Lebanese Australians outraged as Israel bombs Beirut, urge government to take harder stance

SYDNEY, Australia (MNTV) – Members of Australia’s Lebanese diaspora are grappling with fear for loved ones caught in escalating Israeli strikes on Lebanon, as protests erupt across the country and community leaders push the federal government to take stronger action against Israel.

Dr Saad Ramadan’s family is among those displaced. His elderly parents and five siblings fled their village in southern Lebanon under Israeli bombardment, seeking safety in Beirut — only to find that safety has become, in his words, “a relative word.”

For the past month, his family has been living in a tiny two-bedroom apartment after abandoning the home his parents had lived in for 80 years, taking nothing but documents and the clothes on their backs.

“You don’t really know when suddenly these buildings where civilians have been sheltering become ‘legitimate targets,'” said Ramadan, who migrated to Australia in 1991.

“I don’t know if my family’s turn will come, but some entire civilian families have been wiped out, butchered in cold blood. Any loss of innocent life is a loss.”

Last Saturday, Ramadan was among thousands who rallied in Melbourne, Adelaide and Sydney, calling for sanctions on Israel. “I was on the train with Lebanese families coming into the gathering in Sydney and everyone felt devastated,” he said. “There is no single person that you talk to who hasn’t lost something: a mum, a dad, a sister, a nephew, a niece. The emotional burden is too heavy to live with.”

Last Wednesday, Israel carried out its largest attack on Lebanon since its war with Hezbollah began, killing hundreds and wounding 837 as bombs struck densely populated residential areas of Beirut. The Lebanese community has named it “Black Wednesday.”

Gamel Kheir, secretary of the Lebanese Muslim Association, said he can no longer look at social media. “I’m beyond the stage of torn,” he said, adding that what disturbs him as much as the bombs is the absence of strong condemnation from the Western world.

“With all due respect, you cannot help but bring a comparison to the way the western world talks about the Russia-Ukraine situation and then hypocritically doesn’t use the same standards for Israel and Gaza or Lebanon. The dehumanisation is because they are Muslims.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has called for Lebanon to be included in the two-week Middle East ceasefire and co-led a group of countries in expressing concern about the worsening humanitarian situation. For Kheir, it is not enough.

“I want to see actions, not their empty, hollow words.” The Shia Muslim Council of Australia welcomed Australia joining a joint international ceasefire statement but said “stronger and more decisive diplomatic action is required,” calling on the government and international community to “increase pressure to secure an immediate cessation of hostilities.”