April 2, 2019

Tom Harb, the Co-Chair of the American Mideast Coalition for Democracy, said in a March 7, 2019 interview on Al-Alam TV (Iran) that the Palestinians began with their refusals to peace with Israel with the 1947 Partition Plan, and he explained that Arab countries are starting to think about their own interest since the Palestinians haven’t offered any solutions. He also said that Lebanon’s economy is weak and that foreign companies are unwilling to invest in it because of Hizbullah’s unchecked influence.

https://www.memri.org/player/clip/42336/1/1

Following are excerpts:

Tom Harb: In 1948 [sic], there was the U.N. [Partition] Resolution, and that was when the Palestinians began with their refusal. This refusal continues to this day.

[…]

The Arab countries are saying: “The Palestinians always refuse everything, but they do not offer a solution regarding where we want to be at the end of the day. Are we destined to forever be caught in the vortex of a political and security storm? Or do we want to reach a point where we will be able to think about our economy and our industry?”

[…]

When Bashar Al-Assad destroyed the Yarmouk refugee camp, and when his father destroyed Tripoli’s Nahr Al-Bared and Badawi refugee camps – they were liberating Palestine?

[…]

Hizbullah turned its weapons to Lebanon’s domestic front in 2008. Today, it relies on Iran and has missiles that even the Lebanese army doesn’t have. One should ask why we do not have a strong economy in Lebanon. Why don’t we have strong trade?

Host: Because of the U.S. sanctions…

Tom Harb: No foreign company is willing to invest in Lebanon, like in Eastern Europe following the collapse of the USSR. The reason is that [Hizbullah] strikes fear in the people and is outside of the state’s control.