Village Journals
Resonate your identity with Naseeb journals. Express your opinions, share your thoughts, post your writings and connect with like minded people through the power of expression.
Resonate your identity with Naseeb journals. Express your opinions, share your thoughts, post your writings and connect with like minded people through the power of expression.
New Voices in Lebanon
Brenda Heard
The Tayyar Party?s Quest for Peace
There was nothing ?civil? about the war suffered by Lebanon 1975?1990. Religious sects were pitted against each other. The have?s battled the have-not?s. Neighbouring countries and countries faraway pushed for power wherever they could take it. Lebanon was teeming with frustration, struggle, death, distrust. There seemed no way out of the anguish that perpetuated the fighting. The war, of course, did come to a close, but the anguish lingered on as an undercurrent in the rebuilding of Lebanon.
Out of the turmoil was proposed a novel solution: an autonomous Lebanon whose government represented and supported all Lebanese. With hope pinned on the concept of a respectful co-existence?equality of rights and benefits for all Lebanese citizens?a movement was born before its time. Its leading proponent, General Michel Aoun, was forced into political exile by the Syrian army and its Lebanese allies.
The Tayyar Party?s Quest for Peace
There was nothing ?civil? about the war suffered by Lebanon 1975?1990. Religious sects were pitted against each other. The have?s battled the have-not?s. Neighbouring countries and countries faraway pushed for power wherever they could take it. Lebanon was teeming with frustration, struggle, death, distrust. There seemed no way out of the anguish that perpetuated the fighting. The war, of course, did come to a close, but the anguish lingered on as an undercurrent in the rebuilding of Lebanon.
Out of the turmoil was proposed a novel solution: an autonomous Lebanon whose government represented and supported all Lebanese. With hope pinned on the concept of a respectful co-existence?equality of rights and benefits for all Lebanese citizens?a movement was born before its time. Its leading proponent, General Michel Aoun, was forced into political exile by the Syrian army and its Lebanese allies.
Comments on this journal
(18) www.zawya.com
(19) www.treas.gov
(20) yalibnan.com
(21) english.wa3ad.org
(22) www.amin.org
and 43)
(13) For an alternative perspective, see Franklin Lamb?s article ?Who's Behind the Fighting in North Lebanon?? www.counterpunch.org and Alberto Cruz?s article ?The United States' new strategy in Lebanon: The secret war against Hizbollah? www.informationclearinghouse.info
(14) lorient-lejour.com.lb and english.aljazeera.net
(15) www.zawya.com
(16) See footnote 1, item 7.
Respectfully yours,
Michel Aoun, Member of Parliament
Head of the Change and Reform Parliamentary Bloc
CC: Permanent Members of the Security Council
? The real threat of settling the Palestinians in Lebanon which we, and the overwhelming majority of the Lebanese, oppose. There is a national consensus in Lebanon against such settlement as stipulated in the Preamble of the Lebanese Constitution.
The solution to the current crisis starts with respecting the Constitutional rules in forming Governments and in ensuring adequate proportional representation of political forces in a national unity Government. There should not be a deadlock in a democracy. Should the current illegitimate Government continue to maintain its current position, the solution would be to resort to the people through holding early parliamentary elections followed by Presidential elections and formation of a new Government.
There are however many other dimensions to the current crisis. It is detrimental to be ignoring a number of priorities which are posing threats to the welfare of the Lebanese people and the security in Lebanon and the region. These include, inter alia,
? The establishment and expansion in Lebanon of fundamentalist terrorist organizations with no preventive measures on the part of the Siniora Government;
? The arming and training of previous militias and new ones, all affiliated with the governing majority, under the sight of the Siniora Government;
Constitution, and runs the risk of shouldering a big responsibility in case the country reaches a governance vacuum or internal conflict at the end of current President term.
We urge you to support Lebanon and all of its institutions and not only the Siniora Government. We hope for greater objectivity and reconsideration of current positions which assume the crisis is only the result of external factors or dispute regarding the international tribunal.
As result of the July 2006 war and its aftermath, the failure of the Government to implement its program and any of the provisions in its Declaration as well as the breakup of electoral alliances which led in mid-2005 to the current Government, the Lebanese people lost their trust in the Siniora Government. This has been translated through massive demonstrations and sit-ins since December 1, 2006 with unprecedented numbers (over 1.5 Million Lebanese on December 10, 2006) representing opposition parties and diverse communities.
The Siniora Government, in addition, has violated numerous other provisions of the
Lebanese Constitution including, inter alia, (i) bypassing the Presidency through ignoring Articles 49 and 52 connected with the authority and prerogatives of the President as the Head of State, (ii) failing for two consecutive years to submit Draft Budget to the Parliament as required under Article 83; hence, the country has been operating without a budget,
(9) news.bbc.co.uk
(10) www.tayyar.org
(11)
General Michel Aoun
Rabieh, Lebanon
March 30, 2007
HE Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon,
On the occasion of your visit to our country Lebanon, I would like to clarify a number of critical matters as we observed some misunderstandings in recent statements made by certain members of the international community.
