شباب "14 آذار": للتوقف عن الدروس الخميس مدة ساعة رفضا "للإستقواء" في الجامعة الأنطونية

This is ridiculous, religion can't always be shoved down everyones throats. A prayer room? Really? Can't we keep our religion to ourselves in our home or place of worship, regardless of what your religion may be. M14 student to strike?? Why is m14 involved? Thisis stupid.

wondering if they were sunni or shia? is this why none of the march 14 or the march 8 christians have commented yet? both sides worried they may insult their own allies?

Aoun has done enough damage to the Christians by legitimising Hezbollah into the government. This is standard Muslim and Islamic militant religious ideology. This is the way Muslims think and operate in their heads - in a sly/ militant way just as their Quran teaches them.

hizbushaitan students knew when they joined this university that it was not of their faith, thus they should abide by its rules, otherwise they can go to their universities.

Its the schools policy. I dont see anything wrong with it. Go to another school and pray there if you want.
Idiots making an issue about a non issue.
I wish that all schools would be secular and would not allow any form of religious worship in the school

Is this a joke ? This is a CHRISTIAN university, operated by a team of PRIEST, financed by the Church. The mission of this university is to share knowledge and Christian values. Any student who want to go to Antonine University has no other choice of respecting the rules imposed by the administration. This is not for negotiation

I'm trying to imagine christian students going to a muslim school and requesting that they add a prayer room for them. The students would probably have been kicked out of school right away for "blasphemous behavior". By going to a school such as the Antonine, the students know very well the history, the culture and the settings of the school and as a result, they shouldn't be surprised if their muslim needs aren't being accomodated. It's like going to the pepsi factory and asking them to bring you a coke or going to the BMW factory and asking them to give you a replacement piece for your Mercedes. It just doesn't work and trying to force it into working will only make things worst.

The muslim students have the right to pray if they so wish but if they elect to do that, they really should pick a muslim school or at the very least a "neutral" school that isn't well known to follow the christian faith.

Too much hate I agree. They requested a room and it was not granted. So what is the problem? Why M14 are making a big deal out of it. Was there another issue, like Hizballah firing a missile at the school or they threatened someone?

I dont see why they have to pray in the grounds of the university - they can go off campus, maybe even a nearby mosque to pray. This is a Maronite catholic private university, will they next object to a crusafix hanging in the lecture hall?
I agree - I think this is just provocation, and it's a pity really that political parties will spread this sectarian hate into universities by encouraging this kind of behaviour.
I think it's extreme to expel the students, however, they should be reprimanded.

Hey brother, the rich Sunni enrolled in Christian colleges do respect local authority and rules. That's one major difference! There's nothing wrong in having Shias in The USJ or the Antonins, this demonstrates they want to elevate themselves intellectually and socially. But what they did by challenging the final decision made by the registrar is retrograde, hence in contradiction of what they are currently undertaking. Perhaps, this selection of students proved they don't belong to their college. Stop talking about Christians, Jews, Muslims.That's called segregation and we're in 2012. Abide by the local rules or leave. If they aren't happy about it, they should take it to the parliament / lawmakers. Lebanon is a fragile country and with the Hizzies are doing is dangerous.Perhaps it's what Assad and Khamenei planned for us, but they won't succeed.As stated above, the M14 students shouldn't go on strike tomorrow,They should move on and let the Dean (clerics?) deal with this issue.

A prayer room accommodation is not a big deal, in fact, I will argue that it is fanatical to not allow a prayer space for a minority student group. As fanatical as hezbollah. And I am saying this as a Sunni Lebanese. Allah, 7ariri, Tari2 jdide.

I full y agree with Minlibnan, it's about time we learn to keep religion to ourselves, a private matter that should'nt even be discussed, showed off, what an attitude! Stupid and retrograde

Time to take it all back it belonged to us to begin with before the invaders occupied it, لبيك يا نصرالله .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=xZ1K2wo9JxE#t=30s

I have been to many european SECULAR universities, where they allow muslims and other religious minorities to have prayer rooms. That is part of being civilized.

