My name is Vahideh Hosseini. I am from Lismore. On 9 October my husband, our children, and I landed in Tel Aviv. We had planned this trip for well over a year. Upon our arrival, we found out that the country was at war. We had booked our stay in Haifa as we are Bahá’ís and most Baha’i holy places are in Akko and Haifa. We immediately planned to return to Australia. We booked five different flights, but every time we went all the way to Tel Aviv airport, while waiting in the queue to check in, we were informed that our flights had been cancelled. We were getting desperate as we had already experienced ‘red alert’ sirens and were running to shelter for protection.
Fortunately, the Australian government, with the support of Qantas, came to our rescue. It was such a relief when we arrived at the airport on Saturday 14 October to know that our flights were not cancelled. After London, we were flown to Dubai and then back to Sydney.
Coming back to Lismore is a big relief, but sad for thousands that have lost their lives and thousands that have lost their loved ones.
There are many stories to share, such as that of an Israeli soldier sitting next to us who was called back from his holiday, and of families who were meeting other family members to hear the sad news that a loved one had either been kidnapped or died.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
