We thought we would be killed
The Government of Israel, Australia, and The United States of America, Suck they are so good, these days at killing Innocents.
Our Countries Leaders did not give a shit, about our innocent tourists travelling, in Beirut and Lebanon, I have heard the same from the American tourists. Shame on our nations, are these the terrorists.? are the innocoent People of Palistine Lebanon and Beirut the terrorists? I dont think so.
By Tara Ravens, David Crawshaw and Belinda Tasker
July 17, 2006
Home ... A woman collapses after arriving in Sydney / AAP ANOTHER small group of Australians has made it home from Lebanon after a dangerous cross-border dash and has blasted the Government for not doing enough to help the thousands of others still trapped.
As the death toll continues to rise from an Israeli bombardment of the country, Prime Minister John Howard is investigating ways to evacuate Australians by ferry to Cyprus.
But the promise of help has come too late for some, with the latest arrivals saying they had feared for their lives and felt abandoned by the Australian Government.
Less than 20 Australians are known to have made it home since Israel started attacking Beirut airport, roads and ports in retaliation for the capture of two soldiers by Hezbollah.
About ten reached Sydney airport last night, looking haggard but relieved. Randa Hellou escaped Lebanon with her husband and two young children and said her family could have died waiting for government help.
"The Australian embassy would not answer the phone. We are Australian citizens and the Government did nothing to help us," she sobbed.
"They kept telling us to be patient, but I could see it was getting worse and that we would have died if we stayed."
The death toll in Lebanon continued to mount overnight, with no let-up from either Israel or Hezbollah, which has been firing rockets into Israel.
In latest developments:
Canada said eight of its citizens had been killed when Israeli aircraft destroyed a house in southern Lebanon.
Nineteen civilians were killed and 56 wounded in an Israeli air strike on a building in the southern Lebanese port town of Tyre, hospital sources said.
A UN team sent to Lebanon to seek a solution to the crisis between Israel and Hezbollah said it supported the Lebanese Government's call for a ceasefire but urged the release of the two Israeli soldiers.
For Australians still trapped, the Australian embassy in Beirut is open only for emergencies.
Foreign Affairs officials were yesterday making arrangements to potentially evacuate Australians to Cyprus, across the Mediterranean Sea about 100km west of Beirut.
Prime Minister John Howard said the Government was doing all it could to ensure its citizens could get out.
There are about 25,000 dual Australian-Lebanese nationals living in Lebanon - many have been there for years - along with tourists and those visiting friends and family.
"We are doing everything we can, 24 hours a day, to arrange an evacuation plan," Mr Howard said on ABC Television.
"The most likely way of evacuation, on my advice, is by ferry to Cyprus and we are actively exploring all the possibilities in relation to that."
He said it was impossible to evacuate people by air, and land evacuations were "highly dangerous".
But it could be just as dangerous to stay.
Mrs Hellou, of Bankstown, said the country had descended into chaos.
"We have never seen or experienced anything like it. At first I thought it was just my imagination and then we panicked and I thought I would never get my family out," the exhausted mother said.
"We might all be dead now if we had not acted."
Crossing the Syrian border only five minutes before it was bombed was "a great risk", she said.
"But the only help were were getting from the Government was to be told to stay inside.
"Then I heard the borders were closing, the airport was destroyed, bridges were being bombed and we couldn't go out by ship so we thought there was only one way to go and we may as well try it.
"I was thinking we would get killed either way - if we stayed or if we tried to leave."
Thousands more Australians who acted on the same thought are now stranded at Damascus airport in Syria waiting for a flight home.
A Gulf Air spokesman said the airline was working with the Australian Government, providing extra flights from Damascus to Bahrain to help Australians leave the Middle East.
But Mrs Hellou's husband Nambil said contingency plans were again falling short.
"There were lines of people going over the border and when we got to the airport I spoke to many Australians trying to book flights," he said.
"Heaps of people are there waiting to get out and they can't get the flights. They are scared and tired and some have been waiting for days."
Others, including the members of a Sydney dance troupe, are stuck in Beirut.
Mohammed Dirati, who also returned home with his two sons last night, said he had been "worried and scared", but was happy to be home.
His wife Hassna said she held concerns for 21 family members still in Beirut.
"They were there on a holiday and they are all Australian citizens and we need to get them back home."
