Lebanon FM rejects maritime agreement between Israel and Cyprus

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Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour said in a letter to the U.N. Monday that the agreement that was signed last year between Israel and Cyprus to demarcate the controversial Israeli maritime borders is a violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty and economic rights.

“This agreement is a violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty and economic rights and threatens peace and security in the area,” Mansour said, following reports that Israel was conducting offshore drilling for oil and gas in the Mediterranean, some of which might fall in Lebanese territorial waters.

Mansour urged U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to take the necessary measures to prevent any conflict that might occur as a result of Israel’s offshore activities.

Cyprus and Israel signed an agreement last December that defines their maritime borders and allows the two nations to forge ahead in the search for energy sources in the eastern Mediterranean.

Turkey too strongly objected to the agreement last December saying it also has rights and interests in the area.

In August of that year, Lebanese MPs passed a law authorizing exploration and drilling of offshore oil and gas fields.

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30 responses to “Lebanon FM rejects maritime agreement between Israel and Cyprus”

  1. eblashko Avatar
    eblashko

    Impossible to have negotiations over maritime borders if one side refuses to negotiate with the other. Instead of complaining about it, why not recognize Israel and negotiate with it. Plus, if you look at that map, the gas is clearly in Israeli waters. 

    1. 5thDrawer Avatar
      5thDrawer

      Well … there’s gas for sure … and a lot of it comes from politicians.

  2.  Avatar
    Anonymous

    Impossible to have negotiations over maritime borders if one side refuses to negotiate with the other. Instead of complaining about it, why not recognize Israel and negotiate with it. Plus, if you look at that map, the gas is clearly in Israeli waters. 

    1.  Avatar
      Anonymous

      Israel has most of it, but look carefully Lebanon has a lot of the gas also.

    2.  Avatar
      Anonymous

      The problem with these radicals is they would rather shot at people than to sit and talk for the good of all.
      Yes I understand politics is like football we have sides, but in politics we are playing with peoples lives and not a ball.
      It is sad .
      Lebanon wants to have peace with Isreal but how can you when you have HA pointing guns at them.

      Eblashko I want to ask a ???   Why did Isreal need to attack Lebanon in the last 60 years, I have asked many people and have not got a response. From what I understand because of the Plo first firing rockets over the border to Isreal but can you help with this.
      Thank you .   

      1.  Avatar
        Anonymous

        Good question, master. The truth is Israel never really fought “Lebanon” but only groups in Lebanon. In the wars of 1967 and 1973, the Lebanese stayed out, and so there was no fighting. 

        The PLO is exactly why Israel invaded Lebanon in 1982. It was put off as long as possible, but Arafat and his gang of thugs kept committing terror inside Israel from their bases in Lebanon. These acts include hijacking schoolbuses and murdering children and women. Seeing as the Lebanese army was incapable of stopping the PLO, it collapsed, and the Lebanese Civil War started. It was then that we invaded Lebanon as allies with some Christian Lebanese factions. So to say we “attacked Lebanon” is not really true. We fought in Lebanese territory , but it was against the Palestinians and their Syrian allies.. NOT the Lebanese.

        The problem is that around the same time, the new Islamic Republic of Iran, who hated Israel, sent some of its men to start Hezbollah among Shiite Lebanese. Then all of a sudden, there’s a new military group in Lebanon who’s committed to Israel’s destruction, and even after the PLO is gone, there’s a threat. That’s why we had to stay in S. Lebanon… to prevent Hezbollah from taking over and to protect our Christian allies, the SLA, and to counteract the occupation of N. Lebanon by the Syrians, who are also bent on Israel’s destruction. 

        Unfortunately, we did leave  South Lebanon without HA being properly disarmed, and HA (Iran) effectively took over the entire country since, and also started a war with Israel for no reason  in 2006 that left thousands dead. It was foolish of Israel to respond to HA’s kidnappings, murders, and rockets the way it did, leaving many civilians dead. But even in this war, again, it was not Israel vs. Lebanon, or the Lebanese, but Israel vs. Hezbollah, an Iranian army branch in Lebanon that is trying to destroy Israel.

        You’d find that if there were no groups in Lebanon that were bent on Israel’s destruction, then Lebanon would be a much safer place. You can’t blame Israelis for being a bit jumpy when Hezbollah, who has more rockets than most world armies, talks the way it does about destroying Israel.

        1.  Avatar
          Anonymous

          hey guy we got you ,u work for Mossad.u want Lebanon to become a colonie of the zioniste but there is very few zioniste in Lebanon that your problem so you put forward zioniste propanganda

        2.  Avatar
          Anonymous

          “Unfortunately, we did leave South Lebanon without HA being properly disarmed”
          Shebaa and Ghajar are still occupied according to the Lebanese government. Under UN law, an armed resistance is legal.

