The following are excerpts from a symposium of students at Universite Libanaise, hosted by Hizbullah's Al-Manar TV and broadcast on November 29, 2005. The symposium marked the anniversary of November 29, 1947, the day the U.N. General Assembly passed the Partition Plan, which is marked annually in the Arab world with ceremonies of solidarity with the Palestinians. Al-Manar's TV symposium was devoted to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and participants included Shafiq Al-Hut, a former PLO representative in Lebanon, and Palestinian, Lebanese and Syrian students.
It should be noted that Universite Libanaise [1] is Lebanon's only government-run university, and the country's largest. [2]
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Mediator: "The Arab regimes have all accepted the establishing of a Palestinian state on the territories of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. In other words, the 1967 borders only. They believe that the reality and the balance of power do not allow more than that at this stage. Do you support this 'realism,' or do you adhere to what has come to be known as the historical, original Palestine? Let us... Let us... Go ahead."
Student 1: "My name is Hisham Sham'as, and I study political science. I just want to say everyone is talking about..."
Mediator: "Please address the question."
Hisham Sham'as: "The state shouldn't be only within the 1976 borders... Or rather, 1967... Israel must be wiped out."
Mediator: "You mean, reviving the motto of erasing Israel from the map."
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Hisham Sham'as: "Israel should be completely wiped out, so the Palestinians will have a country to return to."
Mediator: "If someone tells you this motto is unrealistic, how would you respond?"
Hisham Sham'as: "There is no such thing as unrealistic. Just as Israel... Just like Hitler fought the Jews - We are a great Islamic nation of Jihad, and we too should fight the Jews and burn them."
[...]
Student 2: "Avian flu hit the entire world, and they are trying to find a cure for it now. As for Israel - the only cure for it is to wipe it off the map."
[...]
Mediator: "What's your name?"
Student 3: "Mahmoud Fakhri. I hope what I have to say is not too inciting."
Mediator: "Go ahead and incite. This is what we're looking for. We want some action."
Mahmoud Fakhri: "In all honesty, the Arab people should overturn the disappointing regimes."
Mediator: "Now you are really inciting..."
Fakhri: "In all honesty, any disappointing government that wants to normalize relations with the Zionist enemy and to sell out the Arab cause, and especially Jerusalem - the people must topple this regime and have its say."
[1] The University was created in 1953 by the Lebanese State. According to its website, it is "morally independent and enjoys administrative, academic and financial autonomy." The rector is Dr. Ibrahim Kobeissi. The site is both in French and Arabic, but the home page is in French http://www.ul.edu.lb/index.htm . The University Rector - Ibrahim Kobeissi, wrote the following in his personal message on the site: "The Universite Libanaise is a legal entity enjoying administrative, academic and financial autonomy. Its mission mainly focuses on the following three points: teaching, research and the spreading of culture [...] The philosophy of the university is founded on freedom of thought, independent judgment and reject of authoritarianism." http://www.ul.edu.lb/francais/presiden.htm
[2] According to the University's website, in the academic year 2000/2001 there were 68,510 students. 85.7% of the 6,165 foreign students in 2000/2001 came from Arab countries.
