Lebanon was under severe Israeli attacks from air, sea, and land for more than a month between July 12 and August 13 2006. More than 1,000 civilians were killed, more than 3,000 were injured, about 1,000,000 people were displaced, more than 30,000 residential units were damaged or destroyed, many roads and most bridges were destroyed, and a lot of the infrastructure was damaged.

During the early days of the crisis, after hearing the sad news and seeing the heartbreaking images coming from our homeland, we, at the American Lebanese Engineering Society, felt that all Lebanese organizations, political or not, should use their resources and networks to Help Lebanon as much as possible, and that it was our duty to be a positive factor and cooperate with the major efforts to Help Lebanon.

Relief Lebanon is a major effort that was initiated during a community meeting at the WLCU center in West Roxbury on July 16, and Justice for Lebanon is another major effort that was initiated during a similar meeting at MIT in Cambridge. ALES was represented in both meetings and has supported and contributed to both efforts, emphasizing that unity and good will among all Lebanese are critical factors in helping the situation in Lebanon.

The following are some of fund raising activities that ALES has supported:

- Benefit Concert for the Lebanese Red Cross

  Date: August 06, 2006 - Location: MIT, Cambridge, MA - Proceeds: > $34,000 - Announcement

- Fund Raising Dinner for the Lebanon Relief Fund at the American Red Cross

  Date: August 12, 2006 - Location: Aceituna Cafe, Cambridge, MA - Proceeds: > $25,000 - Announcement

- Fund Raising Dinner for the Lebanon Relief Fund at the American Red Cross

  Date: August 26, 2006 - Location: St. George Church, W. Roxbury, MA - Proceeds: > $32,000 - Announcement

- Gibran in Theatrical Benefit at MIT

  Date: September 10, 2006 - Location: MIT, Cambridge, MA - Proceeds: Unknown - Announcement

Members of ALES also participated in the peaceful demonstrations and candlelight vigils that took place in Copley Square in Boston and mainly called for an immediate ceasefire.

On a more engineering-related matter, ALES launched the 'Oil Spill Clean-up along Lebanon's Coastline' initiative on August 13, 2006. It aimed to create an advisory committee to help the ministry of environment in the oil-spill issue.

Last but not least, ALES has launched the Rebuild Lebanon Information Center on August 21, 2006. It aims to become an information resource regarding the rebuilding and recovery efforts providing concerned Lebanese and friends of Lebanon with information that will range from a general overview of the post-war situation in Lebanon, to initiatives you can participate in, to studies related to rebuilding and recovery efforts, to events that support specific rebuilding and recovery tasks. The website of the Rebuild Lebanon Information Center is: http://www.rebuildlebanon.info. This effort is being executed in collaboration with a number of organizations and individuals in the USA and Lebanon.

The following are pictures from some of the activities. Some of these pictures are courtesy of the Lebanese Club at MIT (LCM).