29/9/2006
Tackle root causes of Middle East violence, says Lebanese Prime Minister

Fouad Siniora told MEPs this week that it was time to tackle the root causes of the conflicts in the Middle East, rather than just the symptoms. Europe had a unique role to play in finding a lasting peace, he said. Speaking to a special open meeting of the Conference of Presidents, the Lebanese Prime Minister gave his account of the causes, conduct and consequences of this summer's war, which led to a lively debate with Members both offering support and challenging his views.

Welcoming the Lebanese leader to Parliament, President Josep Borrell said MEPs were keen to hear about what happened over summer and what may happen in future including presence of European troops in peace keeping force. He noted that Parliament had played a role, being one of the first bodies to call for a cease fire, and for a peace keeping force with strong European component. He spoke of the attacks on civilians by both sides in the conflict, something which he said happened too often in the Middle East.
 
Mr Siniora said that on 12 July, "fulfilling its threat to set Lebanon back twenty years, Israel started the latest of its invasions of our country, killing over 1100 civilians, a third of whom were children; wounding over 4000; displacing one million people, or a quarter of our population, many with no homes to return to; destroying thousands of homes, and many hospitals, schools, factories, roads and most of our bridges; severely damaging airports, power stations, fuel depots, and warehouses; enforcing a cruel siege on the entire country thereby creating shortages of fuel, medical supplies, and hampering essential humanitarian relief supplies;  burdening future generations with more pain, suffering and debt; and  causing a serious environmental disaster in the eastern Mediterranean. In all of this, Israel has persistently and wilfully violated international law and international humanitarian law, including the Geneva Conventions.  In short, ladies and gentlemen, Lebanon, which a few months ago was full of hope and promise, has been turned into a place of destruction, displacement, dispossession, desolation, and death.
 
"There are those who would have us believe that a border incident, and by that I mean the abduction by Hezbollah of two Israeli soldiers from behind the Blue Line, was the cause of all this. The Lebanese government has made it clear from the outset that it had no prior knowledge of, and actually, disavowed such actions. Nevertheless, the state of Israel wasted no time in launching a massive and disproportionate response against Lebanon and the Lebanese people. It was the same state of Israel that gives itself the right to abduct Lebanese civilians, and detain, they say, not soldiers, but elected members of the Palestinian parliament, including the speaker, as well as ministers in the Palestinian government. Unfortunately, we have heard only timid objection by the international community to those actions, officially sanctioned by the Israeli government, compared to the abduction of the two Israeli soldiers which the Lebanese government has clearly and immediately disavowed."
 
Israel's "systematic campaign of destruction"
 
The Lebanese Prime Minister spoke of Israel carrying out a "systematic campaign of destruction of Lebanon." He stressed that while Lebanon had acted immediately to comply with the UN resolution, Israel had still not completed its withdrawal from Lebanon.  He spoke of the thousands of bomblets left after cluster bombing, which would "continue to maim and kill unsuspecting civilians for many years."
 
"In order for the current cessation of hostilities to be sustained, Israel must withdraw without any further delay from the positions it still occupies within Lebanon and must stop its violations of Lebanese territory. There also  need to be concrete steps toward putting an end to the Israeli occupation of the Shebaa Farms, as an important element in establishing security along our southern border and in restoring the Armistice agreement between Lebanon and Israel, until such time that the Arab countries and Israel are able to reach a just and comprehensive peace settlement."  He suggested the Shabaa Farms could be put into UN custody as an interim arrangement.
 
"The direct damage from this last invasion is now running into the billions of dollars, while the long term direct and indirect costs to the economy, including lost revenues in tourism, agriculture and industry are expected to be billions more. Where we were anticipating a growth rate of around 6% this year, we are now on the verge of a deep recession with tens of thousands of jobs having been lost and with all the consequences that entails; where we had a future full of promise, we must now pick up the pieces of our devastated country."
 
