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Summit of Lebanon's Religious leaders –Christian
and Muslim- to Denounce the War on Lebanon
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
At a time Lebanon is still tending to wounds generated by a series
of internal wars that had ravaged the country for 15 years; and at a
time when Lebanon was busy rebuilding its socio-economic structure
destroyed by senseless wars financed and nurtured by different
foreign powers; and at a time when Lebanon was still suffering being
used as a theater for the wars of others on its land; and at a time
when Lebanon has succeeded in asserting its national unity and its
absolute commitment to freedom, sovereignty, independence, and
conviviality among all its religious families; at this time, Lebanon
is being exposed to a new Israeli aggression, a brutal aggression
reflecting much more hatred and revenge than a pretended reaction to
the kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers. The latest unacceptable
crime committed by the Israelis in Qana, which exceeded in its
atrocity every imagination, is not but a living proof of that hatred
against Lebanon and the Lebanese.
The Christian and Muslim religious leaders convened in a religious
summit -at the Maronite Patriarchate in Bkerke- to talk about the
repercussions of the criminal Israeli aggression, pay tribute to the
Lebanese army and its martyrs, salute the resistance and its martyrs
along with all the innocent civilians who offered their lives for
Lebanon, and pray God to accept their souls and shower His mercy and
kindness upon them, and they ask Him to have compassion on the
country of Lebanon against the abomination of the Israeli enemy.
They assert the following common positions:
1.
They denounce the Israeli aggression against Lebanon considering it
a war crime against all Lebanese: people, institutions and
government. They call on the international community to halt the
aggression immediately and put an end to it for good, and to lift
the unjust blockade -air, land, and sea- imposed by the Israeli
forces, so as to allow all displaced to return to their cities and
villages and to live therein in peace and serenity under one and
united national and sovereign authority.
2.
They hold Israel accountable, morally and financially, for all the
civilian victims and casualties (families, women, and children), and
for the systematic destruction of homes, institutions, and the
infrastructure of the national economy, asking to file lawsuits
against Israel before international courts.
3.
They affirm the commitment of the Lebanese society in all its
communities, denominations, and regions towards the right of all the
sufferers to have proper support and help to alleviate their pain
and sufferings. They consider the Israeli aggression addressed
towards all Lebanese loyal to their country and keen to translate
this loyalty to the state's high interest in all related decisions.
4.
They express their attachment to the national unity as a sole
guarantor of the state of Lebanon in its entity, society, and
government. They warn all against the dimensions of the Israeli
aggression which aim to infringe on that unity and to draw Lebanon
and the whole Arab region to disastrous hostilities. The national
unity was and still is the basis for resisting the Israeli
occupation; and Hezbollah, who represents an essential part of the
Lebanese society, is not but one of the constituents of the Lebanese
resistance.
5.
They support all efforts employed by the Lebanese government,
represented by the council of ministers, next to the concerned
international bodies to regain Lebanon's violated sovereignty and
expand it on all Lebanese territories, air, and waters, and secure
the immediate Israeli withdrawal from the Shebaa farms. They adopt
the operational suggestions identified and pronounced by president
Siniora before the international conference in Rome and which were
unanimously agreed upon by the council of ministers. Those
suggestions are defined in the seven steps plan to follow after an
immediate cease fire and they state:
1)
Commitment to release all Lebanese and Israeli prisoners and
kidnapped via the International Red Cross.
2)
Withdrawal of the Israeli army behind the blue line.
3)
Return of all refugees to their towns and villages.
4)
Commitment of the international Security Council to place the Shebaa
farms and the Kfarshouba hills under the United Nations authority so
their residents can return to them, and hold control over them till
the final border lines are formally drawn, thereafter they will come
under the authority of the Lebanese government.
5)
Israel should deliver the maps of all planted mines in South Lebanon
to the United Nations.
6)
Bestow the authority of the Lebanese government on all its
territories through the legitimate Lebanese armed forces who will be
the sole arms bearers in Lebanon under the authority of Lebanon's
government as mentioned in the Taef Accord for national
reconciliation. This would require consolidating the international
forces UNIFIL working in the South, raising the numbers of its men,
upgrading its equipment, expanding the scope of its work, and making
the necessary arrangements to revive the armistice agreement signed
by Lebanon and Israel in 1949 under the umbrella of the United
Nations.
7)
The commitment of the international community to assist Lebanon at
all level and help it face the consequences of the latest human,
social, and economic tragedies especially in the domains of human
aid, rebuilding the destroyed areas, and rebuilding the Lebanese
economy.
6.
They insist on the right and duties of all Lebanese citizens
asserting their equality under the law that should be enforced by
the government political, judicial, administrative, and security
institutions in order to achieve justice and spread respect for the
values of citizenship. The restoration of Lebanon's government
authority and sovereignty over all Lebanese territories represents
the national constant on which all Lebanese agree and find salvation
and immunity against the diseases of disruption and troubles.
7.
They call on all national political leaders, in both state and
society, to work on finding global and final solutions to the
repeated disasters that have taken place over the past three decades
in a series of brutal and destructive aggressions which have killed
thousands of Lebanese, by spreading the government authority on all
Lebanese territories at all levels: security, politically, socially,
economically,… so as to implement the Taef Accord in its entirety.
They also call on them to take part in the national decision making,
yet leave the final decision exclusively to the Lebanese authority,
and to revive the armistice agreement of 1949 in order to deprive
Israel of any possible argument to assault Lebanon and its people
ever again.
8.
They commend sister and friendly nations for their sympathetic
positions towards Lebanon and their support for its just cause,
expressing their thanks for the aid received, and inviting those
countries to work collaboratively with the humanitarian
organizations on a comprehensive plan to rebuild what the Israeli
enemy has destroyed.
9.
They call on all Lebanese to remain united, to be patient and
hopeful in a better tomorrow; for Lebanon has known, all through its
history, major crises and disasters, yet it has always conquered and
overcome, and it must now regain its illuminating life and continue
its mission as a country where freedom, democracy, and human rights
flourish.
10.
They consider the sessions of the Spiritual Summit open in order to
face all developments.
The Muslim and Christian authorities who adhere to the sovereignty
of Lebanon and its liberty, unity, security, and stability consider
all spiritual families of Lebanon as one national Lebanese family,
anytime one of them is affected, all assemble to assist her; they
are for one another in better times and worse. The national unity is
not a mere motto or an emotional song; it is rather a sincere act of
faith and commitment through which Lebanon reaches its greatness and
glory, and realizes its salvation from disasters and calamities.
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