Personally I dont care about these things, but, giving them a room would have shown a kind of "highness" and tolerance in behaviour from the maronites. Kind of like the difference between a "gentleman" and a "thug".
Seems in Lebanon we will always choose the way of the thug, no matter of sect....

Clearly above comments come from less 22 aged newborns... It is provocative indeed for the sake of provoking. They are playing it to the last drop of time that Syrian provoked has... Que sera if prayer rooms were to be accounted for in every new or existing architecture, I am guessing similar to the nonchalant populations of the surrounding Arab gulf and non gulf countries not contributing to anything worthy to human civilization

coming from a person who has a burning flag as a profile pic. Hypocrite get a life!

What the hell is all the fuss about tell a Christian to ask for a prayer room in the south

This is a Christian religious university that has the right not to tolerate other religious practices within its premises. Muslim universities in Lebanon have the right to do the same. I do not understand why practising Muslim religious students join a Christian religious university and vice verca. Islamicly, Omar, the third Muslim Caliph, refused to pray in Jerusalem's resurection Church with view to respect and protect Christian rights. I think we can all learn from this.

To correct a typo, Omar is the second Muslim Caliph not the third. The story about his tolerant and exemplary behaviour when he conquered Jerusalem is a very well known story in Muslim tradition.

i went to university of arizona for my education, and main thing common in the sates universities in inside the campus you are under a the law of education, not relegion, and insid ethat camput you are free to do as a humanbeing never less what is you relegion, color , gender or race.but in lebanon i beleive its a sick bastard world to live in.
ps chef always ay quote: children there is a place and time wher you learn and try all sort of thinkgs and its called college

ok, imagine there are 50 students in a muslim university, would they even dare to ask what these guys are asking?

no..

case closed.

Well it is a bad move by these fellows, they should have respected the house that welcomed them to study for their own future. Definitly thumbs down!!

Kids these days, tsk tsk, trying to rebel against authority, moreover under the guise of religion. School is a place we go to get an education, and learn about amazing things, like why some humans are green and have big noses.

I very much doubt today, that many of our youths, and I being one of them, sincerely practice our religion. I say good for these kids who are searching for their religious identity, and probably confused in a Christian institute, but maybe the initial choice of school wasn't right for them. Antonine has a long established religious identity, is privately run, and any prospective student would and should have known, it is strictly Christian.

Christian schools do have the best track record, which is why so many Islamic parents enrol their kids, but if you feel the necessity to pray during what is only a 7 hour school day, then there are plenty of other schools in Lebanon which follow Islam, and will happily accommodate your desires.

No_ob

لماذا الاصرار من بعض الفئات على إظهار المجتمع الاسلامي بهذه الصورة الهمجية و المتخلفة؟نحن كباقي الطوائف و المذاهب لنا الحق في ممارسة العبادات في أي مكان و زمان طالما نحن لا نعتدي على غيرنا من الطوائف أو المذاهب ،ليس خطأ الطلاب إن أقاموا الصلاة في باحة الجامعة،بل خطأ الإدارة التي منعتمهم من أداء صلاتهم ...

what does GMa have to do with that FPM were the 1st to condemn this childish act.stop politizing a non political issue

You missed out accept muslim students and not give them their praying room, which is what the general consensus seems to be headed on.

Also, they're called christian schools for a reason, bro.

برأيي كمسلم يجب أن تبقى الجامعة على موقفها برفض أي مساومات بهذا الأمر وإلا وقعت ضحية التناقض بين مختلف الطوائف. لحين وضوح الرؤية المستقبلية لكل طرف.

This is why our country will never be blessed with the beauty of a true non-sectorial democracy.

Simple fact to everyone here, Religion is by no means the ONLY way that you can have a relationship with God. Therefore if you would like to have a certain lifestyle dictated by Religion then adhere to all of it and not selectively. Having said that, if you were to do so, I believe a good excuse will be that this is not the 600s anymore nor the first few years of the millenium calendar, hence you should adapt your Religion to you and not try to stop the World from evolving !

