PEACEFUL DEMONSTRATORS SHOT BY LEBANESE ARMY
Produced by Dori Smith of WHUS in Storrs, Connecticut
Peaceful protests held over three days inside of the Baddawi refugee camp came to a violent end Friday June 29, 2007 when Lebanese soldiers opened fire on the crowd killing 2 and wounding 35. Seven of the most seriously wounded were children below the age of 15 and one of them was only three years old.
We hear eye witness accounts from demonstrators who were there and
from organizers at Nahr el Bared Relief Campaign who have described the
event as tragic for all concern.
We go over information
provided by Dr. Marcy Newman, General Coordinator, at Nahr el Bared
Relief Campaign, then hear from eye witnesses, Caoimhe Butterly, an
Irish human rights activist in Lebanon to aid Palestinian refugees, and
Rasha Najdeh, a Lebanese woman who says she does not believe the
Palestinian refugees are treated fairly, and Mohamed Haleme, a
Palestinian from Shatilla camp who has recently graduated from
university and is working as an aid to non governmental organizations
in the refugee camps.
And we look into press accounts by
Reuters and The Daily Star of Lebanon which get most facts wrong. Human
Rights Watch is urging the Lebanese Government to begin an impartial
investigation and says: (New York, July 4, 2007) - "The Lebanese
government should launch an impartial investigation into a violent
attack last week on Palestinian demonstrators by army forces and
Lebanese civilians that left two Palestinians dead and at least 28
injured, Human Rights Watch said today. Military personnel responsible
for unlawful use of force and civilians who attacked demonstrators
should be held accountable."
"The Lebanese army killed two
apparently peaceful protesters, wounded many more, and did nothing to
stop Lebanese civilians from attacking demonstrators," said Sarah Leah
Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. "The government
should open an investigation to determine why the soldiers fired on the
crowd and why they neglected to protect the protesters from attacks by
civilians."
For more information:
www.nahrelbaredcampaign.org +961.70.977.812
Or contact Dori Smith at
doritalknation@sbcglobal.net
See: http://www.whus.org and
http://www.talknationradio.org
Sprouts is a weekly program
produced in collaboration with community radio stations and independent
producers across the country. We bring you local stories of national
interest produced at these radio stations and media groups.
The
program is offered free of charge to all radio stations. For
information, or if you would like to feature your work on Sprouts,
contact Ursula Ruedenberg at ursula@pacifica. org
Left KU Channel
Thursday, July 5, 2007 3:00 PM EST
Length: 29:33 Listen here
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