Lebanese Politicians Say 'Never Again' on Anniversary of Civil War
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
Lebanese politicians warned on Saturday against the return to war on the 40th anniversary of the start of Lebanon's civil war that killed more than 150,000 people.
“We did not end our civil war to precipitate our country into the furnace of Arab wars,” said al-Mustaqbal Movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri via twitter.
“We cannot protect Lebanon if we do not stop surrounding fires from reaching it, or worse, if we keep throwing ourselves into their flames!” he said.
“40th anniversary of the start of Lebanon's civil war: Never again,” he tweeted.
The civil war lasted 15 bloody years from 1975 to 1990. It claimed the lives of more than 150,000 people and left some 17,000 missing, according to official figures.
The conflict primarily pitted Christian groups against Palestinian factions backed by leftist and Muslim parties, with significant regional and international intervention.
Lebanon has veered toward the edge of communal conflict several times since then.
In 1991, Lebanon issued a broad amnesty that benefited the country's warlords, allowing many of them to become political leaders and members of parliament. But none of them has publicly apologized.
Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat also said via twitter that he was among the officials who were “swept away by feuds and hatred.”
“I prefer to remain silent,” he told his followers. “My point of view will not be fair or objective.”
But he stressed that he advised his son Taymour and all Lebanese youth to avoid violence and ignorance.
Jumblat said on several occasions that he would hand over his parliamentary son to his son after Speaker Nabih Berri promised him to hold by-elections in May because the Druze leader will submit his resignation from parliament.
13 April 2015, 11:21
18
In 1991, Lebanon issued a broad amnesty that benefited the country's warlords, allowing many of them to become political leaders and members of parliament. But none of them has publicly apologized.
The only honorable leader who took responsibility and apologized was Dr. Samir Geagea, period.
13 April 2015, 12:19
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He was convicted on false evidence just because he never refused to bow to the Syrians. The bombing of the church has perpetrated yet again by your beloved Syrians and Geara was accused of it. Same for the assassination of Karami.
13 April 2015, 13:05
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Geagea massacred many innocent Christians and muslims, yes he also bombed the church.
13 April 2015, 13:18
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Don't forget when Geagea massacred Suleiman Frangiehs family infront of his eyes, when he was a small kid - Ehden Massacre.
His three year old sister murdered in cold blood by LF rogue killers. Also do not forget the killings of tons palestinian women & children killed by the Phalangists.
13 April 2015, 13:26
00
Geagea was injured before he ever got to Tony Frangieh's place. Amal and Assad also killed tons of palestian women and children. Amal did some of it when your avatar Moughnieh was still a military leader there.
13 April 2015, 13:42
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I thought you were "the light of truth against lies" vulture.
Yet you are the opposite, baseless claims as always.
13 April 2015, 15:09
80
Geagea was the one to start the whole war to begin with, I doubt God would ever support a childkiller such as Geagea.
13 April 2015, 15:09
15
Mystic, why do you want to accuse the LF yet refuse to admit our side's accusations? Eagledawn has told you the truth, you guys killed a lot more Palestinians and you want to deny this? Just focus on the topic, don't make it personal again if you please.
13 April 2015, 15:25
05
Go read your history books people. The war of the camps led by Amal (which included Hezbollah although not as a party yet) starved, killed, butchered, and massacred palestinians. If you don't know your history, you will never know your future. Shame..
13 April 2015, 15:41
16
Ex-Fpm, also may I add the deadly wars between Amal and Hezbollah. The kidnappings, the random executions, the bombings of buildings that were seen as housing the Shiite opponent. Mystic forgot how the Syrians played them one against the other only to keep them under their fingers. There are people who know, and they'll tell you that Nabih Berri is only waiting for his time, his time to reassert his dominant role of hitherto. Hezbollah is well aware of that uneasy alliance with Berri but with Berri, HA sleeps only with one eye closed. Although I respect Mystic as a fellow poster, but some of his posts are so far away from facts and I know that there are facts that he would rather turn his back to.
13 April 2015, 16:25
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Read about the war of the camps, the Resistance actually stood with the palestinians during that battle. Which resulted in sporadic clashes with both the Syrian army and Amal against Hezb.
You people should read history about the civil war, instead of telling me to do it. I studied the old war for a long time.
Now Phoenix, what are you trying to pull again? Why do you always come up with such moronic comments, when you do very well know, that the Phalangists and Lebanese Forces were the most murderous during that war to civilians?
I thought you claimed to be a veteran of the old war, then how come you deny killing women and children? That is what your masters did best, that is what the Lebanese Forces are infamous for throughout the world.
13 April 2015, 19:00
04
(1). Hi Mystic, never good to debate angry. Those who killed Palestinians on that dark day were not Phalangists but people dressed as Phalangists. Syrian intelligence being so good at their game knew that the best way to finish off Israel's peace with Lebanon capitalized on Bachir's murder bu none other than them Syrians. Israelis found a large cache of Soviet made telecoms equipment which they did not want so they called the LF command to take them if they needed them. The Syrians intercepted that communication and sent in Elie Hobeika. Elie Hobeika was not on hand to go but he ordered his brother Charles to go with the aim of committing this massacre. Charles got men from the SLA who were mostly SHIITES, that's right, SHIITES and went in to commit that odious crime and thus slam it on the LF.
13 April 2015, 19:08
03
(3). Hi Mystic. So ya Mystic, we may read different books, but Sabra and Chatilla were committed by HK and his traitors and the majority were SHIITES from the SLA. Please ya akh, ask Nabih Berri, when in May 2000 after Israel left the South, when most were shouting and accusing the Christians of the South as collborators, at least here Berri cautioned immediately "Ya ekhwen, aghlabiyitoun minina" meaning Shiites, check your archives please habibi. Mystic my brother, you are free to accuse, but not to deform, there are more than enough people around to rectify the course of defamation, no matter who does it. FYI, I have not changed much, I am just trying to follow my conscience and for me you will remain my sibling from the South.
