Hezbollah Death toll vs. Lebanese Children Death Toll (Please Read)

The Bangkok Post reports that after Monday's fighting, "Hezbollah, the Lebanon-based Shiite militant group in back-and- forth strikes with Israel, announced the death of one of its fighters, bringing its losses to FOUR." As it stands for the rest of the population, the Toronto Star cites American-backed Lebanese Prime Minister as explaining that "300 people have been killed, [and a] 1,000 have been wounded." While the U.N. informs the BBC that "nearly a third of the dead or wounded are children and the wounded could not be helped because roads and bridges had been cut by Israeli air strikes." The L.A. Times reports that refugees (estimated by the U.N. to be at 500,000) "have flooded Beirut [and] are struggling to find food, water and medicine. They sleep chockablock in city parks, abandoned basements and sweltering schools in the capital." Even with this unimaginable amount of suffering, the Irish Times writes that "at the UN in New York, French proposals for a Security Council resolution urging a ceasefire met with opposition from the US ambassador, John Bolton." Domestically, the Jewish News Week writes that "heavy lobbying by pro-Israel groups" has helped pass a bill in the Senate (with one forthcoming in House) stating America's support for Israel, and "Israel's right to defend itself." While there were some democrats who asked that language encouraging a cease-fire be included, the bill, without aforementioned language, is expected to pass with an overwhelming majority!

Where are our leaders?

• Contact your representatives and stress the humanitarian crisis, leaving the politics aside. You'll likely get a hollow response (like I did from Barbara Boxer), but it's only when enough people speak out that the pro-war lobbies will face a harder time pushing through their agenda.
  
  

• To demand an end to the blanket demolition of Lebanon in no way means that one does not feel terrible sadness for the 2 Israeli children that were killed today. Rather, the sheer scale of suffering imposed on the whole of the civilian population in Lebanon has reached such outrageous porportions that it is beyond immoral for our leaders to sit quietly, much less countenance Israel's actions.