International Peace Mission Goes to Lebanon

from Focus on the Global South       

Responding to calls by Lebanese civil society organizations to come to their
war-ravaged country, another batch of parliamentarians and civil society
representatives from various countries are going on an international peace
and solidarity delegation to Lebanon from August 12 to 16.

This delegation includes representatives from the Philippines, Brazil,
France, Norway, India, and Spain.

by Raul S. Beltran

from the Peoples Journal Online

A PARTY list congressman has joined an inter-parliamentary mission that will leave tomorrow in a noble bid to seek a ceasefire in Lebanon.
 
Rep. Mujiv Hataman, of Anak Mindanaw, said he will be joined by University of the Philippines professor Walden Bello. The trip was organized by FOCUS, an international  non-government anti-war organization with members from Asia, Europe, Latin America and other continents.
 
Hataman said members of the delegation will shoulder expenses for the mission expected to take at least a week.
 
From Manila, Hataman and Bello will proceed to Tokyo, Japan, to link up with other delegation members who include parliamentarians and members of various NGOs from India, Indonesia, Korea, Japan and Europe.

Excerpt from The Daily Tribune 

A party-list congressman from Mindanao and a professor from the University of the Philippines are set to leave tomorrow to join an inter-parliamentary mission from at least 10 countries to press a truce between Israel and the Lebanon-based Hezbollah.

Rep. Mujiv Hataman of the party-list Anak Mindanao said he and Prof. Walden Bello are scheduled to leave for Lebanon tomorrow to join other countries’ representatives in seeking for a ceasefire between the two camps.

Hataman recently filed House Resolution 1315, urging Congress to join the call of international and regional organizations for a halt to the hostilities between Israel and Lebanon which has killed mostly civilians, including children.

Hataman said the peace mission is being organized by Focus, an international, non-government, anti-war organization which has members from Asia, Europe, Latin America and other continents.

He said members of the delegation will by themselves shoulder the expenses for the trip, which he expects will take “more or less one week.”

From Manila, Hataman said he and Bello would proceed to Tokyo, Japan to link up with other members of the delegation who will include parliamentarians and members of various non-government organizations from India, Indonesia, Korea, Japan and other countries from Europe.

From there, the group will leave for Damascus, Syria en route to the Lebanese capital of Beirut.

from the Manila Times Internet Edition  

By Riza Barghout, Reporter

FILIPINO Muslims on Wednesday rallied at the Israel Embassy in Makati City to call for an end to Israeli attacks on Lebanon.

They said that the strafing by Israeli warplanes of Qana, resulting in the death of 56 people, mostly women and children, on July 30, was the second “massacre” to strike the town.

The demonstrators said the first tragedy occurred on April 18, 1996, when Israeli artillery struck a compound occupied by United Nations peacekeepers from Fiji, killing 106 civilians and injuring 116 others. Four UN soldiers were also injured.

Associated Press
Last updated 06:29pm (Mla time) 08/04/2006

DOZENS of Filipino protesters on Friday burned mock American and Israeli flags in noisy demonstrations outside the two countries' embassies and a mosque, demanding an end to Israel's offensive in Lebanon.

The protest in front of the Israeli Embassy drew a crowd of about 40, mostly left-wing activists who have been denouncing the attacks on Lebanon almost every day.

They burned paper-made U.S. and Israeli flags before dispersing peacefully.

Meanwhile, a Muslim political party issued a strongly worded statement after Friday prayers at Manila's Golden Mosque, calling on Muslim nations to "unite in condemning in the strongest possible terms the continuing criminal act of the brutal Zionist Israeli military forces, not only against the Lebanese and Palestinian people but the entire Muslim community."

Anak Mindanaw, which has one member in the House of Representatives, also called upon "all able Muslims within the war-stricken region to rally behind" Lebanese and Palestinians in protecting their land.