For almost two years, our country has been suffering a governance crisis which primarily resulted from unfair 2005 parliamentary elections and was further augmented following a series of failures by the Siniora Government. The crisis significantly escalated subsequent to the resignation of all Shia Ministers leading to a sharp division between the opposition and the Siniora Government.
(2) ?History Will Judge Us All On Our Actions,? Wall Street Journal, July 31, 2006, online.wsj.com
(3) 2 samples: www.msnbc.msn.com ; www.voanews.com
(4) ?History Will Judge Us All On Our Actions,? Wall Street Journal, July 31, 2006, online.wsj.com
(5) full text of speech at www.voltairenet.org
(6) www.timesonline.co.uk
And since Israel occupies the Shebaa Farms, imprisons Lebanese resistance members and threatens Lebanon, the Lebanese people should assume their responsibilities and share the burden of protecting Lebanon, safeguarding its existence and security, and protecting its independence and sovereignty by:
1- Liberating the Shebaa Farms from Israeli occupation.
2- Liberating the Lebanese prisoners from Israeli prisons.
3- Protecting Lebanon from Israeli threats through a national dialogue leading to the formulation of a national defense strategy over which the Lebanese agree to and subscribe to by assuming its burdens and benefiting from its outcomes.
10- The Protection of Lebanon and the Preservation of its Independence and Sovereignty
Protecting Lebanon and preserving its independence and sovereignty is a national public responsibility and duty, guaranteed by international treaties and the Human Rights Charter, particularly in confronting any threats or dangers from any source. Therefore, carrying arms is not an objective in itself. Rather, it is an honorable and sacred means exercised by any group whose land is occupied, similar in this way to the methods of political resistance.
In this context, Hezbollah?s weapons should be addressed as part of a comprehensive approach that falls within two bounds:
B- The Right of Return of the Palestinians is a fundamental and permanent right, and the rejection of the settling of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon is an issue that has the consensus of the Lebanese people and cannot be conceded under any circumstances.
C- Define the relationship between the Lebanese state and the Palestinians in a single institutional Palestinian framework that would be a legitimate representative of the Palestinian people in Lebanon in a manner conducive to proper coordination and cooperation.
D- Establish diplomatic relations between the two countries and provide appropriate conditions for them, thus transferring them from a relation between individuals and groups to a relation between institutions in order to secure their permanence and stability.
9- Lebanese-Palestinian Relations
Addressing the Palestinian file requires a comprehensive approach that asserts, on the one hand, the respect by the Palestinians of the authority of the Lebanese state and their compliance with its laws and, on the other hand, the reaffirmation of solidarity with their cause and the recovery of their rights, in accordance with the following rules:
8- Lebanese-Syrian Relations
The establishment of balanced and sound Lebanese-Syrian relations requires a review of the past experience while drawing the necessary conclusions and lessons in order to avoid the accumulated mistakes, blemishes, and breaches. This is in order to pave the way to build these relations on clear bases on parity and the full and mutual respect for the sovereignty and independence of both states, on the grounds of rejecting the return to any form of foreign tutelage. Therefore, it is necessary:
A- That the Lebanese government take all legal measures and procedures pertaining to the assertion of the Lebanese identity of the Shebaa Farms and present these to the United Nations, now that the Syrian state has declared the Shebaa Farms to be fully Lebanese.
B- To demarcate the borders between Lebanon and Syria away from the tensions that could block this operation which both Lebanon and Syria have had a long-standing need to achieve through a mutual agreement.
A- Put in place an integrated security plan based on the centralization of security decisions and on a clear definition of enemy versus friend, the determination of security threats, including the issue of terrorism as well as the security breaches that must be dealt with.
B- Dissociate the Security Services from any political considerations and clientelism, for their full loyalty should be to the nation.
C- Assign the responsibility of the Services to personalities with recognized competence and integrity.
D- Security measures must not be in conflict with the basic freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution, most of all the freedom of expression and political action, which do not threaten security and public stability.
Second, Security Reforms:
A reform of the Security Services is an inseparable part of the broader reform process of state institutions and their rebuilding on sound and solid bases.
Whereas both sides are convinced that the presence of Lebanese citizens in their homeland is better than their presence in enemy territory, a resolution of the question of the Lebanese residing in Israel requires a speedy action to ensure their return to their country while taking into consideration all the political, security and livelihood circumstances surrounding the matter.
On this basis, we call upon them to promptly return to their country in the spirit of the call by Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah following the Israeli withdrawal from south Lebanon and the speech delivered by General Michel Aoun at the first session of Parliament.
7- The Security Question
First, Political Assassinations:
Any form of political assassination is condemned and rejected because of its violation of basic human rights and of the most important foundations of the existence of Lebanon represented by difference and diversity, and of the essence of democracy and its practice.
This matter requires fast and judicious solutions which would use the time factor to their advantage instead of the corrupt using it to theirs.
5- The Missing During the War
To turn the page of the past and achieve a comprehensive national reconciliation, all the outstanding files of the war must be closed. The file of the missing in the war requires a stance of responsibility to end this anomalous situation and put the parents? minds at ease. The parents cannot be asked to forgive without respecting their rights to know the fate of their children. This is why we ask all parties involved in the war for their full cooperation to uncover the fate of the missing and the locations of the mass graves.