BBC - Radio 4 - The Summer War in the Lebanon

This page has been archived and is no longer updated. Find out more about page archiving.

Accessibility help
Text only
BBC Homepage
BBC Radio

BBC Radio 4 - 92 to 94 FM and 198 Long Wave

Listen to Digital Radio, Digital TV and Online


	Radio 4

News

Religion|Ethics

Messageboards

Radio 4 Tickets

Radio 4 Help

Contact Us

Like this page?
Send it to a friend!

The Summer War in the Lebanon

MISSED A PROGRAMME?
Go to the Listen Again page



	Tuesdays 3 & 10 April 2007 8.00-8.40pm

	Behind the scenes in the Middle East
	First hand accounts from the underground bunkers of Hezbollah, inside the Israeli government in Jerusalem and behind closed doors in Washington and London. Visit our gallery of pictures showing life on the ground in Lebanon


	Ed Stourton uncovers what really went on during the Israeli-Lebanon conflict in the summer of 2006


3-10 April 2007 The Summer War in Lebanon: A Tragedy of Errors Hundreds of civilians were killed and thousands were made homeless during the wave of bombings in Lebanon and rocket attacks on Northern Israel last year. The war started with a border incursion by Hezbollah who killed 8 Israeli soldiers and snatched two more, prompting a massive Israeli response. The crisis caught the international community off guard and everyone became caught up in its mad momentum. Recriminations began almost immediately. Edward Stourton has spent the last six months talking to the key players. He hears from the leaders of Hezbollah in Beirut and from the decision-makers in Jerusalem; he meets the diplomats from the United Nations and the people who were trying to broker a peace. What emerges is an unedifying tale, a tragedy of errors from the moment Hezbollah crossed the border with Israel to the agreement of Resolution 1701 in New York. Was there an Israeli-American conspiracy and did America deliberately give Israel the diplomatic space to continue a war? “What’s wrong with that?” says John Bolton, then US Ambassador to the UN. “I do not recall anybody exercising or asking us to exercise caution.” - Danny Ayalon, former Israeli Ambassador in Washington. And the old allegiances don’t seem to have applied. Several of the key players interviewed claim that many Arab leaders wanted Israel to ‘finish the job’: “There were many not – how should I put it – resistant to the thought that the Israelis should thoroughly defeat Hezbollah, who . . . increasingly by Arab states were seen as an Iranian proxy.” Terje Roed Larsen, UN Special Envoy. Listen again to the first programme


Listen again to the second programme


Those interviewed: John Bolton, former US Ambassador to the UN Margaret Beckett, British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Dr Kim Howells, British Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy, French Foreign Minister Tarek Mitri, Lebanese Foreign Minister Naim Kassem, Deputy Leader of Hezbollah Bashar al-Ja'afari, Syrian Ambassador to the UN Terje Roed Larsen, former UN Secretary General's Special Envoy Dan Gillerman, Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Ayalon, former Israeli Ambassador to the United States Jean Marc de la Sabliere, French Ambassador to the UN Edward Mortimer, former Communications Director to the UN Secretary General Sir Emyr Jones-Parry, British Ambassador to the UN Jan Egeland, former UN Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs Sir Mark Malloch, former deputy to UN Secretary General Benjamin Netanyahu, leader of the Israeli Likud opposition party Ephraim Sneh, Israeli Deputy Defense Minister Mark Regev, Israeli Foreign Ministry Spokesman Sheikh Sobhi el Toufayli










	Audio Help

The Summer War in Lebanon

Listen again

Listen again to the latest edition

News blogs & pods

BBC Newspod
The Editors' Blog

Radio 4 Messageboard

See Also

on Radio 4

Today
Today in Parliament
Any Questions
Listen to the latest news bulletin

on bbc.co.uk

BBC News
BBC World Service
BBC Business
Asian Network Documentaries

on the web

ABC News
Australian news
CNN
Google news
Reuters
Africa.com
Hindustan Times
Le Monde

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites

About the BBC | Help | Terms of Use | Privacy & Cookies Policy