Leader of the Lebanese Peace Party Roger Edde: The Arabs' Problem Is Iran, Not Israel

Roger Edde, the leader of the Lebanese Peace Party, said in a January 20 Mayadeen TV talk show that the Arabs have a problem with Iran, not with Israel. With regard to the recent Palestinian-Israeli escalation and the rise in the Palestinian death toll, Edde said that any Palestinian who grabs a knife to stab an Israeli knows that someone will shoot him and that it is therefore tantamount to suicide.

Roger Edde: "The problem of the Arabs is Iran, not Israel. All the people who call today to fight Israel, while downplaying the concerns about Iran, have a problem. Let Iran give us reassurances. What do we want from Iran? We want it to benefit from the normalized ties that have begun with the international community. I admit that I've been a great supporter of negotiations with Iran since 2003."

Interviewer:"We've got one minute left."

Roger Edde: "It started in my home in Paris."

Interviewer:"We have one minute. The question is..."

Roger Edde: "I am interested in moving toward normalized relations. I want Iran to become a country that we respect and that respects us. I don't want it to 'export' the revolution, in an effort to sow civil strife in the Levant and in the rest of the Arab world."

[...]

Interviewer: "132 young Palestinians in the West Bank have been killed in cold blood by Israel in the past two months. Can you tell me what the Arab regimes..."

Roger Edde: "This is a revolutionary phenomenon, the importance of which, like in any revolution... These people are suicide-seekers. The new revolution has begun in Israel, and Israel must not accept this under any circumstances, because anybody who tries to carry out any operation knows that he is heading to his death. If he grabs a knife in order to attack a woman, he knows that this is suicide, because somebody will shoot him..."

Interviewer:"Excuse me, but I have a personal question: Do you consider Israel to be your enemy?"

Roger Edde: "Yes, of course. That's the first thing..."

Interviewer: "Why?"

Roger Edde: "Because we do not have peace with it. We are in a state of war. We have a truce with Israel, and we are committed to the truce."