          “there’s a new military group in Lebanon who’s committed to Israel’s destruction,”
          No. HA is comitted to ridding the holy land of zionism. If the jews in Israel refuse zionism, allow Palestinians the same right of return the jews claimed, HA will accept a one or two state solution.
          Really, there is a group in Israel comitted to the destruction of Palestine and Palestinian identity. It’s known as Zionism.
          No one is bent on Israel’s destruction as in “drving the jews into the sea”. You should probably read HA’s open letter, and 2009 political manifesto. 

          “Hezbollah, an Iranian army branch in Lebanon”
          Why do many Israelis think like this? HA is a Lebanese group which models Iran’s structure. It does no take orders from anyone other than it’s leader and Shura council. I think this has been spoon fed to you by your leaders to keep you in a constant state of fear, and to keep the the drums beating.

          “You’d find that if there were no groups in Lebanon that were bent on Israel’s destruction, then Lebanon would be a much safer place”
          Wrong again. Ariel Sharon said that the Litani river must be under Israeli control one day. That has nothing to do with the PLO or HA. This shows that Israel is eager for war and expansion and HA will have none of it.

        3.  Avatar
          Anonymous

          @Crossed:disqus  Dude, if you think I should not pretend to know about Hezbollah, then you can’t pretend to know about Zionism. First of all:

           “Shebaa and Ghajar are still occupied according to the Lebanese government. Under UN law, an armed resistance is legal.”

          According to the UN, Shebaa and Ghajar are both Syrian. I’m not saying they are or not, but I am saying that we won then from Syria in 1967 and that when we withdrew in 2000, the UN declared that we had totally disengaged from Southern Lebanon. Plus, HA has NEVER once offered peace or to disarm in the event of a withdrawal from Shebaa, and has repeatedly said that it would only use it as a means to continue the conflict. Not a very smart business move to give up Shebaa for nothing. On the contrary, if HA were to offer peace in exchange for Shebaa,

          “No. HA is comitted to ridding the holy land of zionism. If the jews in
          Israel refuse zionism, allow Palestinians the same right of return the
          jews claimed, HA will accept a one or two state solution.”

          If this is what they believe, they’ve never said so publicly. Not once have they ever hinted at acceptence of Israel in any form. And how could Jews in Israel refuse Zionism?? Zionism by definition means the rights of Jews to live in their homeland, Israel. It has nothing to do with Palestine or Palestinians. On the contrary, it’s Palestinian nationalism that has adopted the platform of ridding the Holy Land of its Jews. The proof is in the Jewish acceptance and Arab rejection of every partition plan offered to both parties since the Peel Partition plan of 1936 which offered Jews merely and Galilee and the coastal strip while offering Arabs everything else.

          “HA is a Lebanese group which models Iran’s structure. It does not take
          orders from anyone other than it’s leader and Shura council. I think
          this has been spoon fed to you by your leaders to keep you in a constant
          state of fear, and to keep the the drums beating.”

          Hezbollah has never given any indication that it isn’t a puppet of Iran, and has NEVER put Lebanon’s interest ahead of Persia’s. That’s why you have report after report of HA men helping to kill civilians in Syria and Persia.

          “Ariel Sharon said that the Litani river must be under
          Israeli control one day. That has nothing to do with the PLO or HA. This
          shows that Israel is eager for war and expansion and HA will have none
          of it.”

          Being Lebanese, I would expect you of all people to know that the views of one politician don’t represent everybody and that politicians can change their tune at the drop of a dime. You brought up Sharon as a example. In 2000, he was elected on a platform of Hawkish conservatism, proclaiming that we’d never leave Gaza, yet in 2005, he changed his mind, broke off from Likud, founded Kadima, and withdrew from Gaza. There is not one politician today hat claims that our Northern Border should be the Litani. There is also not one Israeli politician today who would refuse peace offered by Hezbollah for the exchange of Shebaa.

          If Israel was eager for War and expansion, as you claim, would it have given up the Sinai (which is 4x larger than Israel proper) for peace with Egypt, which has upheld since Would they have withdrawn all military and settlements from Gaza for the sake of peace in 2005? Your arguements are flawed. The reason Israel occupies land is because there doesn’t exist a polity that could responsibly take over that land and not be a threat to Israel or its citizens.

          Zionists are just looking to live in the homeland of their ancestors in peace. It has nothing to do with expansion or war. Egypt realized that, and we’ve had a quiet border fr 30 years. Jordan realized that, and both countries are profiting greatly from it. Syria hasn’t realized. Hamas hasn’t realized. And Hezbollah never realized. Unfortunately, Hamas runs Gaza and Hezbollah runs Lebanon.

        4.  Avatar
          Anonymous

          “According to the UN, Shebaa and Ghajar are both Syrian. I’m not saying they are or not, but I am saying that we won then from Syria in 1967”
          Syria has said they belong to Lebanon. And even so, “winning” land by war is illegal. Israel must withdraw. You use the UN many times to legitimize Israel’s actions. Well here the UN is clear. Israel must withdraw.

