Lebanon, 2001

Mr. President, allow me first to congratulate you on

your election as President of the fifty-sixth session of

the General Assembly, which is meeting under critical

and exceptional circumstances. We wish you every

success in your arduous endeavours. I also wish to

thank your predecessor, Mr. Harri Holkeri. In addition,

on this occasion, I would like to pay tribute to

Secretary-General Kofi Annan for the efforts he has

made throughout the year. We hope that he will be able

to enhance the prospects for peace, stability, and

development in the world during his second term of

office.

The whole world was shocked by the enormity of

the tragedy that struck the United States of America on

11 September — the barbaric terrorist acts against New

York City and Washington, D.C. These acts exacted a

high toll among innocent civilians and plunged the

peoples and countries of the world into an atmosphere

of gloom and anxiety. We once again extend our

condolences to the families who lost their loved ones;

some of them were Lebanese, or American of Lebanese

descent. We share their deep sense of grief and sorrow.

From this rostrum, I would like to reiterate

Lebanon’s condemnation of these terrorist attacks.

Lebanon stands ready to cooperate seriously, positively

and responsibly with the United States and the United

Nations in the fight against terrorism, in accordance

with the rules of international law and with the

prerogatives of national sovereignty.

For a long time, Lebanon has suffered from

Israeli occupation and Israel’s terrorist practices. We

resisted this occupation until it ultimately ended with

Israel’s withdrawal from most of our national

territories. It is perfectly normal in this context to

stress the need for distinguishing between terrorism,

which we strongly condemn, and peoples’ legitimate

right to struggle for the liberation of their territories

from foreign occupation on the basis of the United

Nations Charter and General Assembly resolutions. As

regards Lebanon, we have to refer to the April

Understanding of 1996, an agreement which was

reached under the auspices of the United States and

France after Israel had carried out the Qana Massacre

that same year, in addition to the Taif Agreement that

had laid down the tenets of our national reconciliation.

A series of Security Council presidential statements

have given the Council’s blessing to the Agreement.

Both the Taif Agreement and the April Understanding

recognized the legitimacy of resistance against the

Israeli occupation.

Let me recall here that had Israel not invaded

Lebanon on 14 March 1978, there would have been no

Lebanese Resistance — which, of course, is the subject

of our pride — to counter this invasion.

Had Security Council resolution 425 (1978)

adopted on 19 March been implemented without delay,

as stipulated in its provisions, the Resistance would not

have been born.

Had it not been for widening the scope of the

Israeli invasion of Lebanese territory and the

subsequent occupation of Beirut in 1982, the

Resistance would not have escalated.

Had it not been for Israel’s persistence in

occupying what it called “the security zone”, no one

would have had to resist it and ultimately force it to

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withdraw in May 2000 from most of the territories that

it had occupied.

Had Israel not occupied the Palestinian territories,

there would have been no need for a courageous

uprising against occupation.

It must be pointed out that Lebanon is determined

to fight terrorism. We have acceded to 10 out of the 12

conventions relevant to the question of international

terrorism. We stand ready to respond positively to any

international initiative, including the convening of an

international conference for this purpose, to arrive at a

standard definition of terrorism. It would be wise not to

link terrorism to a particular race or religion,

particularly to Arabs and Muslims, if we want to avoid

setting world civilizations and religions on a collision

course. We can thus avoid falling into the trap designed

by those who are pushing the world towards collision,

conflict and strife.

Side by side with its Arab brothers, Lebanon is

determined to exert additional efforts to combat

terrorism and eradicate its various root causes. In 1998,

Arab States successfully negotiated and concluded the

Arab Convention on the Suppression of Terrorism, a

Convention with clear-cut purposes and objectives.

The events of 11 September have demonstrated

that humanity has not yet reached its ultimate

evolutionary stage. They also prove that unbridled

global rejectionist movements and terrorist groups that

know no boundaries and accept no restrictions are

capable of undermining our confidence in everything

we have achieved so far. They are working to establish

what can be referred to as a “new world disorder” and

global instability.

Under the circumstances, and given prevailing

fears, a thorough look at what is happening in the

Middle East conflict zone would clearly reveal the

difficulty of realizing the objectives of peace and

development promoted by the United Nations. In recent

months, the world has witnessed continued Israeli

occupation of Palestinian territories, unjust and

arbitrary Israeli practices, desecration of holy sites,

blockades, killings, assassinations and displacements.

Such acts continue with no international deterrence or

control.

