Lebanese Journalist Ziad Njeim: Even In An Enemy Country Like Israel, There Are People Who Want Peace, Dialogue

Lebanese journalist Ziad Njeim said in a December 15, 2020 interview on Al-Jadeed/New TV (Lebanon) that he supports any just cause or just person, even in an enemy country like Israel. He gave the example of the Israeli "Peace Now" movement that began during the 1982 Lebanon War. He said that even amongst one's enemies, there are people who want to make peace, and he expressed his desire for peace. When the interviewer asked about "what the Israelis did to us," Njeim said that the Syrians, the Palestinians, and other Arabs have also done things that have damaged Lebanon. For more about Ziad Njeim, see MEMRI TV clips No. 6412, 5807, and 5289.

Ziad Njeim: "I sympathize with every person – and not just in Lebanon – and I support every just cause. Even in a country that we view as an enemy, like Israel, I sympathize with every person I think has rights. In 1982, when Israel occupied the second Arab capital, Menachem Begin was Israel's Prime Minister, and Ariel Sharon was [the Defense Minister]. At that time, a movement called 'Peace Now' emerged. Four thousand people protested against Begin and Sharon, and I identify with them, because they opposed the Likud Party, which wanted to destroy and annihilate us. I think that in each of the enemy's hands, there is one finger that loves you and wants to talk to you. But there are one, two, three, or four fingers that want to stop the finger of peace. I am not talking about a weak man's peace, but a brave man's peace – not the way Syrians see peace, but the way the Lebanese do.

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Interviewer: "Do you support normalization and peace with Israel?"

Njeim: "I support peace... But don't quite me saying that I support peace with Israel, and then edit out [the rest of my statement]. That would be like saying, 'There is no god' and cutting out 'but Allah.'"

Interviewer: "But that's all it takes..."

Njeim: "No, it isn't..."

Interviewer: "I have a question – what about what the Israelis did to us?"

Njeim: "The Syrians also did things to us, yet we still negotiate with them. So? Some Palestinian factions violated Lebanon's sovereignty, liberty, and independence, yet we still say that the Palestinian cause is the central issue. So? I can tell about you about Arab intelligence agencies that have damaged us more than Israel has."