Press TV has conducted an interview with Mohsen Saleh, professor at the Lebanese University, to further discuss the issue.

The program also offers the opinion of two additional guests: independent journalist, Richard Millet, and Abdullah Abdullah with the Fatah Movement.

What follows is an approximate transcription of the interview.

Press TV: What do you think of the latest protest that were taking place? Of course, they took place last summer and then again we saw this summer once more. Is this something different? Is this crossing the political lines in Israel?

Saleh: No, actually Israel is an entity built on occupation and of course since there is a financial problem in the West and in the United States and aids to this entity has been at least dropped a little bit so they feel, the people, that Israeli settlers will feel that there is a problem in their social life and the advancement and social security and of course also the military assistance will be also dropped. Since these issues raised lately then the Israelis will feel that they are in a great problem it might reach to the feeling that their existence is having a real problem.

That’s why I guess there are hard times for the Israelis and the people should think that they should leave Palestine to its people as some people would say, Palestine should be returned to the Palestinians not [kept] for the settlers coming from all over the world. So they [would] solve their social and also security problems.

Press TV: Dr. Saleh I want to get your response I think Mr. Millet said you are one of the perhaps this is the usual talk that there is violence against Israel and it has to defend itself?

Saleh: There is no violence. Always Israel is the spring of all terrorist acts and threats of the region, of the whole region that is why they are occupying the West Bank, Gaza and Palestinian, and Golan Heights, and the South of Lebanon and the Israelis were occupying the Arab lands from Palestine until now.

I guess at a time when the Americans are reducing their military budget all the European countries are having social problems in their budgets and in their financial issues I guess it is about time for the Western people and the Americans as some of these students in the United States, they feel that Israel is a burden, is an apartheid, not only apartheid, occupying state there is a kind of occupation starting from 1948 till now occupying Palestine.

Why do we have a Palestinian issue? Why do we have a Palestinian question? Why do we have 7 million Palestinians outside of Palestine? And there will be a time soon enough when the Americans will call in their administrations, stop these foreign aids especially to Israel because you are causing a lot of pains and problems to the Palestinians and to the Arabs.

Press TV: Don’t you think these voices are still somewhat limited? I mean we have heard from all US candidates that the alliance between the United States and Israel is something that is unbreakable.

Saleh: When this capitalism system is having a lot of problems and they will feel that these aids will put hindrances in their social system and in their social aids to their people. Then they feel the Americans and the administration will feel that these aids also cause a lot of problems for these people.

That is why I guess there will be a time when these Western countries will as [British Foreign Secretary] Jack Straw said Balfour declaration was a historical mistake. Let them change or at least correct this historical mistake by causing problems for the Jews, bringing them from all over the world to a situation where they cannot live peacefully, they cannot socially interact even with each other or with their neighbors that’s why we have a problem, we have to solve it, we have to solve it by returning these Jews to their original land. They have dual citizenship from Poland or from the United States. Let them go back as Americans say one of the journalists in the United States said clearly that the Jews should return to their countries.

Press TV:Are you ignoring the fact that there were Jews as part of the population

Saleh:There were Jews, there were Christians, there are also Jews who do not like to see Israel and they talk about Palestine everybody in all the historical books, they talk about Palestine. There is nothing in history called Israel and we know that there were Jews in Lebanon, there are Jews in Syria, there are Jews in Egypt, they were not kicked out or treated in a hate way or treated in anti-Semitic as somebody would say anti- Semitic, the Arabs are Semites also.

And the problem is with the occupation of Zionists and the Americans who are hated by the Arabs, why they are hated by the Arabs because they are behaving in an arrogant manner, in a way that they really try to let the Arabs be subservient for their policies in the region and also the problem is that the massacres committed by the Jews, by some Jews, of course the Zionists against the Palestinians. And now we talk about such things; everybody knows Kefir Qasim massacre, Deir Yassin massacre and now all the Christians in Jerusalem (al-Quds) you know that Jews are doing bad things against the Christians.

Press TV:What do you think of the presentation of Prime Minister Netanyahu at the UN General Assembly? Some analysts believe it was reminiscent of Colin Powell’s presentation when he spoke of the Iraqi weapons of mass destruction.

Saleh:It is about time for the West and the United States to stop this Zionist regime from creating problems in the region. It is shame on the international community to hear someone who is having more than 200 nuclear bombs to threat others from using uranium for civil purposes.

And it’s about time for the United States and the West to tell this Zionist entity that you do not have the right to intervene in others problems or in others regimes or in others destiny. Care about yourself and you should leave the country for its owners the Palestinians are the owners they are in the United States, they are in Britain, they are in France the Palestinians should go back. There is a UN resolution 194 talking about the Palestinians to go back to their countries and the Israelis do not have any kind of right to bomb either the Iraqi or the Syrian nuclear reactors because these reactors were for civil purposes.

The Americans and the Western powers they are having tens of thousands of nuclear heads. Why nobody would tell them well okay disarm yourself first before you talk to others to stop their enrichment of uranium for civil purposes, for hospitals, for industrial purposes, for many things.

And I guess the Iranians now are now more powerful than what the Israelis think of themselves and they have the confidence that Iran is not Iraq, Iran is not Syria, Iran is a powerful country, is a great country in this country no one can dictate on Iranians what to do or what not to do.

They have their sovereignty, they are not an occupying regime like the Israelis, they are historically having this country in order to use all the resources what they have in order to emulate their situation.

Press TV: Do you think if Obama wins the elections how would he react to Prime Minister Netanyahu?

Saleh: Well at least you should understand that people all over the world especially in the West they think that the United States and Israel are the source of problems in the whole world and on the security of the whole world and should re-schedule their policies towards the region and especially towards the rights of the Palestinians.