Tulsa's Lebanese-American Community Calls For A Cease-fire

Americans with ties to Israel and Lebanon are pushing for a cease-fire. Some of those folks live in the Tulsa area. <br/><br/>The Tulsa Lebanese-American community is calling for the publicâ€™s help.

Thursday, July 27th 2006, 10:31 am

By: News On 6

Americans with ties to Israel and Lebanon are pushing for a cease-fire. Some of those folks live in the Tulsa area.

The Tulsa Lebanese-American community is calling for the publicâ€™s help. They want to send a message to the US government, that it needs to push harder for peace.

As News on 6 reporter Jennifer Loren explains, itâ€™s a request that could mean life or death for their families.

"Its really hard. We're not helping enough." Bassima Roz moved to the US from Lebanon when she was 26 years old. She married a Lebanese-American and has two children in Tulsa.

But for the next few moments she would like you to think of her as a woman whose family members overseas are in grave danger. Her family in Oklahoma is tortured each day as they watch the violence and destruction.

The violence is just blocks away from where her family in Beirut has taken cover. "Families who are trying to flee, their cars being attacked, bombed. So it has to stop. We need everyone's help."

Roz and the rest of Tulsaâ€™s Lebanese American Community are calling for a bipartisan cease-fire immediately. "We're calling for both sides to, for a cease-fire. Just to, just to, just for the civilians, for the children and everyone. My dad never cried before. But he's under so much stress. So this morning when I talked to him he was crying, I was crying." So many people are crying and that's what they want to stop.

There will be a People for Peace demonstration this Saturday in Tulsa. Tulsa Peace and the Lebanese-American community say anyone in support of a cease-fire is welcome. It will be at 5 PM at the intersection at 71st and Memorial.