Al-Rahi Back from Iraq: Not All Lebanese in Israel are Collaborators

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Wednesday called for “differentiating between those who collaborated with the Israeli enemy and those who had to flee” to the Jewish state following the Israeli withdrawal from south Lebanon in 2000.

Talking to reporters at the Beirut airport upon his return from a 2-day visit to Iraq, al-Rahi described his trip as “successful.”

Asked about his stance on Premier Najib Miqati’s government and its performance, the patriarch said: “We respect every authority and we wish success for every authority, because every authority must shoulder its responsibilities, and we don’t discriminate between a government and another or a premier and another.”

And answering a question about parliament’s approval of a draft law proposed by MP Michel Aoun on the return home of Lebanese citizens who had fled to Israel during the Israeli withdrawal in 2000, the patriarch said: “I was very pleased when I heard the news in Baghdad.”

“This issue is of major concern to us because the Lebanese citizens who were residing in the south were abandoned and neglected by the state, until the occupation arrived and forced some of them to do that (collaborate with Israel),” al-Rahi said.

“We must differentiate between those who had really collaborated, or conspired, with the Israeli enemy and those who had to flee … to the occupied territories (Israel) to salvage themselves,” he added.

Al-Rahi recalled the 1983 Israeli withdrawal from the Chouf area and the deadly Christian-Druze battles that ensued, saying those who fled to Israel in 2000 probably escaped a similar scenario.