Why is this acceptable?

Kofi Annan has called for an immediate cease-fire, everyone is concerned about the mounting civilian casualties in Lebanon due to Israeli bombing, and yet somehow no one is courageous enough to demand this and actually take action. The Israeli leadership has already said it will continue its actions "even if the whole world is against it" and it may come to that. With Israel posed to wage a ground war in Lebanon, risking a brutal war with the Lebanese army and possibly bringing in Syria, Iran and God knows who else, wouldn't this be an excellent time for Israel's closest ally to help Israel help herself? If Olmert can't see how he is badly hurting his country's long term interests by the way in which he is waging this war and all his double-speak (such as saying he really wants to strengthen the Lebanese government by destroying it), than perhaps the United States should quickly help him see the light. Given the statements of the Bush administration over the last week, it seems they themselves do not see the light but I continue to hope that cooler heads will prevail and they will somehow persuade Israel to stop bombing civilians.

One only need watch the news to see evidence that this campaign has been against the entire population of Lebanon and not focused on Hezbollah. Again, how is this in Israel's interest? As I've already stated, it certainly hasn't persuaded Hezbollah not to use its entire arsenal on Israeli civilians, who are paying the price of their government's folly, and it will only enrage and inspire more Muslims to join the Hezbollah cause.

Today is particularly tragic for me in these ten days of hell because my family became one of the civilian targets of an Israeli missile. The Israeli jets shot two missiles into a bridge in the middle of Baabda, a suburb east of Beirut where the current and several former Lebanese presidents reside. The first missile miraculously did not explode, giving my father-in-law enough time to run into the house from the balcony where he was sleeping because of the heat. Not enough time, however, before the second missile dropped and exploded, slamming a glass door into his body with shards cutting his leg and arm. Incredibly, no one was killed in the attack and the other family members were not near the front of the house when the missiles struck.

My father-in-law is a truly saintly man who wears a precious relic attached to his arm with a piece of fabric every single day. He survived fifteen years of civil war under very difficult circumstances, taking extreme personal risks to support his large family. To add to the tragedy of this strike, he had finally purchased a house for his family in Baabda, in which he had poured all his money and energy. We are of course grateful that he was not killed or injured more severely, but we bitterly feel that this war is particularly cruel in that it is again devastating the Lebanese, after they had survived so much so recently.

Needless to say, there are no Hezbollah targets within many miles of Baabda. We had assumed Israel would not strike the presidential palace area, but it seems there are no rules in this war.

My family was lucky to find a way to the north (the main highway had been bombed) and are staying in a simple cement house in their ancestral village. The area is without electricity, again thanks to Israeli bombs, but at least they can sleep through the night for the first time in ten days.