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LETTER TO SENATOR HILLARY CLINTON (LETTER
IN PDF)
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton
780 Third Ave
Suite 2601
New York, NY 10017
July 18, 2006
Dear Senator Clinton,
I read with dismay your comments regarding the ongoing conflict in Lebanon, as
printed in the New York Times, Monday July 17, 2006. As a New York constituent I
feel it is my duty to write you and express my concern. In particular I was
perplexed by the following comments:
“We will stand with Israel because Israel is standing for American values as
well as Israeli ones;” and
“I want us here in New York to imagine, if extremist terrorists were launching
rocket attacks across the Mexican or Canadian border, would we stand by or would
we defend America against these attacks from extremists?”
With regards to the first statement, I am truly confused as to what you are
referring when you say “American values,” unless by that you mean the use of
aggressive, disproportionate force against “terrorists” without any regard for
consequence or collateral (i.e. innocent civilians.) I don’t suppose, by
“American values,” you are referring to the indiscriminate targeting of whole
villages simply because they are “Hezbollah territory;” the obliteration of the
international airport (as far as I know, not a Hezbollah-run operation); the
destruction of sea ports, dozens of bridges, every exit and entrance route in
and out of the country, the bombing of wheat silos and of cars full of families
trying to escape bombardment; the explosion of the electricity plants; the
targeted attacks on Muslim areas, and the constant air strikes of major cities
such as Beirut, Tyre and Tripoli.
I can’t imagine that by “American values,” you mean the entire destruction of
people’s homes, livelihoods, and all their worldly possessions, simply because
they live in a Muslim area. It was never taught to me that the American way was
to knowingly target innocent civilians and to consciously wish to demolish a
nation’s infrastructure with the stated aim of “setting the country 20 years
back.” I wonder if you are aware that of the 227 people who have been killed
thus far, no more than 24 of them have been affiliated with Hezbollah and the
majority of them have been children.
Senator Clinton, this is not a war between Israel and Hezbollah. It is not about
the West and the East, or Christians and Jews and Muslims. This is a war between
politicians. This is a game in which all the innocent citizens of Lebanon are
the victims. You cannot possibly believe, in your heart, that any of the
grandmothers, sons, wives, mothers or uncles or aunts, or shopkeepers, or
tailors, or teachers, who are being killed, maimed or displaced, have anything
to do with this crisis. Or that they deserve to bear the brunt of Israel
“defending itself.” Even the most liberal interpretation of “self-defense” could
not justify the mass killing and destruction of individuals who have nothing to
do with this conflict.
And if I had to imagine being attacked by Mexico and Canada, I pray with all my
deepest convictions, that America would not react by bombing Toronto, targeting
towns based on their religious affiliation, destroying exit routes for fleeing
refugees, all in the name of self-defense. If these are the new American values,
then I fear that America is lost.
I grew up fearing and hating war. As a Lebanese-American, born and raised here,
cut off from my family there for most of my childhood, I grew up keenly aware of
the utter futility and indiscriminate inhumanity of war. I cannot think of a
time when bombing civilians and civilian infrastructure makes sense, I cannot
think of any reason good enough to justify it – whether carried out by
“extremists,” as you put it, or state-sponsored. I can’t imagine how you get up
in the morning and tell yourself that any attack on civilians is a legitimate
answer to the world’s conflicts. I can’t imagine how you, or any of the other
politicians running this country and others, ever got so far in life that you
felt you could and should justify such destruction. Aside from the physical,
real, tangible annihilation these attacks are responsible for – what about the
destruction to our humanity? Our ability to seek the moral high ground? And to
hope for a better, peaceful future for our children? If the new American values
eschew such values as peace and negotiation, I have truly lost all hope for this
country, and for the world my children will inherit.
I ask you to please reconsider your statements and to call for a ceasefire.
Whatever political games must be played, let them be played without the
senseless destruction of a nation and its people.
Sincerely,
Amal Bouhabib
FACT SHEET: ONE WEEK
Every airport has been attacked and rendered unfit for travel. All three
runways of the Beirut International Airport were destroyed.
Every port from the south to the north has been attacked: these include the
three main sea ports of Beirut, Tripoli and Jamil Gemayel. For the first time,
the port of Jounieh was bombed.
A total of 38 roads have been cut off by bombs or shells, and 42 bridges have
been destroyed, severely curtailing the ability to travel even within the
country.
More than 100 homes and residential buildings have been destroyed in the areas
surrounding Beirut, Tripoli and in the South.
Several important public buildings have also been destroyed, including
hospitals and a number of schools. A church in Rmeish and a mosque in Tiri were
also severely damaged.
Fuel containers across the country and 12 service stations were destroyed,
threatening a fuel shortage.
At least 36,800 residents have fled Beirut's southern suburbs for more secure
areas. About 14,500 are being housed in 65 schools across Beirut alone. Some
100,000 around the country have fled their homes.
At least 227 people have been killed, some of them entire families. Only 24 of
those killed have been affiliated with Hezbollah. Hezbollah is only claiming
three of the victims as their own. Over 500 have been wounded.
The Lebanese finance minister has estimated that the damage to the country
amounts to $.5 billion so far. This does not include the inevitable economic
shortfall caused by the decimation to the tourism industry and the continued
attacks.
Reuters listed a dairy factory, a lighthouse, civilian buses and a medical
truck as some of the “more puzzling targets” of Israeli attacks.
The British daily, the Independent, described Israel’s attack on the south
this way: “Israeli jets came first to the little village of Dweir near Nabatiya
in southern Lebanon where an Israeli plane dropped a bomb on to the home of a
Shia Muslim cleric. He was killed. So was his wife. So were eight of his
children. One was decapitated. All they could find of a baby was its head and
torso which a young villager brandished in fury in front of the cameras. Then
the planes visited another home in Dweir and disposed of a family of seven.”
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