Following are excerpts from an interview with Lebanese music video director Yehya Saade, which aired on Rotana Music TV on August 18, 2008.
To view this clip, visit http://www.memri.org/legacy/clip/1845.
Interviewer: "Are homosexuals on your agenda?"
Yahya Saade: "My agenda is about the freedom of any human being. My agenda is about personal liberties. We should respect and accept one another, despite all our differences. Not everybody is the same, and if we were, it would be boring. We have no right to hate or reject other people, because of personal issues that have nothing to do with us. It is his life, and he is free to do as he pleases. You can decide whether this suits you or not, but we have no right to prevent other people from living their lives as they see fit..."
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Interviewer: "Yehya Saade, are you a homosexual?"
Saade: "Let's leave it to... and not talk about it in front of the whole world."
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Interviewer: "Are you for or against the 9/11 attacks on America?"
Saade: "What would you like me to say – for or against?"
Interviewer: "Tell me, are you for or against? Tell me the truth, without embellishing it – what you say when you are with your friends."
Saade: "I am for them."
Interviewer: "Why?"
Saade: "Because in my view, they constituted a very loud cry, which raised a very important question within American and European society: Why is the world shouting so loudly now? What did we do to make them shout so loudly in our face? In American society, many people are asking this question, and they should have asked it."
Interviewer: "You support extremist ways of expression in order to reject injustice? People can be extremist..."
Saade: "September 11 was a big extravaganza. It captured the attention of all the international media, live on TV."
Interviewer: "It was a great tragedy, yet you say..."
Saade: "I am against the human tragedy, but I was astounded by the magnitude of the event."
