YouSaid · the spoken record

Gillerman

lines on the record: 555
first: 2003-02-20
most recent: 2008-07-22
sittings or episodes: 44
sources: un-security-council

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“Could there be a difference more striking or profound than that between Israel and the terrorists it is confronting, between those who equip their residential buildings with bomb shelters and those who fill them with missiles, between those who drop leaflets entreating civilians to leave the terrorist strongholds and those who hide rocket launchers beneath unknowing apartment dwellers, or between those who mourn the death of every civilian, Lebanese or Israeli, as a tragedy and a failure and those who see in it a victory and a cause for celebration? I believe that the people of Lebanon, through all the pain and anguish of these past few weeks, have seen through the callous disregard of Hizbollah, which claims to fight their cause but places a weapon next to a sleeping child.”
2006-08-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5508 (2006) · source
“For Hizbollah, civilians are not just a target, but also a shield. In this impossible situation, in which Hizbollah openly flouts the fundamental humanitarian principle of distinguishing combatants from civilians, Israel has made strenuous efforts to defend itself in accordance with the principles of international law, to direct its attacks against military targets and to avoid disproportionate damage to the civilians used as cover by the terrorists. At the same time, even as the terrorists' missiles fly, Israel has worked to ensure that the humanitarian needs of the population can be met, enabling convoys carrying aid and supplies to reach those who need them and facilitating evacuation of foreign citizens and United Nations personnel.”
2006-08-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5508 (2006) · source
“No Government would, or should, do less to protect its people than the Government of Israel has done in the face of this Hizbollah campaign of terror, and no people would, or should, be satisfied unless their leaders did the same. Israel, like any State, has done and will continue to do whatever is necessary to protect the lives of its citizens. It has the right and the duty to act in self- defence, and it will spare no effort to bring its abducted soldiers home. In fulfilling this responsibility to protect its citizens, Israel's task is doubly complicated. It must defend itself against an enemy that not only deliberately targets civilians but that also hides among them, concealing its weapons and rocket launchers at the heart of civilian communities, as well as in mosques and United Nations compounds.”
2006-08-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5508 (2006) · source
“And over the past four weeks, Hizbollah has viciously implemented its threats, launching those lethal missiles directly and indiscriminately at the towns of Haifa and Afula, Nahariya and Hadera, Kiryat Shemona and Kfar Giladi, Carmiel, Metulla and Akko, and the holy cities of Nazareth and Tiberias, targeting men, women and children, Jewish, Muslim and Christian alike. No country in the whole world would, or should, allow a terrorist organization to publicly threaten its destruction and to develop a vast infrastructure of terrorism unimpeded on its borders. No State represented in this Organization would, or should, sit passively while over 3,500 missiles are fired at its town and villages deliberately targeting homes and hospitals, at schools and kindergartens.”
2006-08-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5508 (2006) · source
“That is the test, and both the forces of terror and the forces of moderation in the Middle East are looking to the Council to see if it is up to that challenge. Neither the people of Israel nor the people of Lebanon have any wish to be in this conflict. There is no quarrel between us. Six years ago, Israel withdrew its forces from every inch of Lebanese territory, as the Council has emphatically confirmed. It could not be clearer: the issue in this crisis is not territory, but terror. During the past six years, Hizbollah terrorists, funded, trained, armed and directed by Iran and Syria, have dug their roots deep into Lebanese soil and have spread their poisonous branches throughout its towns and villages. The evil fruit of this growth has been over 13,000 deadly missiles murderously directed at the people of Israel.”
2006-08-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5508 (2006) · source
“For the past four weeks, the peoples of Israel and Lebanon have been caught up in a brutal and tragic conflict. It has caused unbearable loss and suffering on both sides. It is time to bring this conflict to an end. But speeches and resolutions do not themselves end conflicts. Neither do good intentions. Conflicts are ended by actions, not by words. They are ended when those who sparked the conflict and those who seek to continue to threaten the region are confronted and overcome. The critical test that the Security Council faces is not whether it can adopt a resolution. The question is whether the Council and the international community can adopt a course of action, a blueprint for change, which will end the threat that Hizbollah and its sponsors pose to the peoples of Israel and Lebanon and to the region as a whole.”
