Beirut Seizures

Now I'm glad I voted for Billy the Blogging Poet to be "Mayor" of Poetry Blogville. Go to Billy's blog for a pic of a small child killed and lying in the dirt from government forces in Lebanon. He posts the url and reposts from Lebanon Heartblogs. Caution: strong fotos of what's really going on. "Beirut Seizures" all over again -- the name of my student's, Haas Mroue's, first book of poetry. How horribly vivid he made that world. How horribly real. And now, a generation after. Read Maya's blog for a real time glimpse into that world now.


I post all of Billy's post from Maya's blog:

"A Cry For Help From Lebanon
For our friends:

IF YOU HAVE A BLOG or a WEBSITE, PLEASE POST THIS!

OK, here is the plan. I can't stand here, watching doing nothing. The truth is that we are at the mercy of world leaders. However, I think they should know how we feel. Maya, our fellow blogger from About Lebanon, has drafted a short letter to be sent to all the world leaders that you can think of. She has provided some email addresses. Please feel free to add more emails to your list of leaders. Please forward this email to all your friends, and urge them to send this email to world leaders. The idea is to flood world leader's emails with our plea. They must receive thousands of emails from people all over the world. Please circulate this as much as you can. I will transfer it to all my fellow bloggers and email it to all my family and friends. Please do the same! We must do something.

Dear World Leaders,
This letter is a plea from the Lebanese people, and friends of Lebanon . We urge you to exercise any political influence you may have to guide a cease fire between Israel and Hezbollah. Negotiations must take place. The violence that has escalated in Lebanon has gotten out of control, it is insanity! The people of Lebanon are suffering; the Lebanese economy will suffer deeply for years to come. As I am sure you know anger, resentment, and poverty can only lead to further extremism. For the welfare of Lebanese citizens, Israeli citizens, the stability of the Middle East , and indeed the world, we implore you to take action as soon as possible to prevent further violence, destruction, and casualties.

Sincerely,
Friends and Citizens of Lebanon

Leaders du monde,
Cette lettre constitue un appel au secours de la part du peuple libanais et des amis du Liban. Nous vous pressons d’exercer votre influence politique afin de faire appliquer un cessez-le-feu entre Israël et le Hezbollah. Des négociations doivent avoir lieu. La violence qui sévit au Liban perd tout contrôle et la situation devient insoutenable. Le peuple libanais souffre. L’économie du Liban sera gravement perturbée pendant des années. Comme vous le savez sûrement, la colère, la rancune et la pauvreté ne peuvent mener qu’à plus d’extrémisme. Pour le bien-être des citoyens libanais et israéliens, pour la stabilité du Moyen-Orient et également du monde, nous vous implorons d’agir aussi vite que possible pour empêcher l’escalade de la violence, de la destruction et des pertes humaines.

Cordialement,
Le peuple du Liban et ses amis"

Its your choice, you can send this email to the one, more than one, or all of the following below. Also, please feel free to send this to anyone you deem appropriate and to add your personal touch to the letter. But always try to keep it polite and civilized. Thank you.

The White House: comments@whitehouse.gov
U.S. VP: vice_president@whitehouse.gov

Israeli minister of defense: pniot@mod.gov.il
Israeli Minister of foreign affairs: feedback@mfa.gov.il

The French President:
Go to this site: http://www.elysee.fr/elysee/elysee.fr/francais/le_president/son_portrait/portrait_de_m_jacques_chirac_president_de_la_republique.39705.html Click on Ecrire au President and copy paste this text in the box provided.

The British government:
public.enquiries@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk
The British Prime Minister: http://www.pmo.gov.uk/output/Page821.asp

And might I remind you the world economy as well as the safety and security of the world will also suffer if this is allowed to continue. -Billy Jones

Link via: Arch.memory"
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The way I see the world, humankind is rapidly devolving into a barbaric, alienated, imbecile species. I still think that only art could save us from absolute catastrophe.
~ Ernesto Priego

'Ho.