I have put it off long enough. It’s finally time for a news round up.

The big story today was the Israeli army’s bombing of Qana in southern Lebanon. 60 civilians were said to have died. The Israeli army bombed a large building which it claims Hizbullah was using to fire hundreds of rockets into the Israeli towns of Kiryat Shmona and Afula. Hizbullah probably based itself in the town for symbolic reasons. In 1996, Israel had to abort an operation against Hizbullah after 100 Lebanese refugees were killed by artillery shells. Maybe Hizbullah thought Israel would not strike a village it had already received enough flack for hitting a decade ago. In response to the bombing of Qana (you’ve probably already seen the footage), Lebanese protestors attacked a UN building in Beirut this morning. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is in town trying to help the Israeli government come to solution and media outlets keep reporting over and over that she has cancelled her trip to Beirut because of the Qana bombings. Don’t worry, I’ll let everyone know of any Condi sightings in Jerusalem.

Ceasefire is the big buzzword lately. Rice was “deeply saddened” by today’s bombings and civilian losses, but she did not call for an immediate ceasefire. Instead she called for one “as soon as possible.” With this war, the trouble is that a ceasefire does not really mean the end of anything. A ceasefire would only accomplish a temporary stoppage of deadly bombings and rocket launchings until the next big flare up. Of course, for humanitarian reasons, a ceasefire is necessary. But then again, the last thing Israel wants is for Hizbullah to have a break so they can regroup. Israel wants to take as much time as it can to destroy Hizbullah so it won’t have to this start this all over again in the near future.

A columnist in an Israeli newspaper said something that seemed to make a lot of sense to me. He complained of all the photo-ops that politicians and reporters take in the bombed out streets of Beirut. From their perspective, there are no weapons, rocket launchers or Hizbullah in site—just senseless destruction. What the people should be looking at, the columnist wrote, is the “concrete slabs with air holes below their feet that protect the Hizbullah command centers.” Being part of the working media for this brief period has made me realize that there will always be something to criticize the media about, and usually for good reason. It’s so hard to be able to show every angle, left and right, up and down, but I am happy to have been part of an organization that tries to elevate coverage of the Middle East.

I spent most of this Sunday working on a background article about the different religious groups in Lebanon. All the international headlines are so concerned with the “Lebanese.” But who are these Lebanese? There’s Sunnis, Shi’ites, Christians, Druze and tons of other smaller groups. Lebanon is a very splintered society and has almost always experienced sectarian strife throughout its history. I had prepared a list of questions for an academic and a few minutes ago I was all pumped and ready to make the big phone call. Then I realized that it’s still Sunday. No one’s going to want to talk to this Media Line intern on a Sunday in America or Europe (even if I am a great conversationalist).

In less Media Line related news, when I was trying to hail a cab today on a Jerusalem street corner, a man walked up to me and asked me in Hebrew if I was waiting for a cab. When I answered the affirmative, he told me to be careful and make sure I don’t get an Arab taxi driver. Everyday, I see how Israel is a splintered place. Two distinct societies living under one roof can be a battleground sometimes. And I thought Francophones and Anglophones in Quebec had their troubles.

Last night though, I thought I had an Arab taxi driver because he was speaking a dialect of Hebrew with (what I thought was) an Arabic accent. I found out later he was probably a Jewish Israeli from a Middle Eastern country. This young guy, dressed in a form fitting t-shirt that said “surfing Malibu” was telling me about how when he was in the army, he was in Lebanon and he knows what “bad things” are going on there. Only a few years out of the army, he’s now on call, ready to be called up whenever the army wants him. He has his bag packed, he says, and he’s worried about what lies ahead.

Prior to getting into this guy’s cab, I was in another taxi briefly. I had to get out because the taxi driver informed me he had just driven down from Haifa (fleeing the rockets) and did not know Jerusalem that well. Unless I could direct him to exactly where I was going, he would be useless he said. I felt bad for him but the truth is, even my sense of direction at home is pretty poor, so it was either get out, or get lost.

In Hebrew, the word for a suicide bomb attack or a shooting is a “piguah.” The shooting in Seattle sounds like something that is supposed to take place in Israel and not in North America and I’m alarmed to hear that this kind of despicable activity is getting closer to home.

By the way, this time next week, I’m supposed to be home already. I have failed to mention in previous posts that my internship is coming to an end, probably because I was in denial. My last day of work is on Thursday. I will try to report to you until then. This intern, unfortunately, won’t be reporting from the Middle East for much longer.