Intransigent Israeli policies, deviation from the

Madrid principles and terms of reference, and stripping

the peace process of its political content in favour of

so-called Israeli security considerations indicate that

projected solutions to the Middle East crisis are

divided among many conflicting rationales. There is

the rationale of a partial solution and that of a

comprehensive solution; the rationale of basing a

solution on force and that of basing it on what is right,

just and grounded in United Nations resolutions; the

rationale of achieving security at the expense of peace

and that of making peace the foundation of security.

In the aftermath of 11 September, attention has

focused on the need to step up the effort to find a

political solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict, a solution

that should allow the Palestinian people to establish an

independent Palestinian State on their national soil. It

is our duty to recall that a just and comprehensive

peace necessitates that we simultaneously address all

aspects of the Middle East conflict. The Lebanese and

Syrian tracks must not be separated from the track of

the overall settlement. That track is stalled, and

reviving it will require the devotion of additional

efforts. The liberation of Lebanese territories from

Israeli occupation must be completed. Israel must

withdraw from the entire occupied Syrian Golan

Heights to the line of 4 June 1967. The question of

Palestinian refugees, their legitimate right to return,

and Lebanon’s right to oppose their resettlement on its

territories must not be ignored. This opposition is

grounded in the principles of fairness, justice and

sovereignty.

In the light of the above, we believe that a

comprehensive peace built on justice and on the

resolutions conferring international legitimacy is the

sole guarantee of the sustainability of any desirable

solution.

There are two fundamental questions in Lebanon

that are of direct concern to the United Nations: one is

the mandate of the international forces in southern

Lebanon and the other is the destiny of Palestinian

refugees in Lebanon.

In paragraph 14 of Security Council resolution

1365 (2001), which was adopted on 31 July, the

Security Council requested the Secretary-General to

submit a comprehensive report on the activities of the

United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL),

taking into account its possible reconfiguration into an

observer mission in the light of the developments on

the ground, following appropriate consultations with

the Government of Lebanon.

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Due to the gravity of the situation, and in

anticipation of the Secretary-General’s report, it is

important for me to stress from this rostrum that both

logic and the realities on the ground call for

maintaining Unifier’s existing mandate without

amending it or reconfiguring the mission into an

observer force. On the contrary, we believe that

UNIFIL’s role must be strengthened, particularly as it

has not yet fulfilled the entire mandate entrusted to it

by the international community in Security Council

resolution 425 (1978), which was adopted on 19 March

1978. That mandate cannot be implemented by an

observer force due to the following questions that are

still pending.

The first pending question is the verification of

the Israeli withdrawal from all Lebanese territories. It

is a known fact that the United Nations did not verify

the Israeli withdrawal from all Lebanese territories. It

only verified the withdrawal of Israeli forces to a de

facto withdrawal line, which became known as the blue

line. That line is not in conformity with Lebanon’s

internationally recognized borders, a fact recognized in

subsequent reports of the Secretary-General.

Therefore, the Shab’a farms, on the slopes of

Mount Hermon, remained under Israeli occupation,

together with three additional points along the line of

withdrawal drawn by the United Nations. At the time,

Lebanon expressed its reservations on these points.

These territories are Lebanese lands and Lebanon

reserves its natural right to restore them and to extend

its sovereignty to them. Lebanon would like to stress

here that it will stand up for every inch of its national

soil and for all its rights to its water resources, in

accordance with international law. In that regard, we

must draw attention to the fact that Israel continues to

violate Lebanese sovereignty on a daily basis. In his

report issued in July of this year, the Secretary-General

described these violations as provocative. Furthermore,

Israel continues to increase the frequency of its threats

against Lebanon and Syria.

The second pending question concerns the

restoration of international peace and security. In his

reports to the Security Council between May 2000 and

July 2001, the Secretary-General recognized that

UNIFIL had not fully implemented the task entrusted

to it. He repeatedly said that there is a third task the

international forces have yet to undertake, and on

which UNIFIL will have to concentrate. That task is

the restoration of international peace and security in

the region. How can we speak of a third task yet to be

completed by UNIFIL under Security Council

resolution 425 (1978) and at the same time discuss the

possibility of reconfiguring UNIFIL into an observer

mission?

In that respect, we are duty-bound to recall that

the security of the region is indivisible. We would be

deceiving ourselves if we were to believe that peace

and security can be restored to the region outside the

context of a comprehensive overall solution to all

aspects of the conflict on all its tracks. Such an

undertaking requires an all-inclusive effort, not only by

UNIFIL but also by the entire United Nations, which

should be responsible for the enforcement of its

resolutions, particularly resolution 242 (1967), 338

(1973) and 425 (1978).

