Post by Hermy on Jul 19, 2006 23:41:34 GMT -5
Please read this post. One of my friends, Emily, has a friend, Julia, who is trapped in Lebanon in all this mess. While she isn't one of my friends, I went to college with her and know her by name. Emily has been keeping everyone up to date on Julia's progress. Today she sent the message below. While none of you know any of these people, I felt like sharing this with you all. The conflict in the Middle East is something that effects everyone and is something that we all should pay attention to. The following puts a human face on the reports we see on the news - and gives an inside view of what's really happening over there. So please read on - and please click on the article, and please keep Julia and her family, along with everyone else over there, in your prayers.
From Emily:
Julia and her family are still in Lebannon. Yesterday they were put on a list to be airlifted out because she is pregnant. I have copied her email from today, so you can hear what happened in her words. Please keep the country in your prayers. Please keep our fellow citizens in your prayers. Also, keep Mazen's family, who lives in Lebannon in your prayers--they have no escape. Hopefully cooler heads will prevail and we can end this. Lets hope.
Their story was featured in yesterday' Charlotte Observor if you are interested:
www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/news/columnists/tommy_tomlinson/15070104.htm
Here is her email:
OK--Today was pure HE**! At 1:30 AM the Embassy called us and told us to report to the Northern Beruit port at 11:00AM because we were going to take a ship to Cyprus. We took a taxi to Beruit and went to the assigned area as scheduled. It was chaos. People were told to show up and their names were
not on the list so they were turned away after waiting hours in the heat.
Our names were on the list so we went to a holding area where we went through a security check, a processing station, and we were assigned a bus which would take us to the ship. At 3:00 PM our bus arrived. We boarded the bus and a representative from the embassy said "Sorry. You all are not going to Cyprus today. We had some medical emergencies and we had to
take them to the ship. We will drive you back to the highway and you will have to find your way home. But tomorrow you can go to Cyprus by helicopter".
The ship had not even left yet! If there were medical emergencies why didn't they use the helicopters for those people? People were livid. Some had traveled 3 hours on dangerous roads just to get to Beruit and paid jacked up taxi cab fares--only to hear "Sorry come back tomorrow" like it was nothing to get there. Everyone was on an emotional rollercoaster. First hope and relief that they were going home and then pain, anger, frustration. Do you know what it is like to get dropped off on the highway in and out of Beruit? That is like getting dropped off on I-85 with everyone speeding and being told to fend for yourself. I mean how were they going to do that? People had babies, luggage, and no cell phones. Did
they expect everyone to hitchhike or walk? The people on the bus started screaming at the embassy staff. Eventually the embassy staff took us to a hotel next to the embassy. They promised us that tomorrow they will take us on a helicopter to Cyprus at 8:00 AM. They told us to report to the embassy at 6:00 AM. Everyone started screaming at the embassy staff and they gave us all promissary notes that we will be the first to go tomorrow. At the hotel we waited an hour and they still did not have room for us, so we came back to Tripoli. Now tomorrow I have to go through the whole thing again.
Can you even imagine what that is like? So tomorrow we will treck back to Beruit at 4:30 AM and hope that luck is on our side. I do, however, want to say how fantastic the Marines were. They were so kind. They brought us water and food, had a shaded area for us to sit, and helped people load their luggage onto the busses. Now I am going to call my mom because more than anything I worry about the emotional toll this whole ordeal has
had on her. Then I will go to bed because I have a big day ahead.
Hopefully I will see you all soon!
Julia
From Emily:
Julia and her family are still in Lebannon. Yesterday they were put on a list to be airlifted out because she is pregnant. I have copied her email from today, so you can hear what happened in her words. Please keep the country in your prayers. Please keep our fellow citizens in your prayers. Also, keep Mazen's family, who lives in Lebannon in your prayers--they have no escape. Hopefully cooler heads will prevail and we can end this. Lets hope.
Their story was featured in yesterday' Charlotte Observor if you are interested:
www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/news/columnists/tommy_tomlinson/15070104.htm
Here is her email:
OK--Today was pure HE**! At 1:30 AM the Embassy called us and told us to report to the Northern Beruit port at 11:00AM because we were going to take a ship to Cyprus. We took a taxi to Beruit and went to the assigned area as scheduled. It was chaos. People were told to show up and their names were
not on the list so they were turned away after waiting hours in the heat.
Our names were on the list so we went to a holding area where we went through a security check, a processing station, and we were assigned a bus which would take us to the ship. At 3:00 PM our bus arrived. We boarded the bus and a representative from the embassy said "Sorry. You all are not going to Cyprus today. We had some medical emergencies and we had to
take them to the ship. We will drive you back to the highway and you will have to find your way home. But tomorrow you can go to Cyprus by helicopter".
The ship had not even left yet! If there were medical emergencies why didn't they use the helicopters for those people? People were livid. Some had traveled 3 hours on dangerous roads just to get to Beruit and paid jacked up taxi cab fares--only to hear "Sorry come back tomorrow" like it was nothing to get there. Everyone was on an emotional rollercoaster. First hope and relief that they were going home and then pain, anger, frustration. Do you know what it is like to get dropped off on the highway in and out of Beruit? That is like getting dropped off on I-85 with everyone speeding and being told to fend for yourself. I mean how were they going to do that? People had babies, luggage, and no cell phones. Did
they expect everyone to hitchhike or walk? The people on the bus started screaming at the embassy staff. Eventually the embassy staff took us to a hotel next to the embassy. They promised us that tomorrow they will take us on a helicopter to Cyprus at 8:00 AM. They told us to report to the embassy at 6:00 AM. Everyone started screaming at the embassy staff and they gave us all promissary notes that we will be the first to go tomorrow. At the hotel we waited an hour and they still did not have room for us, so we came back to Tripoli. Now tomorrow I have to go through the whole thing again.
Can you even imagine what that is like? So tomorrow we will treck back to Beruit at 4:30 AM and hope that luck is on our side. I do, however, want to say how fantastic the Marines were. They were so kind. They brought us water and food, had a shaded area for us to sit, and helped people load their luggage onto the busses. Now I am going to call my mom because more than anything I worry about the emotional toll this whole ordeal has
had on her. Then I will go to bed because I have a big day ahead.
Hopefully I will see you all soon!
Julia