2006-08-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5508 (2006) · source
“Violence is there because Lebanon has allowed violence to take it over. It has allowed a peaceful, fun- loving, entrepreneurial and cultural country to become a hotbed of terrorism and a cesspool of hatred. When those children are incited the way they are, do not expect them to grow up any other way. Those children do not need Qana in order to hate us. All they have to do is to read the textbooks from which Hizbollah teaches them, and to hear the sermons they hear in their places of teaching and prayer. They do not need any further incentive. I believe that no baby is born wanting to be a suicide bomber, and no mother gives birth to a child wanting him to become a shahid. But if that is the kind of culture they grow up in, indeed violence breeds violence.”
2006-07-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5503 (2006) · source
“Once again, I must agree with my colleague. He is very right: violence indeed breeds violence. The violence emanating from Lebanon against Israel, after Israel totally vacated and withdrew from every inch of Lebanon, is indeed violence. It cannot be justified; there are no more alibis. When the representative of Lebanon says that his country wants the Sheba'a farms back, he should ask his neighbours, the Syrians, to return them. They claim that the Sheba'a farms are Syrian. We cannot give back something that is not ours. All we know is that the Security Council has declared emphatically, categorically and unequivocally that Israel has left every single millimetre - not inch, but millimetre - of Lebanon. How long can we keep hearing these alibis and excuses for the violence?”
2006-07-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5503 (2006) · source
“I truly believe that it is time for Lebanon to act, if for no other reason than at least to prove that it is untrue that, in Lebanon, there is no future and no present - only the past, happening over and over and over again.”
2006-07-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5503 (2006) · source
“Once again, Lebanon did not do it. Why is Israel in Lebanon today? Why is Israel acting against Lebanon? Israel left every single inch of Lebanon. Israel is there only to protect itself against a blatant act of war, the kidnapping of its soldiers and the shelling of its cities and its towns by thousands of rockets, which are only a fraction of the arsenal of death and destruction that Lebanon has allowed to be amassed in the southern part of its territory. Is it not time that Lebanon took its fate into its own hands, rather than keep crying out to the Security Council and to the international community? Is it not time that the Lebanese army, which is there, acted in order to rid itself of the very beast which is bringing this horror and this destruction upon its people?”
2006-07-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5503 (2006) · source
“It had one chance over six years ago, when Israel left it completely - a fact that has been ratified by this Council, and in terms of resolution 425 (1978). Lebanon could have made the choice of returning to being the vibrant, beautiful, fun- loving, entrepreneurial and cultured country it was, or of allowing itself to become a hub for terrorism and a launching pad against Israel. Sadly, and tragically for Israel, for the region and for the Lebanese, it chose the latter. Lebanon had the chance once again after this Council, dramatically and practically without precedent, adopted resolution 1559 (2004) and made the Syrians leave Lebanon, at least partially. Again, there was a chance for Lebanon to exert its sovereignty, to deploy its forces and to rid itself of that monster which it has allowed to take over and to hold it hostage.”
2006-07-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5503 (2006) · source
“Lebanon has repeatedly, sadly and tragically been taken over time and time again by tyrants in the North - namely, Syria, which still regards Lebanon as Southern Syria, which has never marked its border with Lebanon and which has never even had an embassy in Beirut or allowed Lebanon to have an embassy in Damascus. Lebanon has allowed itself to be taken hostage by terrorists of the worst kind - the Palestine Liberation Organization in the 1980s and Hizbollah in the 1990s. I ask the Minister in all candidness and in all fairness: When will Lebanon finally take its fate into its own hands? A litany of tragedies and misery does not make for either policy or good politics. Lebanon had several chances to be sovereign, to exert its sovereignty, and to take its fate into its own hands, at least in the past few years.”
