Saeb Ali
Occupied Palestine and Iraq feature in the news almost daily, so much so that people no longer seem shocked by the massive loss of innocent life. But this changed with Israel's latest barbaric attack on Lebanon in which more than 1000 Lebanese, mostly civilians including 350 children, were killed, several towns and more than 100 bridges were destroyed and 1 million people displaced.
Much was said to try and justify the mass murder of innocent Lebanese and the destruction of the country's infrastructure. The capture of two Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah was said to be the reason for the attacks. But accepting this meant that there was no chance to negotiate their safe release, as had happened in the past.
On the other hand, Lebanese prisoners in Israeli jails seemed not to count. Lebanon has requested their return, and exhausted every possible peaceful means to achieve that. But still Lebanon didn't declare war on Israel.
Then we were told that the destruction of Hezbollah became the aim of Israel's war. Yet, civilians and the innocent were targeted as well as Lebanon's infrastructure.
Neither objective was achieved, and the devastating attacks resulted in the deaths of more than a 1000 innocents.
After five weeks of bombardment, a ceasefire was achieved. But Israel was quick to breach it, attacking the northern Bekaa Valley. There was no serious international condemnation of that breach.
The United States government declared that the attack on Lebanon was part of the fight against terrorism. What terrorism? Who is the terrorist? Washington says it is Hezbollah. We ask why? And the only answer given is that the US and Israel say so.
Hezbollah didn't exist when Israel invaded and occupied Lebanon in 1982. Hezbollah has never fought anywhere except on Lebanese soil; it exercised its legitimate right to defend its homeland.
The Lebanese-Israeli conflict can only be resolved by negotiating a prisoner exchange, and returning all the occupied Lebanese territory, including the Shebaa Farms.
The Lebanese community in the Illawarra was very disappointed by the corporate media's reporting of the war on Lebanon. We were denied the opportunity to express our views following the second Qana massacre where dozens of innocent civilians were killed, including more than 30 children. The Illawarra Mercury chose to run a story on Mel Gibson rather than report the community's reaction to that atrocity. We feel helpless and fearful of being targeted if we take a stand and participate in the anti-war protests.
In Sydney, those collecting aid money to send to their villages in south Lebanon were told they risked being accused of supporting terrorism. People have been silenced by the "anti-terror" laws, just as people in Lebanon were silenced with bombs.
But Israel's war on Lebanon proved that the will of the people can't be defeated by bombs. The people of Lebanon put aside their differences, stood united in the face of the enemy, and were prepared to die with dignity rather than live without it.
[Saeb Ali is a spokesperson for Peace for Lebanon, a community group in the Illawarra.]