A Message from Inside Beirut

This is a verbatim copy of an email sent to my husband by a co-worker on Monday, July 17, 2006 3:11 PM. I will let the email speak for itself.

[Co-worker: ** Hello All, I e-mailed one of my friends who lives in central beirut asking if she's ok and how the situation is. This is what she wrote back. I found it very interesting and heartfelt and thought i'd share it with you. Kind of makes you see the situation from the inside**]

To tell you the truth the question "Are you okay?" is actually quite relative because it depends on where you live.

Israelies have basically demolished the south region (homes, buildings, roads, bridges, gas stations and electricity plants), this includes Soor and Nabatieh and a bit of Saida, basically the shite regions. Those living in these regions will most likely tell you that their homes are demolished or they have lost a loved one. As for the rest of Lebanon (such as Beirut, Tripoli and the mountains), they are 'only' destroying every single building, highway or bridge which is related to hezbollah. In Beirut for example, they are destroying the Shite regions which incidently will affect all those living in or near those areas. Alhamdulilah, because we live in central Beirut, all the roads in our vicinity are clear and open and we are relatively safe.

Other than their primary goal of attacking Hezbollah regions, Israel has also been shown to be keen of destroying infrastructure in Lebanon as a whole. Israel has managed to destroy almost every single standing bridge, most of the main highways and the airport. This is being done in ALL of Lebanon not just the south. They've blocked off every single road and bridge that leads to the south of Lebanon. Thus leading to isolation of the south. In the rest of the country, theyr'e also destroying all the roads and bridges. It is as if they're trying to destroy all of our means of communication. They've surrounded the entire country and theyr'e not letting us get out!! They've done a complete naval blockade on the Mediterranean so we can't leave through the sea. The airport's struck so its closed. Roads through Tripoli and the Bekaa leading to Syria are now closed so we can't even evacuate through the Syrian border!!

It can be said that everywhere except for the south is calm for the time being. But of course if your house is next to a highway or bridge, your'e most likely in danger and your home is susceptible to harm. But danger is escalating by the day. Emotionally, I don't exagerrate by saying that I have been living in terror for the past 4 days. The weather is terribly hot, there is no electricity available for the better part of the day (except for those who are well off and have generators) and we continously hear bombing throughout the day. We just sit and wait.

No arab country is helping us. I'm sick and tired of hearing Israeli statements such as "We are trying to save them from Hezbollah.......We are doing what the UN wanted Hezbollah to do...... The Lebanese people will thank us later....." and other silly comments as such. Your helping us by destroying our country??? They keep saying that they are not hitting civilians and that they are just hitting land. They are hitting civilians but its not being said. Just 2 days ago, a man and his wife and 8 eight kids were killed by a bomb that directly struck their house. Another bomb was dropped on the home of a family of 7. Just today, a pickup truck was evacuating women and children from a town that was being warned of attack. Simply, a bombshell was dropped on it, killing 20 people. In the Bekaa, a yellow taxi occupied by a family that was driving towards Syria to take shelter was bombed. Are they telling these stories?

When they kill civilians, they say that it was a mistake. When arab militias kill Israeli civilians, they claim that its on purpose, emphasizing that we are inhumane and barbaric. A statement made earlier today by Israel claims that they did not know if the truck housed militia men or civilians. So they decided to go ahead a shoot. They are killing innocent civilians and they are destroying the entire infrastructure, construction and development of a whole nation in a matter of days!!

They claim that this is retaliation because Hezbollah started this violence by capturing two of their soldiers. So Israel keeps arguing that they are defending themselves and that this is what any nation would do after attack. Their reaction isn't different to what any other nation would do if they were put in this situation. But the rest of the world fails to see that Hezbollah's actions were instigated by the fact that many Lebanese prisoners are still in Israel and that dozens of people are dying daily in Gaza. Hezbollah is retaliating to Israel's actions, not vice versa!

Everyone feels just so helpless. We can't do anything about whats happening. My life, my family's lives and the lives of the Lebanese people are in the hands of incompetent leaders. My country is being demolished by the hour, innocent lives are being killed and CNN is directing a poll asking if what Israel is doing is justified. It's currently at 60% yes and 40% no. Ignorant and selfish people are voting based on information that they are getting from bias news stations. No one has the right to make such a judgement when they are not even living and feeling this terror. In the name of human compassion and understanding why are they claiming this war is justified?

Take the above information from someone who's actually in the middle of it.

Just pray for us and pray that this demolition and killing will stop.....

[name removed]
Beirut
Lebanon

Permission to forward received 7/19/06