2006-07-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5503 (2006) · source
“I want to state emphatically that I agree with each and every one of those statements. Israel has no quarrel with Lebanon. Israel has no battle with Lebanon. Israel has no war with Lebanon. The Minister repeatedly cited Israel's previous actions against Lebanon. He failed to state why those actions were taken. Israel has never, ever had in its history any claim over Lebanon, neither over its sovereignty nor over its territory nor over its right to exist in our region as a free, vibrant, proud and prosperous State. Israel has repeatedly been compelled to act not against Lebanon, but against the forces and the monstrosity which Lebanon has allowed itself to be taken hostage by.”
2006-07-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5503 (2006) · source
“As this is your last day as President, Sir, may I express to you once again our appreciation for your very able and fair stewardship during the month of July. We have heard a very emotional, very eloquent and, I am sure, very candid speech by the representative of Lebanon. I would like to repeat some of the words he said, which I agree with completely and which Israel agrees with completely. He started by saying that he has come here both in anger and in hope. He continued by saying that we should not return and there should not be a return to the status quo ante. He also said that Lebanon is a country of plurality, diversity and tolerance. He also stated that Lebanon should not and should never again be the battleground of others. He reiterated Lebanon's wish, dream and right to live in dignity, and he repeated that several times.”
2006-07-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5503 (2006) · source
“Otherwise, if there is a ceasefire today and if Hizbollah remains with its capabilities and its huge arsenal of arms, it will raise its ugly head again. And it will rise not just against us and against the people of Lebanon, but against the whole region and civilization as we know it. Do not let Iran and Tehran, the sponsors of Hizbollah, have their day. Make it clear that this must end - not that hostilities and fire must end, but that terror and Hizbollah must end, because until they do, there will be hostilities and there will be fire, and more innocents will pay the price.”
2006-07-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5498 (2006) · source
“6 If we want to live together in this tough neighbourhood and in this blood-ridden region, we need to create a culture of hope rather than a culture of violence. We need to create a culture in which the children who were hurt in Qana would have been at school today rather than huddled together as hostages for Hizbollah - a culture in which the children of Qiryat Shemona would have gone to school today instead of being scared and huddling in bomb shelters because of Katyusha rockets. We need to change the culture of hatred. We need to teach our children about hope. And we should not let what happened today - tragic and horrible as it is - change the facts and the truth. And that is that Hizbollah must be totally disarmed.”
2006-07-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5498 (2006) · source
“And today, of all days, I would like to ask my Lebanese friend: tell your people, the brave people of Lebanon, the Government that you represent and your brave Prime Minister, for whom we have a lot of respect, that the demonstrations held today in Beirut should not be against the United Nations; they should be against Hizbollah. Hizbollah is the one that has caused you all this pain. Hizbollah is the monster that you have allowed to grow. If you had taken care of it before, if you had deployed your forces in the south, this would never have happened. And if the Security Council had enforced resolution 1559 (2004), this would never have happened. Tell your people to demonstrate not for blood, but for peace and for hope.”
2006-07-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5498 (2006) · source
“And I must say that I feel that what is happening around this table today is exactly what they wanted to happen. Today, while there is mourning in Israel and in many other places around the world, there may very well be jubilation in Tehran, in Damascus and in the Hizbollah strongholds, because this is exactly what they want to happen. They want the Council to be called up to arms and to seize the fire. They want it to do exactly what it is being asked to do today. They want the Council to react the way in which it does. I know that these are harsh words, but I believe them with all my heart. I beseech members not to play into their hands, not to provide them with what they seek while they sacrifice their own people as human shields and as victims.”
2006-07-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5498 (2006) · source
“And while for us every dead Lebanese child is a horrible mistake and a tragedy, for them every dead Israeli child is a victory and a cause for celebration. I am saying emphatically at this table that I would not be surprised, because of their cynicism and brutality and total disregard for human life, if this is exactly what Hizbollah wanted to happen. I would not be surprised if this is something that they wanted and wished for precisely today, the day when Secretary Rice is in the region trying to reach a settlement. Because members of the Council know better than I that on any given day when we are so close to reaching a settlement, the terrorists, the extremists, the fundamentalists snatch it away from us, because they do not want a settlement.”
