The letter writers, the bloggers and Hezbollah’s leader all react to P.M. Seniora’s opinion piece in the New York Times.
In the Letters section of the Times, some readers were impressed by Seniora’s ideas. Lee from Albany writes:
I am awed by the fact that the leader of a country recently ravaged by war has the clarity of thought to call for diplomacy rather than retaliation.
But not everyone agrees. In fact, the international reaction was in general pretty harsh, some even called the piece “nonsensical”. The main objection seems to be Seniora’s perceived omitting of the Elephant in the room: Hezbollah. Justin from Brooklyn writes:
The glaring omission of any reference to Hezbollah in Prime Minister Fuad Siniora’s article is quite reflective of the Lebanese government’s position toward the group: pretend it doesn’t exist.
On the blog front, Andrew Lee Butters, from the TIME blog, is generally impressed by Seniora’s piece and wants us to “Give Seniora A Chance”. but
One striking thing about the piece [..] is that it never mentions the “H” word. Hizballah, Lebanon’s anti-Israeli militia, started last summer’s mess by kidnapping two Israeli soldiers, and is now holding Siniora’s government hostage with a protest campaign that’s been going on for more than five months. The reason that Arab moderates like Siniora want peace so badly is that war threatens their countries on two fronts — with Israel and with militants at home.
Israelis and pro-Israeli Americans often don’t seem to realize that groups like Hizballah continue to be a potent force because many people in the Arab world see Israel as a real threat to their security.
Ra’ees Al Jumhuriyya, a Lebanese who writes anonymously in Good Neighbors, a blog that promotes Arab-Israeli dialog, attempts to unearth Seniora’s hidden messages in the piece:
what Siniora implied was, “The only way to disarm Hezbollah, stop Syria from arming Hezbollah, stop Iran from arming Hezbollah, and to disarm the Palestinian camps in Lebanon is to go along with the Arab Peace Initiative. If you do this, you’ll completely undermine your enemies (ie, Hezbollah and Syria). Simultaneously, you’ll allow the Lebanese government to assert control over the entire country, which is what you claim you want. There’s no way we can disarm Hezbollah and stabilize Lebanon without you ceding ground. Iran will then stand alone as your only enemy in the region.”
Hassan Nassralah, Hezbollah’s leader was quick to dismiss the Arab peace proposal, portrayed by Seniora as a panacea, as a diabolical plan to shore up Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert.
A statement which was picked up by a blogger to claim that Seniora was not being truthful:
The same day that Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora lies in the op-ed pages of the New York Times about how the Arabs don’t want to destroy Israel, Hassan Nasrallah comes out and says the Arabs shouldn’t make peace with Israel.
Hello, my name is Mustapha and I've been blogging about Lebanese society and politics since February 2005. 
Open letters are for people out of power. (OK Saniora has no power or won’t exercise it).
Open letters are for people who have something new and useful to say. Not the case here.
This is a crazy mind set, telling the world: “solve my problems and I’ll be fine”. (Amine Gemayel, Arafat and many others in the old days).
As a Lebanese, I don’t want my officials to go begging around or hoping a solution is handed down, via divine intervention or external intervention.
Ok Saniora, you were a respected accountant, and now the NYT publishes your frigging letter. Wow!
I expect them to tackle problems, and when they fail to go home. But at least have an idea and try it!
The saudi plan endorsed by sanyora is absolutely impractical and most probably will stumble on the right of return. In general the Israeli Palestinian conflict seems to be set to continue for another decade at least. And of course there is a good chance that the syrians would play their usual role of spoilers.
If anything lebanon should go on a separate deal with israel and the arab league should give the lebanese encouragement and support to do this without waiting for the rest
Excellent round-up. Thanks for the link.
Ok, this is all I had in mind when I mentioned the article, not praise just analysis. Great round up indeed. Thanks Mustapha.
I think that the op-ed pc was an eloquent pc. seniora has demonstrated his statesmanship before, and he does not disappoint in this pc. I do agree with lee from albany in that hez was left out as a man stumbling block in lebanon. Although many might perceive saniora is a weak leader, I think it is quite the opposite. He is tending to a sensitive garden that is lebanon. he wants to appease all sides and no matter what he does, he can never satisfy. nazirallah always shoots off his mouth and stokes the fires of separation and hate.
putting his op-ed in nyt, it is a very smart thing. most of the “jewish power” is in nyc, and not in israel, and to put forth the olive branch, (especially post 9-11 where arabs in this country are “terrorists”), and show that we, too, want peace) is a good move forward.
I feel for saniora, because he is in a pretty dire situation.
That round-up doesn’t do the spirit of the article justice. Yes, leaders like Siniora have domestic groups that are destabilizing, but that is not to say that this is the sole reason for this stance. Remember the Saudi Peace Plan was in fact launched in 2002, before most Lebanese perceived Hizbollah as a threat or al-Qaeda was as prevalent within the Middle East as it is today. I think his piece makes the argument that militias like Hizbollah may be illegal are fighting for a legitimate cause. Of course disarming Hizbollah is a long-term goal for Lebanon for what stable country in the world can you think of that has two militaries? The basis of international relations theory says that in order for a state to really gain sovereignty and stability is through having a monopoly on military power. Hizbollah has always said to the West that Hizbollah’s arms is a domestic issue and we will sort it out together domestically. To have written about Hizbollah while addressing an American audience would have betrayed this stance and would have been an example of a Lebanese inviting the West in to Lebanon. Asking for balanced help on the Israeli issue is necessary. All these years Israel has refused to make peace by discrediting their negotiating partners and trying to maintain some sort of moral high ground. I was glad to see the tables turned for a change.
The assumption that Siniora is hell-bent on disarming Hizbollah in some sort of vindinctive fashion is unfair. Siniora’s article is not saying there is good will between us, let’s kiss and make up. He is saying look, there are strategic reasons for peace. And the conflict can’t go on like this forever. Don’t forget, as a ruler, if your goal is to develop a country and achieve stability, your concerns are nuanced and they include economic and security concerns. Screaming death to Israel will help Lebanon achieve neither. Hizbollah’s weapons and sacrifices for Lebanese’ independence have played a pivotal role in securing Israel’s withdrawal from the south, but I don’t see how they brought the country stability or security. There are many things to criticize Siniora for, but these goals for Lebanon are really ones in Lebanon’s interests. Why discredit them?
I don’t have enough information about the political situation here in Lebanon to argue for or against siniora’s actions or intentions. What I do know however, excuse my pessimism, is that making peace in the arab region is probably impossible. Not because hezbulla is standing in the way of peace, because Israel is. Israel is reason for lack of peace in the arab world. I’m sorry to bore you with information you already know, but Israel invaded palestine with a ridiculous “motive”. What makes you all so sure that it won’t eventually attack Lebanon, Syria and Iran. While we’re all so busy hating each other, Isreal schemes away….We’re busy blaming Nasralla for “stroking the fire of separation and hate” instead of realizing that hezulla actually CAME ABOUT because of Israel. Isreal had CAUSED Lebanon’s instability in the 1st place. Siniora is ignoring so many things, taking the easy way out…why?? Maybe he’s just gaining personnal benefit from it all. I can think of so many reasons.
Then again…I don’t know enough about politics to really argue about this.