On April 24, the Australian Lebanese Solidarity Committee organised buses and cars to transport members of the Lebanese community in Sydney and Melbourne to a demonstration outside Parliament House. Some 250 people braved the four-hour trip to have their voices heard in Canberra. More than 100 people chanted for PM John Howard to register at least some response to the killings. The rally then moved on to the Lebanese and United States embassies to register their grief and ask for support. Green Left Weekly's NIKOLAI HADDAD spoke to RIHAB CHARIDA from the Australian Lebanese Solidarity Committee.
Question: What demands did you put to the government?
We sought to inform the Australian government about what is happening in Lebanon. We went to let them know what is happening to us and that we are not the terrorists, we are the victims. We want the UN to implement resolution 425, which calls for the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Lebanon, and we want Australia to stand up for this in the international arena.
Question: How have the Australian establishment media portrayed what is happening in southern Lebanon?
I'm not completely happy with the way the media have reported what is happening. We are always referred to as "terrorists", whereas in reality we are the victims of terrorism. Despite the fact that 155 Lebanese civilians have been slaughtered, the media seek only to reaffirm the negative image of Arabs as terrorists.
Why is the Israeli state not called terrorist when it purposefully targets civilians to bring pressure on the Lebanese government to work against Hezbollah? And if you only had the mass media to go by, you would have no idea that Israel is occupying southern Lebanon.
Question: What do you see as a realistic solution to the conflict in southern Lebanon?
As long as Israel behaves the way it does, there will always be wars. The conflict in southern Lebanon is a conflict between occupation and resistance. As long as there is occupation, there will always be resistance. So the first prerequisite must be a total and unconditional withdrawal of Israel from occupied Lebanese land.