2006-07-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5498 (2006) · source
“Hizbollah has homes in Lebanon that house missiles - in which the family sleeps with a missile. When you sleep with a missile, sometimes you do not wake up in the morning. In Israel, we have homes that are equipped with air raid shelters to save people from bombs; in Lebanon, they have homes that they equip to launch missiles, taking into account that those people could be killed. Today, we say that we are truly sorry for the people of Lebanon and for the people who were killed. I have never heard Hizbollah say that they are sorry for 5 a single Israeli - woman, child, elderly person, civilian or innocent - who has been killed. Never. Why? Because they target us specifically. That is their declared aim, and that is what we are fighting.”
2006-07-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5498 (2006) · source
“They have infiltrated every fibre and every cell of that country, so that, in the words of my esteemed Lebanese colleague who appeared on United States television only last week, "You cannot distinguish in Lebanon between Hizbollah and the Lebanese." In his words, Hizbollah is everywhere; in his words, Hizbollah has infiltrated and become part of Lebanese society. But there is a huge moral disequivalence between the two sides. While our enemies - who only today have launched more than 100 missiles at Israeli towns and villages - specifically target women and children in order to kill them, we are defending ourselves in this brutal war. And sometimes, tragically, as happened today, women and children get hurt, because they are used as human shields by Hizbollah.”
2006-07-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5498 (2006) · source
“Hizbollah has been launching missiles and rockets at Israel from Kafr Qana. We will make available to the Security Council a film that shows Hizbollah launching a rocket from right behind a three- storey house: a civilian residence very similar to the one that was hit today in Kafr Qana. That is the sad reality. Israel has repeatedly beseeched the residents of Qana to leave. I would not be surprised if Hizbollah made them stay. We are dealing with a ruthless, cynical, cruel enemy, one of the most monstrous terror organizations that this world has ever known. They have no regard for Israeli life, and they have no regard for Lebanese life. They do not care about the people of Lebanon.”
2006-07-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5498 (2006) · source
“I thank the Secretary- General for honouring us with his presence. This is a horrible, sad and bloody Sunday. This is a day on which we mourn and grieve, together with the people of Lebanon, at the deaths of the innocents and civilians in Kafr Qana. Those people, including women and children, who were killed in this horrible, tragic incident may have been killed by Israeli fire, but they are the victims of Hizbollah: they are the victims of 06-44873 terror. If there were no Hizbollah, this would never have happened. If Lebanon were free of the stranglehold of that monster, this would never have happened. And, while we mourn the deaths of those people, we must stress that Israel has never targeted - and in this particular case did not target - innocent people. Kafr Qana has been a hub for Hizbollah for a long time.”
2006-07-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5498 (2006) · source
“It must today remember this past in order to regain its future, for, as Winston Churchill said, "A nation that forgets its past has no future." Once terror has been excised from our midst, Israel stands ready to embark with the people of Lebanon on a process of rebuilding, renewal, development and cooperation, so that projects will replace rockets, goods will replace arms, factories will replace bunkers and playgrounds will replace battlegrounds; so that Israeli and Lebanese children will play with seashells rather than be hit by shells from rockets; so we can rekindle the glory of our past and secure the future of the generations to come.”
2006-07-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5493 (2006) · source
“As a first step towards this goal, Israel demands the immediately release of its kidnapped boys, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, as well as Gilad Shalit, who is still held by Hamas. Israel, as it has done in this Chamber before, demands the full disarming of Hizbollah and insists that Lebanon employ its sovereignty over all its territory, in full compliance with resolution 1559 (2004). This very Council has demanded this, and now, finally, it must be fully implemented. It must be implemented for the safety of Israel, for the stability of the region and the well-being of the world. And today more than ever it must be implemented to assure Lebanon's future. Lebanon had a glorious past and a potential for a bright future before it mortgaged it to terrorists and tyrants.”
