferences...It says: "the vacant
chair
is mute"...How would the world know us,know our thinking,our points of view,
if
we absent ourselves? If we are NOT visible & our voices are NOT loud &
clear?
But in this particular case, I trust each & everyone of you to be the voice
of
Truth for Justice & for Peace,which is the basic founding principle of our
precious WILPF...and as Regina said when I conveyed this decision to her:
"you
will be with us"...Yes I shall be with you...we will communicate...and we
shall
overcome all what is ugly & terrorizing, & together with all peace-loving
activists we shall create a different world of peace & freedom...Samira
Khoury


---------------------
C.J. Minster, Program Chair
Women's International League for Peace and Freedom
Make Peace a Reality - Join WILPF!
http://wilpf.blogspot.com

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