<
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/oct/24/macron-opens-conference-ceasefire-lebanon-israel>
"Emmanuel Macron has warned Benjamin Netanyahu that “civilisation is not best
defended by sowing barbarism ourselves”, as a conference convened by the French
president in Paris raised $200m (£154m) for Lebanon’s official military and
$800m in humanitarian aid for the country.
Macron also vowed to help train 6,000 extra Lebanese official forces. He called
for a ceasefire and an end to Israeli attacks on UN peacekeepers, for which he
said there was no justification.
The twin aims of the conference were to alleviate the humanitarian suffering in
Lebanon and to strengthen Lebanese state institutions including the official
army. France has historical ties to Lebanon and has a large Lebanese diaspora
population.
In his opening remarks, Macron also said it was a matter of bitter regret that
Iran, backer of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, had “engaged Hezbollah
against Israel, while Lebanon’s higher interest required that it stay away from
the Gaza war”.
In words directed at the Israeli prime minister, with whom his relationship has
deteriorated badly, he said: “We have been talking a lot in recent days about a
war of civilisations or about civilisations that must be defended. I am not
sure that we defend a civilisation by sowing barbarism ourselves.”"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