2006-07-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5493 (2006) · source
“The Iranian envoy, Larijani, himself transmitted the code to implement the abduction plan in order to set off an international turmoil, which would divert the world's attention from the Iranian nuclear crisis." And Saad Hariri, the son of the slain Prime Minister of Lebanon, whose murder is now being internationally investigated, said of Syria's role: "The Syrian president's security apparatus in Damascus has incited Nasrallah in order to set Lebanon on fire... Lebanon became the battleground of other countries - countries that call us brothers but who have no interest whatsoever in our fate." Israel welcomes the declaration of the G-8 leaders, whose statement of 16 July provides a basis for progress towards a sustainable peace, in accordance with the relevant Security Council resolutions.”
2006-07-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5493 (2006) · source
“The international community must also vigorously address the sponsors of terrorism: Syria and Iran, the members of that exclusive club, that axis of terror. Those Governments support, harbour, train and finance the terrorists and their murderous acts. As we speak, they continue to aggressively undermine all efforts toward a lasting peace in the region, supplying deadly arms to Hizbollah in the north and Hamas in Gaza. No words can better describe the true feelings of the Lebanese people than those of Lebanese leaders themselves. As I did last week, I would like to share with you a few more of their thoughts. Walid Jumblat, the Lebanese Druze leader, said: "The abduction of the two Israeli soldiers was secretly planned in Damascus two days before the meeting of the G-8 meeting in order to divert attention from Iran.”
2006-07-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5493 (2006) · source
“We have been hearing calls for a cessation of hostilities, but before we can contemplate a cessation of hostilities, we must insist on the cessation of terror. A temporary, artificial ceasefire - or whatever term one may use - will only result in an illusionary lull, which would allow this disease to spread and kill again. The international community must finally address the terrorism that occupies Lebanon. The current crisis is not only a danger to Israel and Lebanon, but to the entire region. We should have no illusions: the terrorism at the root of this crisis is a danger everywhere. We know where it starts, but we do not know where it will take its violence. Too many nations have been taught this harsh lesson.”
2006-07-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5493 (2006) · source
“The Hizbollah member of parliament and the terrorist in the hills launching rockets at Israeli civilians both have the same strategy and goal. These labels cannot be allowed to give legitimacy to a gang of thugs. In spite of the very difficult situation on the ground, Israel is acutely aware of the humanitarian situation. I wish to inform the Council that I have just received official confirmation from Israel that in addition to the corridor allowing evacuation from Lebanon, a two-way, in-and-out humanitarian corridor to meet the needs of those affected on the Lebanese side has been established. As the Israeli side of this mechanism is now being formulated, I would like to assure the Council of the continued cooperation of the Government of Israel on this important issue.”
2006-07-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5493 (2006) · source
“Hizbollah is everywhere in Lebanon, and has become part of Lebanese society." This is also how cancer works, attacking healthy cells, invading and spreading through the whole body until healthy and malignant become inseparable. And this is exactly the point that Israel has been making for years. Terrorism has been sending its long tentacles through every level of Lebanese society, integrating itself into the very fibre of a nation. Terrorists live and operate among civilians, occupying their towns and villages, using them as human shields, and they have infiltrated the Government itself. We are told of a so-called political branch of Hizbollah. Do not be misled by this ruse - an attempt to paint a kinder face on cold-blooded terrorists who are intent on cold-blooded murder.”
2006-07-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5493 (2006) · source
“At the first siren, thousands run for the safety of bomb shelters and reinforced safe-rooms, which, by law, must be in all homes. The rockets they flee are sent from across a border, from other homes, where other families reside. Their special rooms, however, have been modified to serve as rocket launching pads. This is the horrible equation that we face. We have witnessed civilian casualties, and we grieve for each one of them. Also, we have heard how difficult it is to distinguish between Hizbollah and civilians. We have heard this from none other than the Lebanese Ambassador, who said on American television just this week: "It is impossible to differentiate between Hizbollah and civilians in Lebanon.”
