FW: Moving to Lebanon for 6 months

Views expressed in this archived message are those of the author, not of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq.

First of all, I sincerely apologize for sending a mass e-mail instead of writing to you separately. Please forgive me -- Time has swept by me and I do not want to wait any longer before telling you.

News... I will be leaving to Lebanon on Wednesday August 22 (in 6 days) to be the team leader on a reality-based documentary TV production about the Israeli Government's acts of genocide. More specifically, the project will construct a case against Ariel Sharon and the State of Israel to be presented at the International Court of Justice in the Hague, indicting Sharon and the Israeli government of the Sabra and Shatilla massacres in 1982, and trying the Israeli government for committing genocide against the Palestinian people. A group of international lawyers have come together to present such a case condemning the practices of the Zionist state against the Palestinians, the Arabs, and Humanity. In support of this cause, ZEN TV (Arab Youth TV) has recruited and hired a team of young Arab researchers to assist in building and compiling the needed evidence for the case, and they have recruited me to lead the team.

This project will NOT concentrate solely on Ariel Sharon. Sharon will not presented as the "bad apple" but the "consequence of a bad seed: Zionism, occupation, oppression." The history of the Israeli-Palestinians (and, to some extent, the Israeli-Arab) struggle will be reviewed to highlight the acts that present a pattern of aggression, of mass killings, of "ethnic cleansing" -- of genocide.

Requests... I am eager to learn your thoughts, your feedback, and gain from your insight. The program will have between 13-15 episodes, and, throughout the program (which will be aired via satellite on Future TV), your comments are encouraged. The program will also have a parallel website (http://www.zenjustice.com - the website is still under construction.) More so -- anything you would like to share (from tips, to contacts, to information, etc) -- please please do. I feel humbled to work on this issue, especially since many of you have a much larger and more vast wealth of knowledge and personal information. I ask you as a friend and as a colleague (and, to some, as a comrade :-).

Another request: I would very much like to write a regular column (monthly) about our discoveries and the latest legal progress in a magazine in the West. The Nation would be the first choice (actually Harper's would be the first choice - but I'm trying to be realistic ;-) - Other choices include Mother Jones, The Progressive, and other "more mainstream leftist magazines." If any of you have any media leads or media contacts that might be helpful, please let me know. I am also open to writing in any other publication. The objective here is that the discoveries and evidence we compile also be shared with the "West" and not limited to the Arab audience.

and I will try to be available as much as possible for anti-sanctions activists. I want to continue my Anti-Sanctions/Anti-War work on Iraq. (and for those delegations going to Iraq... perhaps you'll want to stop in Lebanon one of those times :-)

* The IAC website (http://iraqaction.org) is undergoing a beautiful transformation, and, somehow, it will be "launched" again soon... :-)

(and, if somehow I manage to have some extra time ;-), I would love to launch a "diary" of my thoughts while in Lebanon. This will be the first time that I will have to work in Lebanon, and to stay there for an extended period of time. .. )

As to the personal side ...

* Please please please keep in touch!

I'm sorry to tell you about all this with so little notice. I learned of my date of departure today, and the whole project discussion has occurred very quickly (from June, basically).

let me hear from you :-), and let me know if you'll be going "East" :-)

love, solidarity, and sunflower wishes,

-Rania