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- Al-Rai Reiterated His Call for the 'Neutrality' of Lebanon
The Maronite patriarch, Bechara al-Rai, once again reiterated his call for Lebanon's neutrality, asserting that the Land of the Cedars is “a land of dialogue and peace.”
Stigmatizing the “genocidal and brutal” war in Gaza, which has been going on since October 7, and its consequences for Lebanon, Archbishop al-Rai denounced the Hebrew state's refusal of any “truce,” “ceasefire,” or “understanding.”
"We reject the consequences and the extension of this war to the villages of South Lebanon," he added in his homily on Sunday. "In the name of the Lebanese people, we say no to war. We have had enough of the wars that have led Lebanon to collapse and misery on every level. Lebanon is not a land of war or a tool for war, but a land of dialogue and peace.”
Affirming that the extension of the war from Gaza to South Lebanon is a violation of UN Resolution 1701, Archbishop al-Rai once again appealed for “Lebanon to return to its neutrality as a defender through diplomacy of any lost rights." In this respect, he stressed Lebanon's role in "the search for peaceful solutions to conflicts" as well as its role as "defender of the rights violated in any Arab country, notably those of the Palestinian people, of their right to return and to build a state of their own."
"The foundation of the Lebanese identity"
"Neutrality is not new to Lebanon," insisted al-Rai. "It is the foundation of its identity. It dates back to the Mutasarrifate regime of 1860. In July 1920, two months before the proclamation of Greater Lebanon, the Board of Directors of the Mutasarrifate proclaimed Lebanon's neutrality, in the sense that it was not to wage wars against others or be the target of war. It was also to be free from any military interference."
The Patriarch also recalled that "in the Charter of the Arab League, in 1945, it was unanimously agreed that Lebanon should be a supportive state, not a confrontational state." "It was also agreed that Lebanon would be a factor of Arab solidarity, not a factor of dismantling and fueling Arab conflicts, and a departure from Arab solidarity in favor of strategies that do not serve shared Arab interests," he insisted.
He went on to say that “on June 11, 2012, the Baabda Declaration, which all Lebanese parties had approved, also affirmed Lebanon's neutrality under the notion of distanciation." "This declaration had been adopted by the United Nations Security Council, which had called on March 19, 2015, on the various Lebanese parties to comply with the spirit and letter of this declaration," concluded al-Rai.
Stigmatizing the “genocidal and brutal” war in Gaza, which has been going on since October 7, and its consequences for Lebanon, Archbishop al-Rai denounced the Hebrew state's refusal of any “truce,” “ceasefire,” or “understanding.”
"We reject the consequences and the extension of this war to the villages of South Lebanon," he added in his homily on Sunday. "In the name of the Lebanese people, we say no to war. We have had enough of the wars that have led Lebanon to collapse and misery on every level. Lebanon is not a land of war or a tool for war, but a land of dialogue and peace.”
Affirming that the extension of the war from Gaza to South Lebanon is a violation of UN Resolution 1701, Archbishop al-Rai once again appealed for “Lebanon to return to its neutrality as a defender through diplomacy of any lost rights." In this respect, he stressed Lebanon's role in "the search for peaceful solutions to conflicts" as well as its role as "defender of the rights violated in any Arab country, notably those of the Palestinian people, of their right to return and to build a state of their own."
"The foundation of the Lebanese identity"
"Neutrality is not new to Lebanon," insisted al-Rai. "It is the foundation of its identity. It dates back to the Mutasarrifate regime of 1860. In July 1920, two months before the proclamation of Greater Lebanon, the Board of Directors of the Mutasarrifate proclaimed Lebanon's neutrality, in the sense that it was not to wage wars against others or be the target of war. It was also to be free from any military interference."
The Patriarch also recalled that "in the Charter of the Arab League, in 1945, it was unanimously agreed that Lebanon should be a supportive state, not a confrontational state." "It was also agreed that Lebanon would be a factor of Arab solidarity, not a factor of dismantling and fueling Arab conflicts, and a departure from Arab solidarity in favor of strategies that do not serve shared Arab interests," he insisted.
He went on to say that “on June 11, 2012, the Baabda Declaration, which all Lebanese parties had approved, also affirmed Lebanon's neutrality under the notion of distanciation." "This declaration had been adopted by the United Nations Security Council, which had called on March 19, 2015, on the various Lebanese parties to comply with the spirit and letter of this declaration," concluded al-Rai.
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