2006-07-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5493 (2006) · source
“It cannot be partially removed or allowed to fester. It must be removed without any trace, or, as cancers do and will, it will return and spread, striking and killing again. Since last week, when the State of Israel was suddenly attacked without any provocation, citizens all across northern Israel have been suffering the consequences of Lebanon's failure. Rockets terrorize, maim and kill people in cities such as Haifa, Nahariya, Tiberias and Safed. Towns across the Galilee have been hit by a ceaseless barrage of missiles. And only two days ago, two young children playing in St. Paul's Street in the holy city of Nazareth - the home town of Jesus - were mercilessly struck down by a Hizbollah rocket. As we speak, another wave of dozens of rockets is raining down on cities and towns across northern Israel.”
2006-07-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5493 (2006) · source
“The Council took the threat seriously, as witnessed by its resolution 1559 (2004). And now, sadly, the peoples of Israel and of Lebanon are reaping the miseries of war, sown long ago but nurtured by those who chose to turn a blind eye to what was so clearly happening. Terrorism has occupied, ravaged, raped and pillaged Lebanon. Terror is the true occupying power of Lebanon. For years, Hizbollah has been amassing thousands of rockets, aimed at Israel, preparing for this attack. Its forces may be concentrated in the south, but its tangled web holds the entire nation of Lebanon hostage to its violent agenda. The Government of Lebanon, for its own political reasons, has chosen conflict with Israel instead of battling the cancer that occupies the body and soul of its very country. That cancer must be excised.”
2006-07-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5493 (2006) · source
“No kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers, no shelling of Israeli cities by hundreds of missiles and rockets. I think that the Council deserves more. We met here just one week ago. What a difference a week makes. Think of what we all have learned in one week. The world has learned of the enormous arsenal of missiles that Hizbollah has been amassing in Lebanon. The world has learned how deeply Hizbollah has penetrated Lebanese society. The world has learned again how ruthless and indiscriminate Hizbollah is. The international community and the Council have learned how right they were in repeatedly demanding the disarming of this terrorist monster. We have been aware for years of this deadly, cancerous growth which has insidiously invaded this beautiful, potentially prosperous country, and we have repeatedly warned about the danger.”
2006-07-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5493 (2006) · source
“No mention of the kidnapping of the Israeli soldier, Corporal Gilad Shalit; no mention of the firing of hundreds of Qassam rockets by the deadly Hamas-led Government of his people; no mention of the fact that Israel totally withdrew from Gaza nearly a year ago. There is a certain absurdity to the constant use of words "occupying Power" when referring to an area which has not been occupied for a year, which has been totally free to run its own affairs and to prove that it is indeed capable of running its own affairs, take care of its people, their standard of living and their quality of life, and which instead brutally and cynically chose terror. The same was apparent also in the Palestinian Observer's reference to his sisters and brothers in Lebanon and the Israeli aggression which, again, came out of nowhere.”
2006-07-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5493 (2006) · source
“Mr. President, I wish to thank you for your continued able stewardship of this Council during these difficult days. I would like to welcome the Secretary-General and thank him for gracing this meeting with his important presence. I would also like to thank Mr. Jan Egeland for his very precise and important report, and Mr. Vijay Nambiar for his report on the very important mission which was dispatched by the Secretary-General to our region. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank his colleagues, Mr. Terje Roed-Larsen and Mr. Alvaro de Soto, for the important work they did. We just heard the Palestinian Observer describe a situation which seems very surrealistic. There was a whole array of description of what Israel does as if it all came out of nowhere, as if it all emanated out of the clear blue sky.”
2006-07-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5493 (2006) · source
“I believe that most members around this table, as well as many others in this Chamber, including our neighbours, realize that reality. The Security Council and the international community have a duty today to help the Lebanese people achieve the goal of a free, prosperous, democratic Lebanon. The sad and tormented life of that war-torn land has today entered another sad chapter in its history. It is up to every one of us to help write that chapter to ensure that this opportunity is seized, not only for the benefit of the Lebanese and the Israeli peoples, but for the sake of generations to come.”
