Preface
For
the history…
For
the truth…
For
the pain…
For
all the suffering…
For
all humans…
For
the respect of human rights…
For
democracy…
For
peace…
For
a better world…
For
a better future…
For
understanding…
For
you all…
I
humbly present this book on the second anniversary of
the plight of the refugees in Lebanon as a simple
example of the alleged human rights and the
democracy that we have heard so much talk about every
day, and have even had wars declared for it. What you
read in this book you won’t find anywhere else
because the bats of darkness have blocked your eyes
and your ears from seeing and hearing the light and
the voice of truth.
2
years ago on the 21ft of August 2002 an
important event took place in Lebanon. It was in the
garage of the UNHCR office in Beirut. Some of the
refugees had an open sit-in and hunger strike, which
lasted for many days. For the first time ever, the
local media actually covered the story after I had
campaigned for 2 weeks.
The
UNHCR and others tried to hide this and to reduce the
importance of the event using different means. I kept
thinking about the best way to bring the event to the
light again and help all the humans on our planet hear
the voices of the refugees who are until this day
waiting for a solution to their problems and someone
to care enough to answer their questions.
For
the past 2 years I have devoted myself to that target,
as part of my mission to bring more understanding and
respect for our situation and problems as refugees and
as fellow human beings. I have taught myself many
things and I have worked for nearly 15 hours a day
just to break down the walls and the barriers that
have prevented our voice from reaching you. To focus
the light on our real problems and to show you what
kind of democracy and respect for human rights
actually exist in the world at the moment.
I
have spent lots of time and effort on this book and I
am giving it to you for free and I just ask for a
little attention and care from you. We as refugees are
waiting for some answers to our questions and to know
you have some ‘feeling’ for our problems. If you
feel there is something you can do, that would be
great, we would appreciate any help you offer very
much. Anything that can improve our situation as
refugees, in Lebanon or anywhere in the world is
warmly welcomed.
What
you are about to read is just a small example of the
UNHCR's policies, some governments attitudes are
also reflected here. I hope this example will show you
the real situation of refugees everywhere, not just
Lebanon. There are negative policies need to be
addressed and need to be changed.
In
this book you may read many things that you have never
heard of before, because this is the first time anyone
dare to speak out. Their threats gave me the courage to
speak out, even after their threats and the risks that
they exposed me to. I have lived on the edge of life
because of my activities. I live in hiding now to
ensure my security and to stay alive to show you more
and more of the truth!
What
you will read here is not just a few words, you will
be reading about my life and the lives of thousands of
other human beings who wear the label ‘refugee’
you will read our pain and suffering. Our lives are in
your hands and we hope that you will show us some care
and that care determines the degree of your respect
for our human rights, and also illustrates what
democracy really means out there in the world.
Knowledge,
I'd
like to the thank Assafir
newspaper for their honest effort to show the truth
about our situation as refugees in Lebanon. That
newspaper covered our activities at that event nearly
daily, which gives us more hope and the belief that
there still some honest people who really care about
humans and their problems.
All
the articles that I translated can be obtained from THE
ARAB DOCUMENTATION CENTER ADC.
This
center gives documented articles from different
newspapers. Please note if you would like to have any
Arabic article on paper you can contact the center via
their website
or contact me to
arrange that.
In
name of all refugees in Lebanon, I present our thanks
and deep appreciation for Assafir
newspaper and the others who worked to help us
in show you our plight.
My
thanks to all of my friends who helped with the
editing of this book, Gina from England, Laurie
and Lynette
(Edmonton Small Press Association) from
Canada, Dave,
Karla from USA and Mark
from Amsterdam, NL
Since
I respect the rule of democracy and I respect others
opinions, I declare now, that I'm ready to publish any
opinion or any comments from people or governments or
organizations that I have mentioned in my writing.
I'll offer my efforts to publish their opinions freely
on my account just to give them the chance to tell
their point of view about this book or any point I
mentioned here. I hope that'll be a simple example for
respecting other opinions and for democracy.
For
any one would like to contact me, I have my contact
details on my sites:
http://www.unhcr.info
http://www.unhcr.us
http://www.unhcr.co.uk
http://www.umacr.org
www.umacr.net
Also I created group for this book: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/refugees_farm
Together we will build better world.
Thanks
THE
TRUTH WARRIOR
OSAM
ALTAEE
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