Lebanese Nova Scotians fear for family back home as violence escalates

When Sara hangs up the phone with her family back home in Lebanon, she worries it might be the last time she ever speaks to them. 

Sara has lived in Halifax for nearly 10 years but her family and friends are in southern Lebanon. She is among the many Lebanese Nova Scotians worried for their family's safety, and trying to cope while watching the devastation unfold from afar. 

"It's just a feeling of hopelessness, helplessness of not being able to physically do something or physically be there," said Sara. 

Sara is not the woman's real name, but she has asked that CBC News use a pseudonym because she fears her family could be targeted if she is identified. 

As of Wednesday morning, Sara's loved ones were safe. But she said that could change in an instant. 

"It's the unknown of what tomorrow, or even the next half hour, will hold," said Sara in an interview on Tuesday afternoon.

Israel launched a ground invasion on Tuesday, sending its troops into southern Lebanon targeting Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militant group. Thousands of Israelis have been displaced from their homes in northern Israel due to Hezbollah rocket attacks over the border from Lebanon over the past year. 

More than 1,000 people have been killed in Lebanon and more than 6,000 wounded as a result of Israeli attacks in the past two weeks, the Lebanese health ministry said. Officials say around one million people in Lebanon have been displaced. Sara's family is among them. 

Halifax resident Nancy Hoyeck is among the 7,200 people in Nova Scotia who are of Lebanese descent. Her family is also in Lebanon, although they are in the northern part of the country and currently far away from the fighting. Still, Hoyeck is constantly worried for their safety. 

WATCH | Nancy Hoyeck's interview with Tom Murphy:

Nova Scotians fear for safety of loved ones in Lebanon

2 months ago

Duration 5:32

Nancy Hoyeck lives in Halifax, but she has family in northern Lebanon. She is among the 7,200 people of Lebanese descent living in Nova Scotia. She tells Tom Murphy what the Lebanese community here is doing to help people in Lebanon.

"Whether or not it will affect where they live is just something I'm waking up to every morning," said Hoyeck.

She said she feels angry having to witness this while being so far away from her parents — checking on them every day and then having to go to work as if nothing is wrong. 

She wishes there was more acknowledgement here in Nova Scotia, and from the international community as a whole, about what is unfolding overseas. 

"As long as you are from a certain part of the world, as long as you have a certain religion, as long as your skin colour is different — our bodies and our death is worthless," said Hoyeck. 

Karla Maatouk is a first-generation Lebanese Canadian living in East Hants, N.S. Like Hoyeck, her family members are currently safe in northern Lebanon. 

She hasn't been able to visit Lebanon since 2016, and said she too has felt helpless watching the devastation from Nova Scotia.

"There's always that uncertainty of what's going to happen next," she said. "I feel like I can't really do much on my end except for check in." 

For Sara, checking in with her family in the south as much as possible has become a must.

She is calling for an immediate ceasefire in the region. 

"We measure our age on the number of wars that we've witnessed … and that is not OK. To say that 'This is the fate of the Middle East,' or 'This is normal in the Middle East,' is baseless. We as the people never wanted this and we have never agreed to this," said Sara. 

"All we want is our homes and our lands, and to be at peace."