2006-07-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5489 (2006) · source
“Why do those who always protect their regime express understanding of its reasons and preferences and do not express any understanding of Lebanon's reasons and preferences?" Or, there are the words of an unnamed Lebanese minister who said - again, only yesterday - "The Hizbollah has not only kidnapped two Israeli soldiers; it has taken the whole of Lebanon hostage". With your permission, Mr. President, I would like to make a personal appeal to my esteemed Lebanese colleague. Your Excellency, you know deep down that, if you could, you would add your own brave voice to those voices of your brave compatriots and colleagues. You know deep in your heart that, if you could, you would be sitting here right next to me, right now, because you know that we are doing the right thing and that, if we succeed, Lebanon will be the beneficiary.”
2006-07-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5489 (2006) · source
“Or there are the words of Elias Atallah, a Lebanese politician representing the majority of its parliamentary members, "We welcome any Arab and international support, but strongly oppose any enforced involvement of Lebanon by regional players' considerations" - reference to Syria and Iran - that are not within the interests of the Lebanese people for the sole attempt to achieve opportunistic benefits at the expense of the Lebanese people. The Syrian regime indulges itself in teaching Lebanon and Palestine lessons according to its own interests through these peoples.”
2006-07-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5489 (2006) · source
“There are words that speak far louder and clearer than anything I can voice today. These are voices of Lebanese: brave, patriotic Lebanese parliamentarians and ministers who, just over the last two days, have cried out to all of us from the brink of the abyss in their beloved country. Let me quote some of these courageous statements. There are the words of Lebanon's Communications Minister, Mr. Marwan Hamadeh, who only yesterday said that "Damascus gives the orders, Iran supplies the equipment, Israel reacts and Lebanon is the victim".”
2006-07-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5489 (2006) · source
“The Syrian Government, which still regards Lebanon as southern Syria, works ceaselessly to undermine all efforts towards a peaceful future in the region. Lebanon is today occupied by terror, whether in the south where it is directed at Israel or in Beirut where it kills opponents of Syria and former prime ministers. The real occupying power in Lebanon is terror, terror instigated by Hizbollah but initiated, funded and perpetrated by Syria and Iran. The Lebanese Government, having missed so many chances in the past, at such a horrendous cost to its people, today has another chance to free itself from the stranglehold of terror, another chance to release itself from the evil control of Syria and the deadly influence of Iran, and deploy its forces the south, exercising its sovereignty over a free Lebanon.”
2006-07-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5489 (2006) · source
“Membership in this club requires an unfathomable capacity for evil. The President of Iran has repeatedly denied the Holocaust while gleefully preparing the next one. Many of the long-range missiles fired into Israel in recent days were Iranian missiles, made by the same regime that is now trying to possess nuclear weapons, the same regime that is funding Hizbollah to the sum of $100 million a year. Do we dare to ask ourselves how many families in Lebanon today are being prepared to house dirty bombs and other weapons of mass destruction, courtesy of Iran? Syria, another member of this club, is a well- known protector and financer of terrorist organizations, playing host to them in its capital, Damascus.”
2006-07-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5489 (2006) · source
“That is yet another example of the cynical and brutal way the Hizbollah organization uses civilians as human shields, with complete disregard for human life. Over the last 48 hours, more than 500 Katyushas and mortar shells were fired into the northern part of Israel, killing two civilians and wounding hundreds more, among them women and children. Israeli civilians and eight soldiers have been killed, hundreds have been wounded. It is very important for the international community to understand that while Hizbollah executes this vicious terrorism, it is merely the finger on the blood-stained, long-reaching arms of Syria and Iran. Hizbollah, together with Hamas, Syria and Iran, comprise the world's new and ominous axis of terror, an infamous club, the entry fee to which is the blood of innocents and the terrorizing of the entire world.”
