Lebanese Defense Minister Yacoub Sarraf: I Have a Desire to Die and Water the Land with My Blood; We Bear No Responsibility for Terror Attacks in the West

Lebanese Defense Minister Yacoub Sarraf said, with regard to terrorism carried out in Europe: "I reject the notion that we should hold ourselves responsible for an erroneous, misleading idea, or that we should hold ourselves responsible for people who follow this path," objecting to the interviewer's interjection that these were ideas phrased by Ibn Taymiyyah and Sayyid Qutb. "The Arab world has rejected these extremist ideas," he said, adding: "The solution does not lie in torching Lebanon or dividing the Middle East." Sarraf, who was speaking in an ON TV interview, which aired on February 12, further said that he hoped "to die on the wall that [the Israelis] claim they can build on my land" and that "this land has planted in my heart enough desire to water it with my blood."

Yacoub Sarraf: "Do I fear Israel? Yes, I do. They have been burning my country and plundering my land day in and day out. Did you know that on average, Israel has violated Lebanese sovereignty 180 times a month over the past 12 years? This does not mean that I am afraid to die. I hope that I die on the wall that they claim they can build on my land. This is what they do not realize or prefer not to know. This land is ours. They are foreigners. They are settlers who have been led astray. They will not die for the sake of their land, but it will be an honor for me to die for mine. This land has bestowed upon me this desire. Some of us say: 'The martyr watered the land with his blood.' But I say that it is the other way around. This land has planted in my heart enough desire to water it with my blood."

[...]

Interviewer: "The world today views us as people who expert terrorism, violence, and blood, but who do not export any knowledge."

Yacoub Sarraf: "Did you know that they brought here 70,000 terrorist fighters? We have their names and numbers. What exactly have we exported? And to where?"

Interviewer: "To France, Germany, Belgium..."

Yacoub Sarraf: "No way. The terrorist attacks that took place in France and Belgium were carried out by people who received French citizenship. They have never even been to Lebanon."

Interviewer: "Not necessarily Lebanon, but..."

Yacoub Sarraf: "They have never been to Egypt, Iraq, or Morocco either. They were born in Paris. They were born there."

Interviewer: "But who phrased these ideas? Ibn Taymiyyah, Sayyid Qutb..."

Yacoub Sarraf: "No. I reject the notion that we should hold ourselves responsible for an erroneous, misleading idea, or that we should hold ourselves responsible for people who follow this path. The Arab world has rejected these extremist ideas, so you cannot hold me responsible for that ideology. The solution does not lie in torching the Middle East. Even if, for the sake of argument, we accept that you hold us responsible for your own citizens' terrorism, the solution does not lie in torching Lebanon or dividing the Middle East."