Prime Minister Fuad Siniora’s Statement To the Diplomatic Corps during the July 2006 war calling for immediate and unconditional cease-fire and withdrawal to behind the Blue Line

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

I will be brief. This is the time for action, not talk.

With the backing and support of the entire nation, we have left no stone unturned and no avenue unexplored in our sincere desire for a rapid and comprehensive cease-fire and an end to the lethal rampage and carnage carried out by the Israeli army over the past eighteen days in their systematic determination to destroy Lebanon, and were confident that the seven point plan I proposed at the Rome Conference would be supported by all peace-loving nations.

Instead, the Israeli response has been yet another massacre of innocent women and children in the town of Qana which suffered a similar human tragedy ten years ago when Israel cold-bloodedly murdered more than one hundred civilians who had taken refuge at the UN outpost there. They called it “Grapes of Wrath”. What principle of warfare will they invoke this time? Why, we wonder, did they choose Qana yet again? Perhaps this time we should call it “Grapes of Hatred”.

We can only reassert that there is no place on this sad day for any discussion other than our call for an immediate and unconditional cease-fire and withdrawal to behind the Blue Line, as well as an international investigation into the continuing Israeli massacres in Lebanon, in violation of international laws and conventions and basic human decency, without delay. We cannot be expected to negotiate or discuss anything else while the ruthless, pitiless sword of the Israeli war machine continues to drip with the blood of innocent women and children. I also ask you, and this is why I called you here today, to urge your governments, especially those who are members of the Security Council, to back our request for an immediate session of the Security Council and our call for an unconditional cease-fire.

Finally, I would like to assure you that, while we can understand the anger being expressed during the spontaneous demonstrations at UN House that we have been witnessing on our television screens today, we deplore the attacks against the building and ask the demonstrators to express themselves peacefully. UN House is a house for all Lebanese.

Excellencies, ladies, and gentlemen, deep within you, in your heart of hearts, you know that Israel is committing atrocities on a scale that your consciences will not tolerate. So please pass on the truth, the whole unadulterated truth, to your governments and organizations, and urge them to move swiftly to ensure an immediate cease fire and withdrawal to the Blue Line, and back our call for an immediate session of the Security Council.

Thank you.