From this rostrum, I call on the United Nations

Secretariat and the Security Council to preserve

UNIFIL’s existing mandate. The timing is of particular

importance, given the serious circumstances prevailing

in our region and in the world. We must also recall that

in May of this year the Security Council adopted a

statement in which members acknowledged Lebanon’s

concerns and apprehensions, including those relating to

the future.

Lebanon is tirelessly seeking to achieve a total

Israeli withdrawal from its territories. At the same

time, it attaches great importance to the release of the

Lebanese people kidnapped by Israel during its

occupation of our land and thereafter detained in Israeli

jails. They remain incarcerated in Israeli prisons as

hostages, in contravention of international laws and

instruments, particularly the Geneva Convention of

1949 and the subsequent Protocols thereto.

The 130,000 landmines that were left behind by

the Israeli occupation are still killing, maiming and

harming scores of civilians in Lebanon. They curtail

their freedom of movement and obstruct their work. We

consider this to be a continued — albeit indirect —

form of occupation of Lebanese territories by Israel. In

the light of this situation, the United Nations and the

international community should make a greater effort

to compel Israel to hand over all maps and records

disclosing the locations of the mines, which have to be

cleared as soon a possible.

However, with respect to the hundreds of

thousands of Palestinian refugees who have been

provisionally hosted on Lebanese land ever since their

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expulsion from their homes in Palestine — and for

whose final status the United Nations bears essential

responsibility — we reiterate our demand for a just

solution to their cause, on the basis of the

implementation of their right to return and of our

refusal to resettle them in Lebanon.

In this regard, it behoves us to remember that the

resettlement of the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon

would constitute a time bomb that would jeopardize the

peace, security and stability in the Middle East; such

refugees will relentlessly seek to return to their

homeland and Lebanon is unable to integrate them,

given the precariousness of its own internal

equilibrium and the fact that provisions of its national

pact do not allow for any form of resettlement.

Furthermore, Lebanon appeals for greater

international attention to enable us to provide urgently

needed assistance that could help return our liberated

lands to normalcy, restore economic balance and

provide opportunities for growth after long years of

occupation and destruction.

This is an era of responsibility and accountability

for the world, but accountability cannot be selective,

nor can it be based on double standards. During the

long years of occupation of the Lebanese territories,

Israeli bombardment and the destruction that ensued

killed thousands and injured and disabled thousands

more. Our infrastructure, vital facilities, houses,

schools, farms and bridges were destroyed and our

growth and development were hindered. Lebanon must

therefore be adequately compensated. Lebanon will

spare no effort in appealing to the relevant international

political and judicial organs to request that Israel make

reparations for the damage resulting from its acts of

aggression.

It may be useful to recall here that Israel did not

withdraw from most of the Lebanese territories of its

own accord; neither did it withdraw in compliance with

the decision of an international authority or in response

to a political requirement that remained on the table for

over 22 years. Rather, it withdrew under pressure from

the Lebanese resistance, which was embraced by the

Lebanese State. It withdrew because of the

steadfastness of the Lebanese people. Its withdrawal

was not a voluntary démarche for peace, as some

would have it. The withdrawal was a measure taken to

avoid peace, and instead to seek alleged security at the

expense of the requirements of a just and

comprehensive peace.

Lebanon is a democratic Arab country, open to

the world, with a civilization that goes back thousands

of years. Thanks to our diverse social composition, our

experience is informed by coexistence and consensus.

It is a unique experience, rarely paralleled in our world

today. We call on the Assembly to mobilize the forces

of peace and justice in order to redress the historical

injustice inflicted upon the Palestinian people. The

Assembly must bring about a just and comprehensive

solution to one of the most complex and dangerous

regional conflicts in the Middle East. It is a conflict

that has depleted the resources of its people, hindered

its progress and stunted its contributions to the world.

This solution will unfetter its creative capabilities and

enable it to develop a global partnership free from fear,

injustice and terror.

My country is proud to be hosting the next Arab

Summit, to be convened in Beirut in March next year.

Preparations are already under way to receive the Arab

monarchs and presidents. We will also be hosting the

Ninth Summit of the International Organization of la

Francophonie in the fall of 2002, under the heading,

“Dialogue among cultures”. Lebanon is a founding

member of the League of Arab States, the United

Nations and the International Organization of la

Francophonie. Lebanon, which participated in drafting

the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, is capable

of proving that it can reassert its active presence and

again take a pioneering role at the regional and

international levels. We come from a time-honoured

civilization, and are blessed by unique and

distinguished experience of coexistence. We will put

this to the service of the noble objectives of the United

Nations.