Lebanese Australians reminded of past wars as Israel attacks Lebanon again

Rahife Hamiye Taraya, 85, cries as she sits with a child in a school turned into a shelter for people displaced by Israel's attacks on Lebanon, in the West Bekaa, Lebanon, on November 7, 2024 [Yara Nardi/Reuters]

Melbourne, Australia – 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.