13 April 2015, 19:08
03
(2). Hi Mystic. The rest we know. Now you may want to deny this day and night, but this is the truth, and the world now also knows this. You tell me, why would any blinking LFer in his right state of mind do this and cause the demise of all that was gained then? Hobeika being the triple agent he was, working in tandem with the Syrians not only cooperated then, but after a few years when he signed that tripartite agreement with Jombie and Berri and the Syrians. HK also tried to enter East Beirut twice only to be kicked out unceremoniously by Geagea. Today in 2015, it's quite easy to tell who were and who remain alive as the traitors working for Syria, now Aoun topping that list with Sayed Hassan and Nabih Berri, HK is dead thankfully and Charles is still at large, so far that is.
13 April 2015, 22:35
00
Phoenix, I have heard that same story told here in Detroit. It makes sense. It may be a true theory. Any massacre of civilians is horrible. There any many with blood on their hands including Jumblatt and Berry and many others. Not just Geagea. Doesn't make one better. There might be a theory here on the Sabra and Shatilla massacre, but we all know he was involved with the Eden massacre. The Eden massacre is an embarrassment.
13 April 2015, 13:30
00
Geagea bombed the church? Proof? Convicted? They all killed during the war, including the terrorist in your avatar Miss Tick, it was a WAR!
13 April 2015, 15:19
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Come on ya Mystic, you said and I quote, Geagea started the war? Why, what interest did he have in doing so? Why did you omit that it was the Palestinians that did so? Aren't we today commemorating that painful past? How can a side that was deemed too weak start a war? There was no LF back then in 1975, there was several Christian parties, all of which were poorly equipped or trained, it took a while before Bachir Gemayel came to sort things out. Then you write as if we were the only ones that made mistakes, yet you forgot how the Shiites were part of that broader Islamic alliance led by Yasser Arafat that wanted to throw us into the sea? Walaw ya Mystic, do you do such things on purpose o what?
13 April 2015, 16:28
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Phoenix, I also respect you as a fellow poster. We have communicated through this forum for around 4 years now, but you have changed your tone alot lately, moving closer and closer to the Wahabis, which has also resulted in me changing my tone with you.
13 April 2015, 19:02
41
I honor Dr. Geagea for issuing his crystal-clear demand that Article 24 of the Lebanese Constitutions, which automatically assigns half of the seats in the Lebanese Parliament to Christians regardless of electoral results, be consigned to the trash-bin of history. This is true Christian political leadership.
13 April 2015, 11:24
00
not only the warlords should apppologize , but Lebanese and leaders did not tackle the root of the problem
and one of these problems is feudalism politics and power by inheritance
and still some are still feudal in their mind
and the only internal solution ito the people that keeps Lebanon away from outside interferences is
a parliamentary vote based on proportionality
and presidential election by the people
god bless democracy
13 April 2015, 13:58
15
Sadly, the war is long over, but those that made it happen are still here, despite all our criticism, despite all the hatred voiced on them by the people, they care less, they are still here to rule us, even if need be forcefully. Here we are, with an awesome number of educated young people, people with vision, people with a lot more patriotism, education, vision and decency than our warlords, yet for all we know, none is capable of entering the political arena because the old guard refuses to let go. But all the same, we the people must guard at all cost from going back to civil war, many people both inside Lebanon and outside of it would dearly love to see us make such a fatal mistake.
13 April 2015, 14:46
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PB, I am with you on this one, Aoun the old claoun Al Capaoun must be amongst the first to be shipped to the Hague with his family clique and circles plus all the other ones in M14 and M8 respectively. They are still stealing the nation's coffers, they are still stealing the nation's lands, they are still eating from the very same cake. For as long as they remain here and without any justice, this country will not move an inch forward. They pit us the people against each other but between them they still talk to each other about how to split another pie.
13 April 2015, 15:47
14
“We cannot protect Lebanon if we do not stop surrounding fires from reaching it, or worse, if we keep throwing ourselves into their flames!” he said.
M8ers can... they thrive on chaos... no chaos = their end. as simple as that
13 April 2015, 19:47
02
Bigjohn, to some degree I agree with you, but only partly. Masalan I do not object to Hezbollah joining the army, on the contrary, I encourage it plus for it to return its weapons to the state. I am not against our opposition to Israel either, but I am against Hezbollah meddling in Syria and now in Yemen. I also abhor IS and any Sunni radicalism, but do not oppose Sunni moderates. But does Hezbollah notice when Sunni moderates are engaged in dialog with it? This is the problem.
13 April 2015, 18:24
03
sure M8 follow countries that care about what the populace believe and are non violent democracies.....
M8 and M14 had rather focus on lebanese problems instead of poking in the affairs of foreign countries like syria or yemen or bahrein...
but then again which lebanese politician cares about the welfare of lebanese? all busy in stealing, money laundering, arms and drug traficking. without wars to take care of they wouldn't be able to fill their pockets...
but yet there are still sheep to ease their business and are proud of getting effed by them....
14 April 2015, 00:05
00
For an outsider, learnt a lot just by reading your comments, @phoenix' comments in particular.
I mainly read Daily Star and L'Orient le Jour but am glad I came here today.
14 April 2015, 20:36
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I am not agreeing with Franjieh's alliance with the Assad regime during our occupation or even now. It is embarrassing in my opinnion to kill women and children on purpose. Period. We need to be clean of those type of actions and take the high road.
