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Shlomo said that the children under his care are scared. Much of north of Israel is deserted he said. A 14-year-old child asked a counselor if it was OK to be scared, and when the counsellor told this 'macho kid it was OK', the boy said he was relieved because he was frightened. Some children have taken to wetting their beds.

Nicolas spoke of the bombing and the destruction from 'airplanes and bombs made in the USA'. He said that unlike children in Israel who have shelter, many children in Lebanon don't. Many people are coming from southern Lebanon.

We then spoke to Lisa Goldman, a freelance journalist, who is working with Correia dela Sera, an Italian newspaper. She just returned from a reporting trip to the north of Israel. She said that the situation is worse than she expected. She described the constant whump of missiles and explosions. Lisa wrote about it on her . She says:

If you listen carefully, you can hear the "whump" of explosions in the background. All the sirens were accompanied by falling missiles; the noise got louder when the siren stopped.

Ali Bazzi, an MP from Bint Jbiel in the south of Lebanon, told us a little about his bombing that his city has suffered. He said that the city has been destroyed by Israeli airstrikes. All areas in south Lebanon have been suffering, he said. There are some one million displaced people in Lebanon.

Rifka spoke to us from northern Israel. She is living in a school because she has had to leave her home in Qiryat Shemona. They came without clothes. They came without their belongings. They arrived smelling of smoke because of the missile strikes and fires, she said. She also said that there are a million Israeli refugees because of the war.

Ali joined us from Beirut. He had to leave the southern suburbs because of the bombardment. His family has to queue for several hours to get food. They have to walk to get anywhere. Again, he talked about the American made bombs.

Here is an e-mail that just came in from Singapore. Alex M. Mutebi wrote:

There is only one realistic solution available for the crisis in the wider Middle East. And it's not divine intervention, but a measure that already exists. The West must apply to the whole region the basic principles of UN Security Council Resolution 1559, which calls for COMPLETE withdrawal of foreign troops and the disarming of local groups.
That means U.S. and Israeli withdrawal from Iraq and Palestine as well as Lebanese and Syrian lands, as a prelude to disarming of all armed groups and freeing prisoners there.
The only means of halting the cycle of violence and terrorism in the Middle East, and paving the way toward real freedom, is to end military occupation.

Troubled times in Sri Lanka

We first spoke to Sister Leela who runs a refuge for migrants in Doora Lebanon, 25 kilometres from Beirut. There are some 90,000 Sri Lankans in Lebanon. It is the single largest foreign group believed to be in Lebanon. Now, she is working to cater to Sri Lankans trying to leave war ravaged areas. She said that many Sri Lankan workers have been abandoned by their employers who are fleeing the country.

Jean Philippe Chauzy works for the International Organisation for Migration. He said that some employers are trying to help their Sri Lankan staff, but others he said did nothing more than offering them $75 and telling them to get in touch with their embassy staff.

Priyath Liyanage, the head of the Ö÷²¥´óÐã Sinhalese service, said that Sri Lankans in Lebanon are in a very difficult posiition. Some women have called the Ö÷²¥´óÐã saying that they do not even know where they are. He said that some Sri Lankans are selling their possessions to raise the money to come and work in Lebanon, and they now have no way to return home. The Sri Lankan Minister of Labour Affairs have told many of them to try to wait out the conflict. He said:

And if they go back, there is nothing to go back to. If they were American or British, there might be someone to go back to.

Of course, Sri Lanka is between Tamil Tiger rebels and the military.

And we just got this e-mail from Woinishet:

I have started to listen about migrant workers in Lebanon – especially from Sri Lanka. I should mention to you that there are about 20,000 Ethiopian women that are house workers in Beirut and the surrounding areas. I would appreciate if you would start talking about them.

Thanks Woinishet for letting us know about that.

Cricket commentator loses job

Cricket commentator as a cricket commentator. As Ros wrote earlier, "his media work has taken a nosedive after he was allegedly heard calling South Africa batsman Hashim Amla "the terrorist" during a match against Sri Lanka."

David says that the commentator needs a little slap on the wrist not to lose his job. He thought this was a big media blow up. He was just having a bit of a joke with his co-commentator and didn't realise the mic was on.

But Hassan called and said that he is called a terrorist all the time.

Iqbal Khan called from South Africa. Jokes like that on radio or television is out of bounds, he said.

Dean Jones knows better. He was in the commentary box. He should have known better. Being a broadcaster, he knew that they were going around the world.

We got so many e-mail comments on this subject. Doug Maposa from Houston in the US wrote:

The comment was insensitive and certainly prejudiced (then again he is australian!). The right thing would be to fire Jones rather than let him resign.Humiliate him if that is the only way to impress upon this knuclehead the pain that such prejudiced commemnts cause. Would i forgive him? well, i would rather forget him, treat him with the contempt he deserves.

Rajiv, Bangalore, India sent us this e-mail:

Dean Jones is a gentleman. It is clear from the way he mingles around in the sub-continent that he has no prejudice. But he gets a bit excited now and then. It is bit harsh to sack him. But he is the type who would have sacked himself anyway. Hope this does not curtail his career as a TV commentator. It is ok Dean. We know you did not mean it. Just be careful next time.

Imtiaz in Mumbai, India had this comment:

Commentators are hired to listen to them. There should be no room for personal immature opinions on air. He should be punished by law.

Rik Selva in London called to express his upset for us taking "valuable air time" to talk about Dean Jones and cricket when so many aid workers died in Sri Lanka. What do you think?