BEIRUT, Lebanon, Sept. 29 (UPI) -- Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri called on the Arabs to understand the post-Sept. 11, 2001, world and said Israel's main strategy was to create conflict between Arabs and the United States.
"In this difficult and very critical time in the region, I think the Arab leaders should look at the new world which emerged after Sept. 11," he said during a dinner hosted by the American University of Beirut's Alumni Association Saturday night. "We are being attacked as Muslims and Arabs so how can we face this situation?"
His comments were made available Sunday.
Rejecting calls for either confrontation or submission, he said: "Confrontation by force will not be in our interest because of lack of balance of force between us and those targeting the Arab and Islamic nation and neither crawling would lead to results in favor of the Arabs and Muslims."
He said Arabs should try to understand the post-Sept. 11 "modern world."
Hariri called on Arabs to be more influential in U.S. decision-making like the Jewish lobby because "our cause is just and we have to show and defend our rights.
"Israel's main strategy is to put the Arabs in confrontation with the U.S. and it is working on this day and night," he said. "Israel wants to put us in confrontation with the biggest power in the world."
"We are at the door of a critical and dangerous phase and God knows what's happening," he said. "The indications are almost clear but we also see strong opposition from within the U.S. society of what's being planned to the region."