We live in an outdated political and religious environment, and by the comments that I am reading below, most of you are happy with that :)

Good job !

First why is there religious unis? Second i went to a catholic school in australia who had a prey room for all students of different religions ...this whole issue is whack!

As usual FT, it is your way or the highway. Your analysis is flawed, your opinion is biased and everything that comes out of your mouth is one-sided, decisive and used for the sole purpose of shoving your ideology down everyone else’s throat. I will not appease Muslims and their ideology not matter how anyone berates me into doing it. Muslims who adhere to the teachings of the Quran, consider Christians and Jews to be infidels and without faith. Until moderate Muslims speak out and clearly state they do not intend to convert Christians and Jews into Muslims, I will not appease or trust them. You are the hypocrite SIR for not telling the truth!

First why are there religious universities? I went to a all girls catholic school in Australia which had a preyer room for all students of different religions...this entire issue is whack!

WoW. How radical you sound. Basically, Christians cannot stop in a mosque unless they convert to Islam first. And vice versa. Well done FT...I admire your sense of logic and tolerance. What school did you attend? LOL. FT, honestly.... There are so many places where you can pray in school, if that's what you are looking for, I can recommend you a few good madrassas in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

I think Hizbullah instigated this on purpose
He is testing the grounds to see how friendly are Christians to them. And they are doing so in the perspective that if another war with Israel occurred, how much support can they draw among the Christians.
Even though they think they have the support of the majority of Christians because of their alliance with Aoun. This incident would have given them much thought and insight about the true sentiment of the Christian community.

This has nothing to do with Hezbollah. I hate Hezbollah, but I am a Muslim. If I stayed at a University that had a good number of Muslims, I would want a prayer room. Prayer rooms don't have to be huge Musalahs, I go to college in the United States. The college is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church, however, they allowed us to have a prayer room! Whereas public universities here would not allow it because of the separation of church and state! Our prayer room is really small, but it is sufficient for the 10 Muslims who pray in there. We are not trying to take over the college, we just wanted a good place to pray, just like these students! I don't care whether they are Sunni or Chia, if the University is denying them a request, than they are sectarian, just like HezbolChaytan. Ya Rafiq Hariri, we need you more than ever.

Keserweneh
This would have been true if it was year 2000.
Today things are a bit different - Hizbullah sided with Syrian Regime in 2005 against most Lebanese. Hizbullah triggered 2006 war that all Lebanese suffered from and most Lebanese didn't agree on. Prominent politicians were assasinated which lot of Lebanese suspect Hizbullah of executing for Syria. In May 2008 Hizbullah invaded Beirut and the Chouf area. They forced Jumblat switch side and force elected majority to become minority. Hizbullah doesn't want to hand over its weapons to Lebanese army while other lebanese parties already did so in 1990. The level of Hate that the Majority of Sunnis/Druze & Christians have toward Hizbullah is so high that they will not stand anymore with Hizbullah if Israel attacks.
If Hizbullah is wise, he would hand his weapons to Lebanese army. If Israel then attacks, the Lebanese will then stand united against Israel.

Guys,
Who doesnt miss the innocent childhood when we thought that all Lebanese loves each other and didnt know what war was about?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVzK42Q17CE&feature=share

anonymoustxusa
WTF ! We donot need your help when Israel attacks lebanon ! What you will do ! 2006 war didnot mean anything to yo , you continued your life like nothing happened mean while our children were killed every day. Everyone know what areas were bombed in lebenaon ! I want to ask you name me a single Christian village that was targeted by israel? So you shut your mouth and be sure that there are real men in the south and on the borders defending Lebanon , not chickens like you and your masters who would escape. And by the way you saw how in 7 ayyar some Hizbullah scouts invaded beirut in just 3 hours. Do you know why ? Because the people down there are chickens so how come you want these same people to defend lebanon when israel attacks ? Finally, i think that Muslim students must have their right to pray whether it is a muslim or a christian university .