Gemayel Calls for 'Leaving Behind Resistance Approach'
Phalange Party leader Amin Gemayel on Sunday called for “leaving behind the approach of resistance” against Israel and “endorsing the approach of defending the Lebanese state.”
He noted that armed resistance against Israel lost its purpose “after the 2000 Israeli withdrawal, the deployment of U.N. peacekeepers and the issuance of (U.N. Security Council) Resolution 1701,” – which ended the devastating 2006 war between Israel and Hizbullah.
The Lebanese state must only use the means of diplomacy and its national army to defend the country, Gemayel said.
“The approach of defense strengthens the country’s unity, immunizes it diplomatically and safeguards it against any foreign conspiracies,” he added.
“Any defense entrusted to a group, a community or a sect would fragment the country instead of uniting it. So it is necessary today for us to leave behind the approach of resistance and endorse the approach of defending the Lebanese state, which preserves Lebanon and its components,” Gemayel stated.
“Any other approach is a factional approach that brings about further divisions and threats at the expense of Lebanon’s sovereignty and independence,” he warned.
But Gemayel called for “a serious dialogue on how to transit from the approach of resistance to the approach of defense.”
“Lebanon is in a dire need for a new plan that preserves the country’s unity and immunizes it against the foreign threats, while keeping in line with U.N. resolutions,” Gemayel added.
“We need stability and we need to reassure the Lebanese people concerning their future,” he went on to say.
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