Siniora: No peace deal with Israel

[Scurrilous]

Lebanese PM says his government is holding no direct talks with Israel, vows Lebanon would be last country to sign peace deal with Jewish State; Olmert said earlier ceasefire is cornerstone for peace

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3297677,00.html

<snip>

"Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora said Wednesday that he refused to have any direct contact with Israel and Lebanon would be the last Arab country to ever sign a peace deal with the Jewish state.

"Let it be clear, we are not seeking any agreement until there is just and comprehensive peace based on the Arab initiative," he said.

He was referring to a plan that came out of a 2002 Arab League summit in Beirut. It calls for Israel to return all territories it conquered in the 1967 Mideast war, the establishment of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital and a solution to the Palestinian refugee problem - all in exchange for peace and full normalization of Arab relations with Israel.

Israel has long sought a peace deal with Lebanon, but Beirut has hesitated as long as Israel's conflicts with the Palestinians and Syria remained unresolved."

[PCIntern]

1. What a progressive...

Somebody tell these people that you have to make peace with your enemies, not your friends.

[tocqueville]

4. David Ben Gurion would have agreed with him

"If I were an Arab leader, I would never sign an agreement with Israel. It is normal; we have taken their country. It is true God promised it to us, but how could that interest them? Our God is not theirs. There has been Anti-Semitism, the Nazis, Hitler, Auschwitz, but was that their fault? They see but one thing: we have come and we have stolen their country. Why would they accept that?" -David Ben Gurion, Prime Minister of Israel 1948-1963.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Ben-Gurion

[The Stranger]

5. Israel obliterated peace with its only friend by bombing Lebanon and

murdering 1000 of its innocent civilians, bombing oil depots, bridges, apartment buildings, fleeing civilian convoys, the press, and the UN.

These actions were disastrous for Israel, and the Israelis know it. The Lebanese response is proof of this.

[moondust]

2. It might upset his Hezbollah/Iranian/Syrian puppeteers.

Which could lead to the same sort of bad luck that found Rafik Hariri. :scared:

Living among terrorists can be tricky.

[hogwyld]

3. Oh puleeeez!

Hezbollah defended Lebanon with their lives against an illegal, immoral offensive. Hezbollah is the reason israel didn't annex, and build settlements in southern Lebanon in the 1980's, and why they got their butt kicked again.

[Zynx]

10. There has never been any evidence Israel had any desire to annex

Lebanon. That is anti-Israeli propaganda.

[PCIntern]

12. Oh puleeez yourself...

Sneering is not an argument.

And you're, quite simply, wrong.

[cali]

15. I find this

simplistic Israel/evil, H'zbollah/noble meme, most amusing. How knee jerk do you have to be to write something like your post? Things are just a wee bit more complex than your brain seems to be able to entertain.

[The Stranger]

7. Bullshit -- he just had 1000 of his innocent civilians murdered by Israel.

That isn't something that is easy to get over. And the infrastructure of his country was obliterated. The fragile political coalition that was in place in Lebanon is gravely threatened.

And Israel has done more to strengthen Hezbollah than anyone would have imagined possible. Now Hezbollah is leading the effort to rebuild, and getting stronger than before Israel's disastrous attacks.

[PCIntern]

13. Funny...

that's how the Israelis feel about all THEIR innocent civilians. So I guess raining rockets down on folks is not the best idea....your citizenry pays for stupid mistakes.

[saigon68]

6. This belongs in the I/P Forum

[The Stranger]

8. Does everything with "Israel" in it have to be segregated to another forum

This is about Lebanon, its prime minister and relates to world, as well as regional, politics. The Palestinian connection is corollary.

[ckramer]

9. "Shock and awe" is fun --- shouted the Olmert fool

Of course he didn't actually shout that.

[Yupster]

11. I don't understand?

Are Lebanon and Israel officially at war? Maybe since 1967? I didn't know they ever were at war?

[geek tragedy]

14. Have they ever NOT been at war?

Lebanon is the region's punching bag, which is why one wouldn't know that they're at war. Hell, they can't even take on a minority party in their own government!

[Igel]

16. 1948. Armistice in 1949.

Siniora keeps referring to it. I don't know if there was much action there, or if there was any fighting in the '56 war ('56?). Lebanon was too prosperous in '67 and '73 to bother with posing a threat; they got on with their lives.

[Name removed]

17. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[saigon68]

18. Au Revoir Enjoy your very short stay