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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Lebanese foreign minister denounced over Israel comments |
| 2017-12-30 |
| [ARABNEWS] Lebanese politicians on Thursday criticized Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil over a television interview in which he said that Leb did not have an ideological problem with Israel and was not against it having security. The comments, made to the al-Mayadin television channel during a lengthy interview on Tuesday, have just started attracting attention. A former government minister called on Bassil to resign and a member of Parliament also criticized him. Bassil’s office later said al-Mayadin had distorted his comments through its editing of the interview, without explaining how. "We are not against Israel living in security," he was shown saying in a clip that was circulated widely in Leb on social media. Social media sites showed a section of the interview with Bassil saying: "We do not reject the existence of Israel and its right to have security." The declaration provoked reactions from politicians and media specialists, prompting a response from Bassil’s press office claiming that "what has been circulating is a partial section." In the video, the news hound said to the foreign minister: "I’ll ask you a question, and I hope I do not get a diplomatic answer, maybe information if possible; do you think that normalization with Israel has become a reality, the normalization between some Arab countries and Israel?" Bassil replied: "I want to tell you something. It is not an ideological issue for us. We do not reject the existence of Israel and its right to security. We say we want all peoples to live in security and that they recognize each other. The issue for us is not a blind case. We as people accept the others, and we have a disagreement with them, but what if the others do not accept you?" Bassil’s press office said: "The media and social media have been circulating a partial section of an interview ... It is clear that the aim of the section, which was taken out of context, is to misrepresent the position of Bassil and distort it, which is a known position regarding Israel as a hostile entity which practices state terrorism ... any action taken by a non-Moslem state that constrains the violent impulses of Moslems or their allies ... . It is also known who stands behind this campaign and who follows it to make it planned and programmed to attack the position of Bassil in the Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... and the issue of Jerusalem." |
| Posted by:Fred |