With Reuters and AFP
Our Countries Leaders did not give a shit, about our innocent tourists travelling, in Beirut and Lebanon, I have heard the same from the American tourists. Shame on our nations, are these the terrorists.? are the innocoent People of Palistine Lebanon and Beirut the terrorists? I dont think so.
By Tara Ravens, David Crawshaw and Belinda TaskerJuly 17, 2006
Home ... A woman collapses after arriving in Sydney / AAP ANOTHER small group of Australians has made it home from Lebanon after a dangerous cross-border dash and has blasted the Government for not doing enough to help the thousands of others still trapped.
As the death toll continues to rise from an Israeli bombardment of the country, Prime Minister John Howard is investigating ways to evacuate Australians by ferry to Cyprus.
But the promise of help has come too late for some, with the latest arrivals saying they had feared for their lives and felt abandoned by the Australian Government.
Less than 20 Australians are known to have made it home since Israel started attacking Beirut airport, roads and ports in retaliation for the capture of two soldiers by Hezbollah.
About ten reached Sydney airport last night, looking haggard but relieved. Randa Hellou escaped Lebanon with her husband and two young children and said her family could have died waiting for government help.
"The Australian embassy would not answer the phone. We are Australian citizens and the Government did nothing to help us," she sobbed.
"They kept telling us to be patient, but I could see it was getting worse and that we would have died if we stayed."
The death toll in Lebanon continued to mount overnight, with no let-up from either Israel or Hezbollah, which has been firing rockets into Israel.
In latest developments:
Canada said eight of its citizens had been killed when Israeli aircraft destroyed a house in southern Lebanon.
Nineteen civilians were killed and 56 wounded in an Israeli air strike on a building in the southern Lebanese port town of Tyre, hospital sources said.
A UN team sent to Lebanon to seek a solution to the crisis between Israel and Hezbollah said it supported the Lebanese Government's call for a ceasefire but urged the release of the two Israeli soldiers.
For Australians still trapped, the Australian embassy in Beirut is open only for emergencies.
Foreign Affairs officials were yesterday making arrangements to potentially evacuate Australians to Cyprus, across the Mediterranean Sea about 100km west of Beirut.
Prime Minister John Howard said the Government was doing all it could to ensure its citizens could get out.
There are about 25,000 dual Australian-Lebanese nationals living in Lebanon - many have been there for years - along with tourists and those visiting friends and family.
"We are doing everything we can, 24 hours a day, to arrange an evacuation plan," Mr Howard said on ABC Television.
"The most likely way of evacuation, on my advice, is by ferry to Cyprus and we are actively exploring all the possibilities in relation to that."
He said it was impossible to evacuate people by air, and land evacuations were "highly dangerous".
But it could be just as dangerous to stay.
Mrs Hellou, of Bankstown, said the country had descended into chaos.
"We have never seen or experienced anything like it. At first I thought it was just my imagination and then we panicked and I thought I would never get my family out," the exhausted mother said.
"We might all be dead now if we had not acted."
Crossing the Syrian border only five minutes before it was bombed was "a great risk", she said.
"But the only help were were getting from the Government was to be told to stay inside.
"Then I heard the borders were closing, the airport was destroyed, bridges were being bombed and we couldn't go out by ship so we thought there was only one way to go and we may as well try it.
"I was thinking we would get killed either way - if we stayed or if we tried to leave."
Thousands more Australians who acted on the same thought are now stranded at Damascus airport in Syria waiting for a flight home.
A Gulf Air spokesman said the airline was working with the Australian Government, providing extra flights from Damascus to Bahrain to help Australians leave the Middle East.
But Mrs Hellou's husband Nambil said contingency plans were again falling short.
"There were lines of people going over the border and when we got to the airport I spoke to many Australians trying to book flights," he said.
"Heaps of people are there waiting to get out and they can't get the flights. They are scared and tired and some have been waiting for days."
Others, including the members of a Sydney dance troupe, are stuck in Beirut.
Mohammed Dirati, who also returned home with his two sons last night, said he had been "worried and scared", but was happy to be home.
His wife Hassna said she held concerns for 21 family members still in Beirut.
"They were there on a holiday and they are all Australian citizens and we need to get them back home."
With Reuters and AFP
posted by Kangaroo Brisbane Australia at 3:16 PM
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