Pip Hinman

“The Australian government is not doing enough to rescue my wife and children”, Rami Abdallah said on July 20 as he was about to leave Sydney for Beruit. “I am involved in my local community, I have given my all to Australia, yet the government leaves my wife and children stranded, at the mercy of the Israeli war machine.”

Abdallah had contacted the department of foreign affairs many times to register his wife’s details, but as of July 20, she hadn’t been contacted by them. “As one civilian convoy has already been bombed, killing women and children fleeing to safety, I am scared for my wife and children and I see no option but to go to them myself and try to escort them to safety”, said Abdallah.

Abdallah’s wife Nada and his 15-month-old daughter Tamara were visiting the Bekaa Valley in West Lebanon, an area that has been bombed. “It is neither logical, nor practical, to expect women and children to scurry onto this ferry under heavy shelling. There needs to be an immediate cease-fire, and an end to the bombing”, Abdallah said.

“I am disappointed at the government’s indifference”, added Keysar Trad, founder of the Islamic Friendship Association of Australia and a family friend. “Millions of people are under siege in Lebanon; the government of Australia must show some moral leadership and call for a cease-fire.”

Trad continued: “We are not just concerned about our families and friends in Lebanon, we are extremely concerned for the Lebanese people who want the indiscriminate bombing to stop. It’s not good enough for the US government to say that it will only call for an international cease-fire in a week’s time. We need it now.”

From Green Left Weekly, July 26, 2006.
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