"Military solutions are morally unacceptable"
 
Looking to the future, he said, "Military solutions are morally unacceptable. They are not real solutions, as recent events in Lebanon and Iraq have demonstrated. Partial and unilateral initiatives have all but failed. It is time for the international community to seek with determination a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East. The last meeting of the Security Council held on the margin of the UN General Assembly does not meet our expectations and remains short of addressing the magnitude and core issues of the problem in the Middle East. A comprehensive political solution can only be implemented when Israel recognizes the right of the people of Palestine to a viable and independent state, and the right of return of refugees, pursuant to relevant UN resolutions, and withdraws from all the Arab lands it occupies in Lebanon, Gaza, Jerusalem, the West Bank and in the Syrian Golan Heights in accordance with Resolution 242. The Arab countries have, together, offered a hand of peace, a just, comprehensive peace, through the initiative of, then Crown Prince, Abdallah at the 2002 Arab Summit in Beirut. Unfortunately, Israel is yet to respond to this initiative."
 
Europe had a responsibility and an interest in seeing the region become more democratic and prosperous.  Stereotyping Muslims as inherently violent, irrational and hostile to the West would only feed the sense of hostility and anger. "This, in turn, provides fertile ground for extremist and violent minds to engage – in the name of religion – in activities against innocent people that contradict the very basic tenets of all religions."
 
"I assure you that the vast majority of Muslims around the world do not want to be separated or isolated from the rest of the world. The vast majority of Muslims reject violence. They do not want to intimidate or be intimidated. The Noble Koran teaches unequivocally that killing an innocent human being is tantamount to killing all mankind. It is a crime against humanity."
 
Europe's "unique role"
 
"The wider region, from Afghanistan to Iraq, Sudan, Palestine and Lebanon is ablaze with conflicts and saturated with armies. Hundreds die needlessly every day. The region has been - and remains - an example of instability. Europe can play a unique role in this volatile and strategic part of the world and we look forward to seeing this role strengthened, aware that this commitment to universal values and the right to peace and prosperity are at the heart of the European approach to world problems. In addition, none can ignore the fact that those escaping oppression, desperation, and poverty usually end up at your doorsteps, bringing with them a multitude of problems. If global security is indivisible, so is the security of our shared neighbourhood."
 
He spoke of the need to address all the issues of the region, and also to  "build bridges of mutual respect and understanding across cultures and religions," which would help in  "the harnessing of the enormous potential of our peoples for the mutual benefit of our interdependent societies."
 
"I know that many of you, and many of your leaders, are aware of the need to step back and take new and bold initiatives that help address our region's issues at their roots.  I have spoken to many of them about this in recent months. I believe the time has come for concrete steps to be taken, and we are ready to work together towards those shared goals."
 
Mr Siniora thanked European countries for their engagement in the region, whether through political support, troops serving in UNIFIL or financial backing.  
 
Political group leaders react
 
Regretting the "tragic events" which had affected Lebanon, Hans-Gert Poettering (DE) underlined his group's support for Mr Siniora's efforts to create a sovereign Lebanon, a state, as he put it, independent of external influence. In working to achieve this aim, he told the Lebanese leader, "you face a tricky and dangerous task". The EPP-ED leader, alluding to the role of Hezbollah in Lebanese public affairs, expressed his "concern that in Lebanon you have something like a state within a state". Hezbollah's existence alongside the legitimate Lebanese army, he said, is "unacceptable". Taking note of Mr Siniora's references to Israeli disregard for UN resolutions, he added that it is not only these resolutions which must be respected, but all of them -- including those calling for the disarmament of Hezbollah. "Israel does have a clear right within secure borders", he affirmed. "We can never support any attack on the integrity of Israel". Peace, he added, involves efforts on both sides.
 
"We are all looking for peace", said Martin Shulz (DE), leader of the Socialist group. The way to secure it, he argued, and to secure the territorial integrity of Lebanon, is by way of multilateralism. "A great power," he noted, alluding to US policy in the Middle East, "has tried to be active in the region [...] on the basis of unilateralism". The result of such engagement, he said, has been "a spectacular failure". Finding reconciliation often comes at the end of great destruction, said Mr Shulz: "we must not allow this to recur". He then proposed the launch of a regional conference for the Middle East along the model of the Conference for Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) -- this, as a way of bringing regional players into a comprehensive peace agreement.
 
