Deputy Prime Minister Issam Fares has delivered a speech before five thousand persons that have gathered to listen to the former president of the United States, George Bush in the framework of the annual Issam M. Fares Lecture Series at Boston’s Tufts University.




Mr. Fares stressed that the September 11th events have mixed all the cards and deepened the complexity of the Middle-East issues and conflicts. He said: “It is true that those who committed the crime were Arab and Muslim individuals, however trying to hold the Arab civilization and Muslim religion responsible for that evil act is neither fair nor does it reflect the essence of the Arab civilization and Muslim religion which is based on tolerance. Furthermore, it does not serve the future of the relations between Arabs and Americans”.

Mr. Fares added: “In order to face the terror challenge and contain the late tension in the US-Arab relations, the US and the countries of the region are bound to resume the peace process in the Middle-East in order to reach a just, global and permanent solution. They should also set to find a solution to the deep causes of these problems based on the principles of respect of the legitimate interests of the concerned parties and the national aspirations of the peoples of this region on one hand, and the respect of liberties, democratic values, human rights, equity and justice, on the other hand”.

Fare also stressed the importance of rectifying the false stereotyped image the western media is projecting about Arabs and Muslims and which was reinforced after the September 11th acts of terrorism. He pointed that both Arabs and Muslims have strongly and vehemently condemned these acts. He urged all parties to deploy all necessary political, cultural and academic efforts that would lead to a historic understanding between the three religions that emanated from the Middle East: Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and between the civilization that arose from them.

President Bush was keen on showing his great appreciation for the Arab and Muslim cultures and he paid tribute to the historic relations between the United States and these cultures as well as their relations with the Arab and Muslim people and states. He said that some individuals have tried to tarnish and harm these relations and this culture but have failed to do so because they were not able to put an end to a whole history of human relations between the United States and the American people on one hand and the Arab and Muslim states and people on the other hand.
Mr. Bush also paid tribute to Lebanon stressing on the historic relations between the two countries and their people.