[Phillips:] Even in the best of times, it's a tense and uncertain region. And these are not the best of times. Here's what we know so far in the Middle East. Hezbollah fighters have launched Katyusha rockets into northern Israel, including the major port city of Haifa. Israel says that it's been hit by more than 70 rockets in the past 24 hours. Dozens of people are wounded. One is confirmed dead. Israeli jets have bombed all three runways at the Beirut airport and now helicopter gunships have taken out airport fuel tanks. Israeli forces also struck a TV station used by Hezbollah and are blockading the Lebanese coast. One more potential worry an Israeli government spokesperson says Hezbollah may try to transfer two abducted Israeli soldiers to Iran. He won't say what information prompted the government's concern. Now, if you think today's events in the Middle East are only about Israel and Lebanon, think again. The effects of this fighting are being felt literally and political in Egypt, Jordan, the Palestinian Territories, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Syria. Joining me now from New York, Syria's ambassador to the United Nations, Bashar Ja'afri. Mr. Ambassador, we want to thank you for being with us. And I'm just going to ask you point blank, are you supporting these Hezbollah attacks on Israel?
[Bashar Ja'afri, Syrian Ambassador To The U.n:] Syria has been consistently supporting national resistance against foreign occupation. Either it is Hezbollah or somebody else. Everywhere on earth there is a foreign occupation, Syria supports national resistance. And the case in Lebanon and as well as in Palestine applies to this principle. The Syrian diplomacy has always been the principle with this regard.
[Phillips:] So you feel that what is happening right now is about, as you say, occupation, whether it's in Gaza or it's Israel pulling out of Shiba Farms, you think it's strictly about land and not about terrorists trying to make a message very clear of what they are capable of doing.
[Ja'afri:] Absolutely, ma'am. Because the only state terrorism in the area is that, the Israeli one. Because who is who? We would like to know, to identify, where is the problem. The problem is laying in the foreign occupation of Palestinian territory, Syrian Golan and part of southern Lebanon. So we are the victims. We are not the victimizers. And...
[Phillips:] You say you're the victims, but you are not the victimizers. But so many innocent civilians are killed in these types of attacks.
[Ja'afri:] Which kind of attacks?
[Phillips:] In these terrorists attacks, specifically Hezbollah attacks. I want to read you something about terrorists operating openly in Damascus. This is according to the 2005 State Department's Country Report on Terrorism. It says, "The Syrian government hosts Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and other terrorist groups. Damascus serves as the main transshipment point in Hezbollah's supply chain." Do you agree with that and are you willing to end ties with these terrorist organizations?
[Ja'afri:] Madam, there is a conflict of terminology with this regard. Syria, since 1986, called for holding an international conference to identify the definition of terrorism. Who is terrorist and who is not terrorist? This confusion of terminology has led to this definition, offered by the American State Department, with regard to national resistance.
[Phillips:] So how would you define terrorism? I just want to ask you, Mr. Ambassador. How would you define terrorism?
[Ja'afri:] Every act, every act military act aiming at terrorizing civilian people is an act of terrorism. So what Israel has been doing for decades in Lebanon, in Palestine, in Syria is exactly and precisely this kind of terrorism I am talking about.
[Phillips:] Do you believe that we are seeing the fighting right now due to Hezbollah and Hamas being involved with the capture of Israeli soldiers?
[Ja'afri:] Madam, this is a very good question, because the answer is the following the Arab-Israeli conflict did not start with the capture of an Israeli soldier in Gaza or two other Israeli soldiers in south Lebanon. The Arab-Israeli conflict is 60 years old, and nobody was paying giving any care to this conflict, to solving this conflict. We had great hope with the Madrid conference, launched in 1990, to solve the Arab-Israeli conflict, but with the visit paid by Sharon to the mosque Al-Aqsa Jerusalem in the late 1990s, the peace process has stopped. So, the those who should be blamed are the Israeli policies, not the Arab policies.
[Phillips:] Let's talk about that peace process, though, and why it has stopped. And no one's disagreeing with you about the history of the violence. I mean, we could go back decades and decades and talk about the political and religious differences and why these battles have not ended and why they continue. But let's talk about right now, and talk about what's happening, and talk about what Hezbollah has done and the fact that you are supporting these attacks. That is no way to a peace process, to support attacks on innocent people, and to capture Israeli soldiers. Is that the way to go about trying to come to the table and have talks and find peace?
[Ja'afri:] Ma'am, there are ten
[Phillips:] Why not talk about why those prisoners are in jail in the first place? Are you saying that every single one of those Arab prisoners are innocent and have never been tied to any attacks attacks with regard to terrorism?
[Ja'afri:] We are talking about those prisoners who are who have been indicted illegally by the Israeli courts, because of their national resistance against foreign occupation. I'm talking exclusively about these these guys.
[Phillips:] Ambassador Bashar Ja'afri, always appreciate your time and your insight, and I'm sure we'll continue to talk throughout the next couple of days.
[Ja'afri:] Thanks a lot.
[Phillips:] Appreciate it.
[Ja'afri:] Thank you very much. Bye-bye.
[Phillips:] We're covering all the angles in this Middle East crisis. We have reporters in Beirut, Lebanon, on the Lebanese-Israeli border and in Jerusalem. Our live coverage continues straight ahead.