B.C. residents with family in Lebanon say they are watching the escalating conflict in the Middle East with fear, as Israeli airstrikes and evacuation orders push more civilians from their homes and deepen worries that ordinary people will once again bear the cost of war.
It comes after the U.S. and Israeli attacks against Iran killed the country’s clerical ruler, Ali Khamenei, a week ago. The Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah then fired rockets and drones from Lebanon into Israel.
Israel retaliated with a wave of airstrikes across southern Lebanon and Beirut’s southern suburbs.
Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has called on the international community to help stop the attacks, saying Lebanon “did not choose this war.”
For Vancouver artist Marie Khouri, the scenes unfolding in Lebanon bring back memories of a war she fled about 50 years ago.
Khouri left the country in 1975 after civil war broke out, and she says the violence she witnessed as a teenager has stayed with her ever since.
“My father was assassinated in Lebanon … and I saw things at the age of 14, 15, that I should have never witnessed,” she said.
Khouri says her sister and brother-in-law are safe for now in Lebanon, but she is deeply worried about what comes next.
“A month ago, who would have thought that the Middle East would be in flames again like it is today?” she said. “I’m very scared.”
She said war leaves damage that lasts long after the bombing stops.
“Behind every death, there’s a father, a mother, a shattered family, there’s a loss,” she said. “It’s going to take years to reconstitute.”
As Israeli airstrikes have displaced nearly half a million people in Lebanon, a Vancouver artist who escaped the Lebanese Civil War in 1975 says her personal history of loss mirrors the current humanitarian crisis, which aid groups warn is reaching a breaking point. As the CBC’s Janella Hamilton reports, the Lebanese community in British Columbia is calling on Ottawa to provide urgent aid and extend visas for those seeking safety from the escalating conflict.
Nicholas Kahwaji, Lebanon’s honorary consul in Vancouver, said many Lebanese British Columbians are anxiously checking on relatives who are moving from place to place under repeated evacuation orders.
“The main concern is where are these families? Are they still alive? Are they able to go to a safe area?” Kahwaji added.
“You have over half a million people displaced in a few days,” he said. “The shelters are saturated. I don’t know if there’s enough food for these people.”
Kahwaji said he hopes Ottawa will push for a ceasefire, expand humanitarian help and make it easier for families to reunite in Canada.
The U.S. and Israel-Iran war has crossed into Lebanon, with airstrikes in the capital of Beirut and Israeli ground forces moving in through the south. The Israel Defence Forces are urging the evacuation of civilians in the regions, as they ramp up bombing against Hezbollah forces, the militant group and Iranian proxy based in Lebanon.
According to the federal government, a little over 24,000 Canadians in Lebanon have registered through its voluntary registration of Canadians abroad system, and more than 700 have requested help to leave.
Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand says the government is offering charter flights, block-booked commercial seats and other support across the region.
On Saturday, the Canada Border Services Agency also announced a temporary halt on removals to Lebanon and Israel due to volatile and unpredictable hostilities. The agency says the halt does not apply to individuals who are inadmissible on grounds of criminality, international or human rights violations, organized crime or security.
Iranian community hopes for a better future
In the meantime, some from the Iranian community in Vancouver continue celebrating the U.S.-Israel strike in Iran that killed the country’s long-time ruler.
“We are here to celebrate the fortunate death of Iran’s dictator, who ruled Iran with an iron fist,” said Masoud Zamani, a spokesperson for Mission for My Motherland, which has been organizing Iranian protests and rallies in the city for the last couple of months.
Thousands convened in downtown Vancouver again this weekend at a solidarity rally, showing support to the people of Iran. Crowds of Iranian Canadians gathered outside the Vancouver Art Gallery as the war in the Middle East enters its second week. Organizers thanked the international community for supporting the people of Iran.
On Saturday, nearly 2,500 people gathered outside the Vancouver Art Gallery, welcoming what Zamani says is a turning point for Iran.
The Iranian government began a crackdown on widespread protests in the country that activist groups say killed thousands.
“Iranians have endured years of trauma,” Zamani said. “We hope for a free democratic Iran, one in which principles of democracy are observed, where all individuals with different walks of life and political beliefs can co-exist peacefully.”
He says war became “a necessary evil” and thanked the U.S. and Israel for their military intervention.
“When it comes to totalitarian regimes, they can’t be toppled by any other means than war.”
But for Khouri, war has only meant suffering and displacements, the effects of which take a long time to heal.
“That’s life when you live in the Middle East,” she said.
“Many Lebanese families, Iranian families, Syrian families, Palestinian families, Jewish families … we are all wounded.”
