Lebanese Australians reminded of past wars as Israel attacks Lebanon again

Israel’s devastating bombing of Lebanon has reverberated around the world, reaching as far as the suburbs of Sydney and Melbourne.

In Sydney’s Bankstown neighbourhood and Coburg in Melbourne, where Australia’s vibrant Lebanese community is visible in the local shops, restaurants and places of worship, Israel’s latest war on Lebanon has ignited a new wave of trauma.

“I think 99 percent of the Lebanese in Australia still have family in Lebanon,” Michael Kheirallah, founder and chairman of the Victorian Lebanese Community Council, told Al Jazeera.

“That’s why the community are watching the news almost 24 hours,” he said.

“Some of them mentioned to me that they haven’t had sleep for almost two nights, especially when the bombing started happening in Beirut.”Kheirallah said the images being transmitted from Lebanon by both news and social media were traumatising, as many community members had experienced civil war in their home country and the violence of previous Israeli invasions.