Voices from the conflict: Thursday

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

Civilians in Lebanon and Israel are being hit very hard as the conflict continues for a third week.

Here are some of their stories.

NADEEN AUDI, 23, TYRE, LEBANON

Tyre resident, Nadeen Audi

I'm with my family on the fifteenth floor of Tyre's tallest building. They could target us at any time, but what will happen, will happen. My father owns the building, so he wants to stay. He rents apartments to people, including one of the four UN workers who was killed by Israel this week, Jarno from Finland. He lived on the second floor of this block.

It's like a ghost town here.

We have a shelter in the building, but we gave it to people who escaped from villages in the south. We are more comfortable than many.

Yesterday I was sitting on the balcony when they bombed a building about a hundred metres away. I was listening to Jon Bon Jovi on my Walkman when the blast threw me off my chair.

It was a residential building. We don't know why they hit it.


I support Hezbollah now

My mother is freaked out all the time. When it starts she goes and sits on the stairs on the first floor.

The doorman buys our bread for us. We have enough food for two months; it fills four fridges. We have two, and the other fridges are in apartments on other floors. The tenants gave my father permission when they left.

I support Hezbollah now. Before, I didn't know much about them except that they made Israel withdraw in 2000 and that I was glad about it.

Hezbollah are just defending their land. Israel is the terrorist, it's killing children.

<snip>

And a story from an Israeli and others here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5221512.stm

BBC has a series of stories trying to touch all sides. It's worth your time if you would like to try and understand the citizen's plights on both sides of the border.

Peace.