Among other roles and positions, seasoned lobbyist Toni Nissi is head of the Aramean Democratic Organization in Lebanon. The Arameans—whose native tongue is Syriac Aramaic rather than Arabic—are one of the earliest Christian communities in the Middle East and have long sought peaceful relations with Israel. They have been persecuted in Turkey, Lebanon, Iraq and Syria for over 1,400 years.
I recently spoke to Mr. Nissi about Israel’s assassination of Hassan Nasrallah, as well as the current social and political climate in Lebanon.
Are you presently in Lebanon?
Yes. I am in the town of Broummana, which is 30 minutes west of Beirut. But I’m originally from Rmaych, a village near the border.
Did you leave Rmaych because of the bombing by Israel?
No. I was raised in Beirut and wanted to move back to this area.
Tell me a bit about your political affiliation.
I’m head of the Aramean Democratic Organization, but that’s only one of the groups in which I’m involved. I’m also president of the Committee for the United Nations Security Council Resolutions for Lebanon.
Do you have to travel to New York for that, or can you participate remotely?
I do travel to New York and Washington from time to time, but I also fly to Europe and really all over the world to lobby on behalf of my country. My objective is to promote the implementation of the various international resolutions that have been passed with regard to Lebanon. I’ve been calling upon the United Nations to live up to Chapter VII of its charter to do that for a long time.
Can you please elaborate?
There are currently three resolutions involving Lebanon that were issued by the UN Security Council. The first was Resolution 1559 in 2004, calling for the disarmament of all Lebanese and non-Lebanese militia in the country and the withdrawal of all foreign soldiers, including the Israelis and the Syrians. It was implemented by the Lebanese people with the support of France and the US. Israel had already left in 2000, so the resolution was really calling for the Syrians to leave, which they did in 2005 after the Cedar Revolution [a series of Lebanese demonstrations against Syrian occupation] and with the help of George W. Bush.
Then after the war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006, the UN issued Resolution 1701, which calls for the disarmament of Hezbollah and the need to find a permanent solution between Lebanon and Israel. The following year, the Security Council issued Resolution 1680, calling for the border demarcation between Lebanon and Syria and the exchange of embassies.
My committee lobbied the Lebanese government and the international community to support the implementation of these resolutions, which would enable the world community to implement these resolutions by force.
From what you’re saying, it seems that you and your people have a lot of faith in the power of the United Nations.
That’s not the case. The United Nations is merely the hub we need to go through to legitimize any international interference. Every time you want to go before the United Nations, you need the support of one of the superpowers, and we believe that the best ally of Lebanon in the UN is the United States.
Resolution 1559 was issued 21 years ago, but so much has changed in the past year alone.
That is true.
When all three of those resolutions were passed Hezbollah was the dominant power in Lebanon. But that is no longer true, correct?
Hezbollah is still powerful inside the country, but it is no longer powerful with regard to Israel. They used to think of themselves as a traditional guerilla organization that was able to counter Israel, but they have now seen that given all of the technology, weaponry and international support for Israel, they have nothing by comparison. We are in a new phase right now, in which Hezbollah can no longer fight Israel but still has enough power to be able to destabilize the situation inside Lebanon.
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