01
August
2006
Dear
Friends,
When
I
wrote
to
you
last
Friday,
I
could
not
have
imagined
that
a
second
Qana
Massacre
in a
decade
would
be
carried
out
by
the
State
of
Israel
on
Sunday
when
they
dropped
two
bombs
on a
house,
crushing
at
least
fifty-six
people,
including
thirty-four
children
and
twelve
women.
They
suffocated
under
dirt
and
debris,
virtually
buried
alive
in
the
make-shift
bomb
shelter
where
they
had
had
little
water
and
food
and
no
toilet.
In
1996,
one
of
the
deadliest
single
events
of
the
whole
Arab-Israeli
conflict
took
place
there
the
shelling
of a
United
Nations
base
where
hundreds
of
people
were
sheltering.
More
than
one
hundred
were
killed
and
another
one
hundred
injured,
cut
down
by
Israeli
anti-personnel
shells
that
explode
in
the
air
sending
a
lethal
shower
of
shrapnel
to
the
ground,
reported
Martin
Asser
of
BBC
News,
Beirut.
With
expressions
of
"deep
sorrow"
from
Prime
Minister
Olmert,
this
tragedy
of
epic
proportions
is
not
enough
to
stop
Israel's
attacks
on
the
people
of
Lebanon.
Today,
the
Israeli
Security
Cabinet
approved
a
widening
of
the
ground
offensive
in
the
South.
Yesterday,
Israel
violated
their
agreement
to
stop
the
air
offensive
over
Lebanon
for
forty-eight
hours
which
would
have
allowed
humanitarian
aid
to
reach
victims
and
residents
stranded
in
the
South
could
have
traveled
more
safely
to
the
North.
Olmert
announced
today
that
the
end
to
the
war
is
not
in
sight.
While
tens
of
thousands
are
without
food
and
medical
supplies,
the
U.N.
reports
that
their
convoys
have
been
turned
away
and
cancelled
by
the
Israeli
government.
The
short
journey
from
Tyre
to
Qana
is
delayed
for
hours
because
the
roads
have
been
destroyed.
Aid
trickles
in.
Amid
the
despair
and
the
grim
task
of
removing
the
victims,
there
is
deep
anger
at
what
many
here
regard
is
the
callous
indifference
of
the
West,€
reports
Ilene
Prusher
of
the
Christian
Science
Monitor
in
Lebanon.
The
offering
of
condolences
from
President
Bush,
Secretary
Rice,
and
Prime
Minister
Blair
to
the
Lebanese
people
for
Israel's
murder
of
innocent
children
seems
hollow,
with
no
condemnation
of
Israel's
repeated
and
flagrant
disregard
for
human
life
and
the
values
of
civilized
people
everywhere.
I
have
read
the
letter
sent
to
The
President
of
the
United
States
signed
by
my
brother
in
Christ
The
Most
Rev.
Frank
T.
Griswald,
Presiding
Bishop
of
The
Episcopal
church
of
America
and
fourteen
other
Christian
leaders
in
which
they
say
"This
violent
conflict
has
created
a
grave
humanitarian
crisis,
and
no
hoped-for
benefit
should
outweigh
the
cause
of
saving
innocent
lives."
The
letter
continues
with
a
plea,
"Your
presidential
leadership
and
the
full
weight
of
the
United
States,
acting
in
concert
with
the
international
community,
must
be
applied
now
to
achieve
an
immediate
cease-fire
and
to
launch
an
intensive
diplomatic
initiative
for
the
cessation
of
hostilities".
I
regret
that
the
President
has
ignored
this
call.
Last
week
in
Lebanon,
Israel
bombed
and
destroyed
a
U.N.
observation
post
on
the
border
in
Southern
Lebanon
killing
four
peacekeeping
observers.
U.N.
Secretary
General
Kofi
Annan
expressed
indignation
that
Israel
appeared
to
have
struck
the
well
known,
established,
and
clearly
identified
site
deliberately.
The
bomb
made
a
direct
hit
on
the
building
and
the
attack
continued
even
throughout
the
rescues
and
recovery
mission.
The
Security
Council's
statement
excludes
condemnation
of
Israel
at
the
insistence
of
The
United
States.
The
war
rages
on
into
the
third
week.
If
fighting
does
not
cease,
the
homeless
count
in
Lebanon
will
soon
reach
one
million
people.
Families
and
communities
continue
to
be
ripped
apart.
And,
the
offensive
against
the
Palestinians
in
Gaza
has
been
relentless.
This
week
when
Jan
Egeland,
the
U.N.'s
Under
Secretary
General
for
Humanitarian
Affairs
visited
Jerusalem,
he
focused
much
of
his
attention
on
the
tragedy
happening
in
the
Gaza
Strip.
He
does
not
understand
what
benefit
Israel
will
gain
from
punishing
1.4
million
people
by
cutting
them
off
from
their
sources
of
electricity
and
jobs,
from
running
water
in
their
houses
and
from
fresh
food.
What
is
the
message
that
the
residents
of
Gaza
receive
from
the
sight
of
mountains
of
tomatoes
tossed
out
on
the
side
of
the
road
at
the
border
crossings
into
Israel?
That
they
should
be
more
productive
and
support
peace?
Saturday,
after
waiting
two
and
one
half
hours
at
the
checkpoint,
our
delegation
visited
Gaza
on a
mission
of
mercy,
taking
medical
and
relief
supplies
to
hospitals
and
shelters.
Israel
Defense
Forces
tanks
had
pushed
back
before
dawn,
just
one
day
after
ending
an
unusually
deadly
incursion
that
killed
thirty
Palestinians
over
three
days.
According
to
an
Associated
Press
count,
in
the
past
one
month
period,
Israeli
troops
have
killed
159
Palestinians
since
they
started
their
relentless
attacks
on
the
Gaza
Strip
in
response
to
the
capture
of
soldier
Cpl.
Gilad
Shalit.
I
have
seen
the
Caterpillar
bulldozers
and
the orchards
of
oranges
uprooted
by
them.
I
saw
an
apartment
building
where
forty
families
were
given
forty
minutes
to
leave
before
it
was
demolished
into
a
pile
of
rubble.
I
have
heard
the
concern
of
the
Director
of
our
Al-Ahli
Arab
Hospital
regarding
medical
supplies,
staffing
shortages,
and
lack
of
fuel
to
run
the
generators
essential
to
critical
care.
And,
I
have
seen
children
playing
near
mountains
of
garbage
which
are
the
breeding
ground
to
rats
and
the
threat
of
cholera,
a
disease
that
I
watched
devastate
India
when
I
lived
there.
We
must
not
become
complacent
or
be
desensitized
by
the
images
of
this
human
tragedy.
Continue
to
appeal
to
your
government
representatives
to
demand
an
immediate
cease-fire.
It
is
time
that
The
United
Nations
and
the
world
community
see
to
it
that
Israel
complies
with
U.N.
Resolutions
242,
338,
and
194,
so
that
compliance
with
Resolution
1559
can
be
enforced.
We
must
find
an
end
to
this
madness.
Killing
and
the
destruction
of
the
environment
is
not
a
war
against
nations,
but
it
is a
war
against
God.
In,
with,
and
through
Christ,
The
Rt.
Rev.
Riah
H.
Abu
El-Assal
Bishop
The
Diocese
of
Jerusalem
Palestine,
Israel,
Jordan,
Lebanon,
Syria