[LCM Articles] [Leb4ever] "End This Tragedy Now" by Fouad Siniora (Washington Post)

[Loai Naamani]

End This Tragedy Now
Israel Must Be Made to Respect International Law

By Fouad Siniora
Wednesday, August 9, 2006; A17

BEIRUT

A military solution to Israel's savage war on Lebanon and the Lebanese
people is both morally unacceptable and totally unrealistic. We in Lebanon
call upon the international community and citizens everywhere to support my
country's sovereignty and end this folly now. We also insist that Israel be
made to respect international humanitarian law, including the provisions of
the Geneva Conventions, which it has repeatedly and willfully violated.

As the world watches, Israel has besieged and ravaged our country, created a
humanitarian and environmental disaster, and shattered our infrastructure
and economy, putting an intolerable strain on our social and economic
systems. Fuel, food and medical equipment are in short supply; homes,
factories and warehouses have been destroyed; roads severed, bridges smashed
and airports disabled.

The damage to infrastructure alone is running into the billions of dollars,
as are the losses to owners of private property, and the long-term direct
and indirect costs due to lost revenue in tourism, agriculture and
industrial sectors are expected to be many more billions. Lebanon's
well-known achievements in 15 years of postwar development have been wiped
out in a matter of days by Israel's deadly military might.

For all this carnage and death, and on behalf of all Lebanese, we demand an
international inquiry into Israel's criminal actions in Lebanon and insist
that Israel pay compensation for its wanton destruction.

Israel seems to think that its attacks will sow discord among the Lebanese.
This will never happen. Israel should know that the Lebanese people will
remain steadfast and united in the face of this latest Israeli aggression --
its seventh invasion -- just as they were during nearly two decades of
brutal occupation. The people's will to resist grows ever stronger with each
village demolished and each massacre committed.

On July 25, at the international conference for Lebanon in Rome, I proposed
a comprehensive seven-point plan to end the war. It was well received by the
conference and got the unanimous and full backing of the Lebanese Council of
Ministers, in which Hezbollah is represented, as well as of the speaker of
parliament and a majority of parliamentary blocs. Representatives of diverse
segments of Lebanese civil society have come out strongly in favor, as has
the Islamic-Christian Summit, representing all the religious confessions,
ensuring a broad national consensus and preserving our delicate social
equilibrium.

The plan, which also received the full support of the 56 member states of
the Organization of the Islamic Conference, included an immediate,
unconditional and comprehensive cease-fire and called for:

. The release of Lebanese and Israeli prisoners and detainees through the
International Committee of the Red Cross.

. The withdrawal of the Israeli army behind the "blue line."

. A commitment from the U.N. Security Council to place the Shebaa Farms and
Kfar Shouba Hills areas under U.N. jurisdiction until border delineation and
Lebanese sovereignty over them are fully settled. Further, Israel must
surrender all maps of remaining land mines in southern Lebanon to the United
Nations.

. Extension of the Lebanese government's authority over its territory
through its legitimate armed forces, with no weapons or authority other than
that of the Lebanese state, as stipulated in the Taif accord. We have
indicated that the Lebanese armed forces are ready and able to deploy in
southern Lebanon, alongside the U.N. forces there, the moment Israel pulls
back to the international border.

. The supplementing of the U.N. international force operating in southern
Lebanon and its enhancement in numbers, equipment, mandate and scope of
operation, as needed, to undertake urgent humanitarian and relief work and
guarantee stability and security in the south so that those who fled their
homes can return.

. Action by the United Nations on the necessary measures to once again put
into effect the 1949 armistice agreement signed by Lebanon and Israel and to
ensure adherence to its provisions, as well as to explore possible
amendments to or development of those provisions as necessary.

. The commitment of the international community to support Lebanon on all
levels, including relief, reconstruction and development needs.

As part of this comprehensive plan, and empowered by strong domestic
political support and the unanimous backing of the cabinet, the Lebanese
government decided to deploy the Lebanese armed forces in southern Lebanon
as the sole domestic military force in the area, alongside U.N. forces
there, the moment Israel pulls back to the international border.

Israel responded by slaughtering more civilians in the biblical town of
Qana. Such horrible scenes have been repeated daily for nearly four weeks
and continue even as I write these words.

The resolution to this war must respect international law and U.N.
resolutions, not just those selected by Israel, a state that deserves its
reputation as a pariah because of its consistent disdain for and rejection
of international law and the wishes of the international community for over
half a century.

Lebanon calls, once again, on the United Nations to bring about an immediate
cease-fire to relieve the beleaguered people of Lebanon. Only then can the
root causes of this war -- Israeli occupation of Lebanese territories and
its perennial threat to Lebanon's security, as well as Lebanon's struggle to
regain full sovereignty over all its territory -- be addressed.

I believe that a political resolution rooted in international law and based
on these seven points will lead to long-term stability. If Israel would
realize that the peoples of the Middle East cannot be cowed into submission,
that they aspire only to live in freedom and dignity, it could also be a
stepping stone to a final solution of the wider Arab-Israeli conflict, which
has plagued our region for 60 years.

The 2002 Arab summit in Beirut, which called for a just, comprehensive and
lasting peace based on the principle of land for peace, showed the way
forward. A political solution cannot, however, be implemented as long as
Israel continues to occupy Arab land in Lebanon, Gaza, the West Bank and the
Syrian Golan Heights and as long as it wages war on innocent people in
Lebanon and Palestine. As Jawaharlal Nehru said, "the only alternative to
coexistence is co-destruction."

Enough destruction, dispossession, desperation, displacement and death!
Lebanon must be allowed to reclaim its position in this troubled region as a
beacon of freedom and democracy where justice and the rule of law prevail,
and as a refuge for the oppressed where moderation, tolerance and
enlightenment triumph.

The writer is prime minister of Lebanon.

C 2006 The Washington Post Company

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