Subscribe Today
Request a Clip
Claudine Aoun-Roukoz, Lebanese President Michel Aoun's daughter and special advisor, said in a September 23, 2020 interview on OTV (Lebanon) that before Lebanon can have peace with Israel like the UAE and Bahrain, its border disputes with Israel must be resolved. She said that everybody wants peace and argued that the weapons of "the resistance" are legitimate according to the Lebanese constitution and international law. In addition, she said that once Lebanon’s border disputes with Israel are resolved, she would support a defensive strategy in which all Lebanese people would be part of "the resistance" and would be able to defend Lebanon if it is attacked. She added that she supports the "principle of peace" and that she would like to go to Jerusalem someday. Aoun-Roukoz serves as the President of the National Commission for Lebanese Women, and she is the wife of Lebanese MP Chamel Roukoz, a former Brigadier-General in the Lebanese military.
Interviewer: "We have recently seen the normalization of relations with Israel. It started with the UAE, then Bahrain, and maybe Saudi Arabia will join soon, nobody knows when. Some people in Lebanon say: 'We support this normalization. Let us live in peace. We do not want wars. We Lebanese love life.' Are you in favor of this peace today?"
Claudine Aoun-Roukoz: "The border issue must be resolved first. Has there been a demarcation of Lebanon's borders yet? We still have disputed areas. Today, we are talking about the weapons of the resistance, but the weapons of the resistance have been recognized as legitimate since the 1990s by all the governments, and in all their ministerial statements, on the basis of the general international law that guarantees the right to legitimate defense. So the legitimacy of the weapons has continued since the 1990s. Like in the town of Al-Qaa. What happened in Al-Qaa when ISIS came? Didn't the locals take up weapons to protect their town? This is legitimate defense and it is guaranteed by the Lebanese constitution, which abides by international law.
"When the demarcation of the borders is done and the problems are resolved, I will definitely be in favor of a defensive strategy, in which all of us in Lebanon will be resistance fighters. We will have a plan B in case anyone attacks us in the north, in Akkar, in the Beqqa, or in the south, and ultimately we will definitely return to peace, but let us first resolve the problem of those Lebanese lands.
[...]
"Our first challenge is the economic crisis. We should form a government, like the President said. We should hold a dialogue over our defensive strategy, and resolve our problem with Israel.
[...]
"Who among us does not support the principle of peace? I would like to go to Jerusalem. I definitely want to go to Jerusalem. We all do."
Interviewer: "Of course. We all support peace."
Aoun-Roukoz: "But first we must resolve all the problems."
Latest Clips