"The legacy of war will be with you for some time to come", pronounced Graham Watson (ALDE, UK), citing, among other things, the existence of unexploded munitions and cluster bombs on Lebanese territory. Having expressed his sympathy with the plight of Lebanese civilians, Mr Watson -- addressing the Lebanese prime minister -- nonetheless argued that "few of us see the conflict in the way you have presented it today". Israel, he said, is "regularly attacked, as it was this summer, by Hezbollah [...]; its people are regularly abused in the press across the Arab world; it is threatened with obliteration by a head of government". Last month, added the ALDE leader, "Hezbollah said it would not disarm [...] even if Israel pulled out [from the Shebaa farms]". Echoing Mr Schulz, he emphasized the need of a regional security conference, accompanied by the launch of a Euro-Mediterranean development bank and a heightened role for the Euromed Assembly. An international force, he warned, is only "a sticking-plaster remedy" for the region.
 
Although we condemned the way Israel fought the war in Lebanon, and although there can be "no doubt" about the EP's solidarity with you -- Daniel Cohn Bendit (Greens/EFA, DE) told Mr Siniora -- "you were a little unilateral in your speech". As he put it, "we are ready to defend a sovereign Lebanese state"; such a state, however, cannot accept an armed force, such as Hezbollah, which acts independently of it. "Truth, reality is a difficult, complex thing," he added, which is why we need statesmen who can "overcome the discourse" that is expected of them. "I ask that you, as a great statesman, recognise the state of Israel", he said.
 
"We salute your wisdom and your courage", Francis Wurtz (FR), leader of the GUE/NGL group, told Mr Siniora, applauding the prime minister's efforts to produce a "material, political social reconstruction of [his] country". "How can Europe best help Lebanon politically at this point in time?" asked Mr Wurtz. "We must concentrate on the cornerstone of all policies, in this region as in all others: the respect for international law, which is the same for all people and for all nations". We must move away, he added, "from the strategy of George W. Bush, whose war on terrorism [...] may end up as a war on civilisation."
 
"Many things were left unsaid", said Cristiana Muscardini (UEN, IT), commenting on Mr Siniora's discourse, citing the need for diplomatic solutions to the Iranian nuclear program; the Iranian president's comments on eradication of Israel; and the situation in Somalia. "If you want peace," she argued, "it is impossible to have a unilateral peace".
 
Bastiaan Belder (IND/DEM, NL) cited press outlets, which, he said, reported that armed groups other than Hezbollah were implanted in Southern Lebanon -- which, as he put it, "lays the basis for new confrontations within [the country]". Is it true, he asked Mr Siniora, that groups like Fatah "still have bases in Lebanon"?
 
Gianni De Michelis (IT), a non-attached MEP, said we needed to ask what kind of political and diplomatic initiative was now needed. He wanted genuine multilateralism, "transcending the logic of the Quartet," and commended the model of the Helsinki process during the Cold War.
 
Siniora's response to debate
 
Responding to the debate, Mr Siniora said that during the past decades, most of the attempts made to deal with incidents, events or problems concentrated on symptoms not core causes of problem.  That is why the problems stayed and deteriorated and "went in unexpected proportions."
 
He said the right way was to deal with root causes. "Once this is handled properly, we can direct attention to rebuilding societies and economies in the right manner. The Arab and Muslim world is at a crossroads. It can move to real problem solving and real peace recognising all states including Israel and helping all moderates against the cause of extremists [...] Or there is the other direction of further desperation and fanaticism. Desperate people often commit desperate acts"
 
He said he believed strongly that there could not be a state within a state: "We have to do our part of the duty but Lebanon must be helped. We must go on, through negotiation and dialogue with all groups including Hezbollah. All groups represented in government including Hezbollah have endorsed a seven point plan that states clearly that weapons are only for the state.  Lebanon must be helped to make that important step. This is the key to take us to where state can prevail over all our territories. Some real effort is needed on the Shebaa farms.  We need to trigger this important step to take us to where state has monopoly of forces all over Lebanon. It would be a step to real peace in region, and recognition of all, including for the state of Israel, and its continuation and  prosperity."