          “it would only use it as a means to continue the conflict”
          Whats wrong with that? If someone occupies your land you have the right to resist. The conflict with Lebanon ends once Israel leaves all Lebanese land, of which shebba and Ghajar are included.

          “If this is what they believe, they’ve never said so publicly.”
          Yes they have. Read their manifesto. They say once the zionism which is racist , is abolished they will consider all the jews in present Israel as real jews and worthy peace partners. This is the same stance many non-zionist rabbis take too.

          “Zionism by definition means the rights of Jews to live in their homeland, Israel”
          Really? is that all it is? I think you don’t know or totally understand what real zionism is. “Jewish villages were built in the place of Arab villages. You do not even know the names of these Arab villages, and I do not blame you because geography books no longer exist… There is not a single place built in this country that did not have a former Arab population.” Moshe Dayan, address to the Technion, Haifa, reported in Haaretz, April 4, 1969.

          That is the sick and twisted mentality of zionist leaders, especially this guy here, Theodore Herzl, I think he was the founder of the movement right?

          “Spirit the penniless population across the frontier by denying it employment… Both the process of expropriation and the removal of the poor must be carried out discreetly and circumspectly” in reference to Arabs.

          So don’t tell me zionism is all about bringing back a jewish population ot an empty land. Your leaders, both mordern and in the past follow this racist agenda. So that means Lebanese are rightly fearful of israeli aggression because the ideology is aggressive, so it doesn’t matter whose in charge, Sharon or not.

          “If Israel was eager for War and expansion, as you claim, would it have given up the Sinai ”
          Because it’s not a part of “eretz Israel” so it “doesn’t matter”.

          “Zionists are just looking to live in the homeland of their ancestors in peace. It has nothing to do with expansion or war.”
          What about the Palestinians who want to live in their homeland of their ancestors in peace? You keep dodging the point that Palestinians claim the SAME right of return the european jews did. If it applies to one peoples it applies to all. Zionism is all about rejecting that, which is racist and why as HA and many rabbis claim Zionism needs to be abolished.

    3.  Avatar
      Anonymous

      Well … there’s gas for sure … and a lot of it comes fro politicians.

  3.  Avatar
    Anonymous

    Impossible to have negotiations over maritime borders if one side refuses to negotiate with the other. Instead of complaining about it, why not recognize Israel and negotiate with it. Plus, if you look at that map, the gas is clearly in Israeli waters. 

  4. sam_shaker Avatar
    sam_shaker

    Then do something about it. All the politicians in Lebanon do is criticize each other and have meetings and lunches. Then go to bed and do the same thing the next day. You don’t like Mr Minister then let’s take our shares and if anyone stops us, then shoot the bastards and I don’t care who its. Otherwise you all been talking about this crap over over a year now and nothing was done. Fix the roads and electricity and water and prepare either for Tourism or possible war with Israel this summer.

  5.  Avatar
    Anonymous

    Then do something about it. All the politicians in Lebanon do is criticize each other and have meetings and lunches. Then go to bed and do the same thing the next day. You don’t like Mr Minister then let’s take our shares and if anyone stops us, then shoot the bastards and I don’t care who its. Otherwise you all been talking about this crap over over a year now and nothing was done. Fix the roads and electricity and water and prepare either for Tourism or possible war with Israel this summer.

  6. master09 Avatar
    master09

    Stop the crying, why don’t you talk to Isreal so both countries and its PEOPLE YES PEOPLE benefit from jobs. Both can make trillions out of this.  

  7.  Avatar
    Anonymous

    Stop the crying, why don’t you talk to Isreal so both countries and its PEOPLE YES PEOPLE benefit from jobs. Both can make trillions out of this.  

  8. It s time to negotiate peace with Israel which will benefit all Lebanese…Gas and Petrol money is waiting for Lebanese to dig in..why not take advantage of it and start paying our national debt instead of worrying if Israel should or should not exist…Face it..As a Lebanese, for my own good, I have and Must accept the fact that Israel exists and is going nowhere..ENOUGH WARS for LEBANON! enough is enough…

  9. It s time to negotiate peace with Israel which will benefit all Lebanese…Gas and Petrol money is waiting for Lebanese to dig in..why not take advantage of it and start paying our national debt instead of worrying if Israel should or should not exist…Face it..As a Lebanese, for my own good, I have and Must accept the fact that Israel exists and is going nowhere..ENOUGH WARS for LEBANON! enough is enough…

  10. It s time to negotiate peace with Israel which will benefit all Lebanese…Gas and Petrol money is waiting for Lebanese to dig in..why not take advantage of it and start paying our national debt instead of worrying if Israel should or should not exist…Face it..As a Lebanese, for my own good, I have and Must accept the fact that Israel exists and is going nowhere..ENOUGH WARS for LEBANON! enough is enough…

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