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Lebanese lost in shuffle of exodusOne mother saves children so they can grow up 'to fight Israel'From Aneesh Raman YOUR E-MAIL ALERTSDAMASCUS, Syria (CNN) -- As nations scrambled to ferry their citizens out of Lebanon, one group of people has been all but forgotten -- the Lebanese. A scant 50 miles from the war-torn capital of Beirut, thousands of Lebanese refugees packed a stadium Wednesday in Damascus, Syria. Thousands more were on the road, fleeing their homes for points north, or east to Syria -- anywhere to escape the bombardment of what Israel says are Hezbollah strongholds dotting the landscape. On the main thoroughfare between Beirut and Damascus, 20 times the normal traffic clogged the border, officials said. Thousands were trying to cross into Syria, many with no idea where their final destination will be. Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said that dozens had been killed, scores injured and as many as a half-million Lebanese people had been displaced in the eight days of the Israeli onslaught. "Is the value of human life in Lebanon less than that of the citizens of other countries?" Siniora asked during a Wednesday speech to diplomats. "Can the international community stand by while such callous retribution by the State of Israel is inflicted on us?" He added, "Is this what the international community calls self defense? Is this the price we pay for aspiring to build our democratic institutions?" Meanwhile, the U.N. echoed Siniora's call for a cease-fire. Calling for a "cessation of hostilities," U.N. Deputy Secretary General Mark Malloch Brown said, "Civilians are very unfairly bearing the greatest brunt of this conflict in Lebanon." No one knows that better than the refugees. "They destroyed our entire city," said Samira Saysadiya, who went to the Syrian border in a bus with 10 relatives. "They are killing civilians, even those who came to help us. I pulled seven people by my hand to the hospital. People were trapped under the rubble. I saw men without heads, without legs. It was horrible." Saysadiya's 70-year-old mother flashed a bank note that represented all the money she had -- the equivalent of about 50 cents. The 11 family members carried only three bags among them. What the Saysadiyas want is an end to the violence. "Where are the Arab countries?" asked Samira Saysadiya, who said she didn't know where she and her family would spend the night. "The leaders, they are just watching us die. They are doing nothing. Nothing." Civilians in Israel are targets, too -- Hezbollah rockets have rained down on northern cities and towns daily, killing 15 civilians. While many civilians scurry to shelters when the bombs come, others take refuge with friends and family in other parts of Israel, out of the rockets' range. At the Damascus stadium, a woman named Lela comforted her young daughter, who was crying for water. They hadn't had any for hours, Lela said. But beneath Lela's uncertainty was anger -- not only at those who are refusing to help, but also at the Israelis, whose assault on her homeland forced her to flee. "I didn't escape," she said. "I came to save my children. To see them grow up and send them back to fight Israel." 
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