Al-Rahi: We Look Forward to Birth of Real Arab Spring Built on Democracy

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi hoped on Thursday that the people of the Middle East, “who are currently enduring wars and conflict”, would soon witness peace and stability.

He said during his Christmas and New Year address: “We look forward with you to the birth of the real and stable Arab Spring, which is based on democracy and the diversity of its religions and cultures.”

“We hope that the New Year would be one of peace and goodness,” he added.

The patriarch also called the Lebanese to unite in constructing a state that is based on the diversity of their country’s sects, cultures, and political choices.

“This is how Christians and Muslims wanted Lebanon when they devised the National Charter,” noted al-Rahi.

“So let us renew the charter with a new Social Contract where we can determine the fate of peoples who have agreed to live together,” he remarked.

The patriarch had voiced in October his support for “democratic reforms” in the Arab countries, but stressed that change should not happen through “violence.”

He had hoped that the so-called Arab Spring sweeping the region will be maintained through “dialogue, not conflict and civil wars.”

He also warned against “all foreign meddling” in the ongoing popular uprisings.

“It won’t be an Arab Spring should violence and war drag on, as they reap numerous innocent victims and minorities would usually pay the price,” he warned from New York a few days before meeting U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon.

“It won’t be an Arab Spring should anyone of the children of this nation die; it won’t be an Arab Spring should we end up with civil, religious or sectarian wars,” he said.

“We are looking forward to an Arab Spring during which Muslims and Christians would live together, as we belong to one nation, one fate, one culture, and one civilization that we have built together year after year,” al-Rahi added.

The patriarch stressed that “it will be an Arab Spring should the Arab peoples achieve their demands and right to a decent living and should all reforms be implemented,” hoping the new regimes will be built on the principles of justice, public freedoms, and democracy.