Excerpt:
we want a lasting solution, especially now that Israel has attacked our country for the seventh time in three decades. The current offensive is the worst of them all in terms of civilian casualties and economic damage. Lebanon has now been torn to pieces.
SPIEGEL: Who should pay for the damage, fellow Arab countries?
Siniora: Israel must pay, because it is currently depriving Lebanon of its ability to survive. Israel continues to occupy part of our country and has even held onto the maps that show where the minefields are located. I have held Israel responsible for this from the very beginning
And
Shalev: The cause of the war was a just one, but the conduct has not been. And by this I do not just mean the tragedy of Qana, but also what already happened in the first days: Attacking Beirut like this, killing civilians in Lebanon. From the very first day we should have limited ourselves to attacks against the Hezbollah strongholds along the Israeli-Lebanese border.
Especially the interview with Meir Shalev is interesting. Click on the excerpts for the full interview.
two very interesting interviews. i really find myself tied into knots over all of this. on one hand, i understand why hizbollah is doing what they're doing, but i disagree w/ them. any saction that preaches "death to america"... well, it bothers me. i've also seen signs they had up along the israeli border (before the war) and it's a bit disturbing. also, being an american over here, and married to an arab, i see things differently. sometimes it's a lonely feeling. we were out yesterday and ran into a huge group of ppl supporting hizbollah getting ready to protest. i understand these ppl protecting their country and trying to save thir ppl, but there's something about them that gets under my skin.
ReplyDeletebut... these two interviews have some interesting dialogue.
I can appreciate your mixed feelings Tooners. If you want people in the US to listen to your position, protesting shouting 'death to America' doesn't really help! Plus, there are many many American Muslims so a little pr sophistication would really help them. Anyway Tooners, there are people who blindly protest against whatever it is and who are not taking into account the different variables/people in the equation, this issue is no different than the extreme left protests against blank or extreme right against blank it is interesting hearing it from your point of view though, share more if you would!
ReplyDeleteIngrid