Touch one, touch all, Israel

Israel jeopardised an evacuation by refusing to extend a deadline. A deadline on what? Bombing anywhere near a port that's teeming with civilians?

Citizens have a right to expect better of their government. Australia not only can't pull it's finger out and organise an effective evacuation, 'we' are supporting the people who are threatening to murder our civilians.

It's a national disgrace.

And their stories are both heartbreaking and telling. Stories of families wiped out when small villages are shelled into ruin. This is a war on civilians, they are the overwhelming victims.

This is the representative of a Quisling government:

There's a curfew, the Israelis wouldn't extend the curfew. Some Australians, I think it was actually in the end about 45, got onto the Greek ship, but many didn't...

So why don't you tell them to damn well lift their curfew, Alex? Why don't you tell them that if they kill an Aussie by recklessly bombing ports where our civilians are waiting to be evacuated that will consitute an Act of War and lead to indefinite suspension of all diplomatic relations with Israel?

One brave Aussie dad can't wait for his collaborator Government to get it's act together:

TOM IGGULDEN: But one Sydney father isn't waiting for anyone else's help. Rami Abdallah's wife and 15-month-old daughter are holed up in the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon's south, a Hezbollah stronghold and target of Israeli bombing.

RAMI ABDALLAH, FATHER: Last call was yesterday and there was a bit of bombing going on around that area where they are. I don't know if words can describe how they're feeling. It's like - in one conversation, I feel like my heart's about to stop. So, you know, you got a young wife, a young baby, who, you know, are just very vulnerableat the moment.

TOM IGGULDEN: Tonight, he's winging his way to the Middle East on a one-man rescue mission.

RAMI ABDALLAH: Get in and grab them and get out as soon as possible. I hope to be able to get a taxi driver that will get me in, stay, come back with me.

TOM IGGULDEN: If the plan sounds desperate, it's because the Sydney real estate agent says he's got no alternative. He doesn't trust government assurances that staying indoors will keep his family safe. RAMI ABDALLAH: I understand that the Foreign Minister - 'Downer', is that right? - has had some issues in getting, you know, access, and ceasefire or whatever it may be. That's not my problem at the moment, honestly. That's their problem. They've got to deal with that. They've got 25, 35,000 people that they gotta contend with. My job is to get my family out.

My job is to get my family out. What a legend.

As conservatives increasingly question the slaughter, Greg Sheridan has struck a clean path away from his editor and the Howard government:

Lebanese Australians have made a magnificent contribution to this country, from Victorian Premier Steve Bracks to NSW Governor Marie Bashir.
...
The most promising Arab democracy of all was Lebanon. The world hailed the Cedar Revolution last year when hundreds of thousands of Lebanese bravely took to the streets to demand the departure of Syrian troops and a democratic future. Now Lebanon has been thrown into chaos, turmoil and suffering with so much of its infrastructure destroyed.
...
The return address on Hezbollah's rockets is postmarked Damascus and Tehran, not Beirut. Heavy strikes against Hezbollah missile sites are warranted, but Israel cannot run Lebanon as it runs the West Bank.
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An Israeli strike against Syria's armed forces would have shown Assad he had to pay a price for Hezbollah's activities. Striking Lebanon, which is weak and cannot fight back, causes Assad, and the rulers in Tehran, no pain at all.

I agree. And will the Lebanese view things the same way, that the return address on Israeli rockets is postmarked Tel Aviv and Washington?