Issues

Lebanon

Contact your local media: Urge them to cover the Humanitarian Crisis

Posted on Thursday July 13, 2006

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Talking Points:

• With the escalating violence in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon leading to the deaths of hundreds of innocent civilians, American leadership is needed more than ever to stop the violence, address its effects on the civilian populations, and ease the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip.

• The US should appoint an envoy with the full authority of the President. Previous U.S. administrations have recognized the gravity of such situations and America’s direct involvement has historically had a calming effect and allowed for restraint and diplomacy. Like Senator George Mitchell’s successful negotiations in Ireland, the appointment of a special envoy with the full authority of the President will serve as a positive, and necessary, first step.

• Israel’s use of disproportionate force, including the targeting of Lebanese and Palestinian infrastructure, has taken a terrible toll. In Lebanon, the bombing of the Beirut International Airport and bridges threatens to set back an already fragile but recovering economy. In Gaza, the persistence of the Israeli stranglehold and suffocation of the Palestinian economy and population has led to the imprisonment of 1.4 million civilians, among them the elderly, women, and children who are in dire need of food and medical care.

• It is incumbent on President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to make clear that the U.S. does not support the targeting of civilians, including those in Palestine and Lebanon.

• According to the Geneva Conventions, “If it becomes apparent that an objective in an attack is not a military one, or if that attack could cause incidental loss of civilian life or damage to civilian objects, then the attack must be called off.” Clearly, Israel’s targeting of civilian infrastructure such as bridges, electricity plants, and the Beirut International Airport, violate this provision.