2006-07-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5489 (2006) · source
“Although Israel holds the Government of Lebanon responsible, it is concentrating its response carefully, mainly on Hizbollah strongholds, positions and infrastructure. The hundreds of Katyusha rockets fired from Lebanon in the last few days demonstrate the magnitude of the immense arsenal of rockets and other weapons that Hizbollah has amassed over the last few years, a danger we have repeatedly warned against. Many of the long-range missiles that have hit Israeli towns, including Nahariyya, Safad, Rosh Pina and the port city of Haifa, were launched from private homes with families residing inside, where a special room was designated as a launching pad with a family playing host to the missile.”
2006-07-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5489 (2006) · source
“Scores of Katyusha rockets rained down on Israeli towns and villages, causing many civilian casualties. In this midst of this horrific assault, Hizbollah terrorists infiltrated Israel, killing a number of soldiers and kidnapping two more, who were taken deep into the terrorist stronghold of southern Lebanon. Israel had no choice but to react, as would, indeed, any other responsible democratic Government. Having shown unparalleled restraint for six years while bearing the brunt of countless attacks, Israel had to respond to this absolutely unprovoked assault, whose scale and depth was unprecedented in recent years. Let me emphasize this indisputable fact: Israel's actions were in direct response to an act of war from Lebanon.”
2006-07-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5489 (2006) · source
“Yet again, unfortunately, the Lebanese Government chose to succumb to terror rather than vanquish it, to let its southern region be occupied by terrorism, rather than disarm it, and to relinquish control over its country rather than exercise its full sovereignty. Seldom before has the description of a people as never missing an opportunity to miss an opportunity been so apt. Lebanon, sadly, did not heed the demands of the international community and did not obey the repeated resolutions of the Security Council. Today, sadly, the Lebanese people are bearing the cost of that inaction and ineptitude. Two days ago, Hizbollah terrorists, operating with impunity in southern Lebanon, unleashed a sudden and unprovoked attack into Israeli territory.”
2006-07-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5489 (2006) · source
“The Security Council acknowledged Israel's complete withdrawal from southern Lebanon and its full compliance with Security Council resolution 425 (1978) in a presidential statement on 18 June 2000 (S/PRST/2000/21). That was Lebanon's moment of truth. Would its Government look inward and free its people from the stranglehold of terror? Or would it allow its territory to become a base from which Hizbollah terrorists would launch attacks against Israeli civilians? Tragically, the Lebanese Government chose the latter. The Lebanese Government got a second chance after the partial implementation of Security Council resolution 1559 (2004), which resulted in the withdrawal of most Syrian forces from Lebanese territory. Again the Council and the entire world were waiting to see how Lebanon would respond to this historic opportunity.”
2006-07-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5489 (2006) · source
“Lebanon is a country that has been held hostage for more than 32 years by tyrants from the north and terrorists in the south, a country whose fun-loving, business-minded, entrepreneurial and liberal population has been tormented by decades of oppression, sectarian strife, fundamentalist violence, religious conflict, Syrian control, political assassinations, terror and full-fledged civil war. In May 2000, Israel took the painful and politically difficult decision to fully withdraw from southern Lebanon, having been compelled a few years earlier to establish a security zone there in order to prevent terrorist attacks and rocket shelling from Lebanon into Israeli towns and villages.”
2006-07-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5489 (2006) · source
“Let me take you back, Mr. President, to a warm summer's day in Beirut 32 years ago, exactly on a very significant day for you and your people: 14 July 1974. I want to describe the scene to you and to my Lebanese colleague. Cafes and bars bustling with young people, beaches filled with happy holiday-makers - the Switzerland of the Middle East. How different that scene is from the one on Beirut's streets today, 32 years later. But that difference did not start this week or last year. The difference started only one year after the scene Ijust described, in 1975, when the Lebanese began their long descent into oppression, depression and terror.”
2006-07-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5489 (2006) · source
“Or would you do exactly what Israel is doing at this very minute, making every effort to protect its people and allow them to live in the peace and security that they long for and that all the people in the region have for so long been deprived of by the forces of terror.”
2006-07-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.5488 (2006) · source