Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon have created a carnage, according to the country's health minister.

The death toll is now soaring.

Many of the dead are children and their mothers.

One week ago, Israel turned thousands of people in Lebanon into human bombs by inserting explosives into their communication devices.

We look now as the war against Lebanon expands and U.S. sends thousands more U.S. troops to reinforce the Israeli war machine.

We need a new system. We need a new society. We need to demand that which may have

sounded impossible even a few weeks ago, but is not only realizable, but an imperative necessity.

Thank you. Welcome to the Socialist Program. I'm your host, Brian Becker.

Today we're talking with Gotti Francis. She is a Lebanese writer, a war correspondent, and a host of the TV show, The West Asia Post.

Gotti, welcome to the show. Thank you for having me. Well, thank you for joining.

We have a lot to talk about. We want to talk about the current war. What's going on where you are?

You're in Beirut. You're in Lebanon. The prospects of a wider regional war. We want to talk with you about who is Hezbollah, because of course,

in the U.S. media where, sadly, most Americans get their information, Hezbollah is a completely

demonized entity. The U.S. describes it as a terrorist entity. We also want to talk about the

history of U.S. and Israeli aggression against Lebanon. This is not

obviously the first time. And the other thing we want to talk with you about is the enduring

impact or factor of colonialism that has haunted Lebanon and the people in the Arab world

and all the other peoples in the Middle East.

So there's a great deal to talk about.

But let's get started.

This morning, Gotti, there's images on the front page of the New York Times of Israeli bulldozers going mile after mile after mile,

knocking down homes and businesses in the West Bank. The same front page

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