Lawmakers Voice Solidarity with Gaza, Mosul, Reject Extremism

A parliament session was held on Saturday in order to express Lebanon's solidarity with the Palestinian Gaza Strip and the Iraqi city of Mosul.

The session was chaired by Speaker Nabih Berri and attended by the majority of political blocs.

The lawmakers voiced their compassion with the plight of the Palestinian people in Gaza and minorities in Iraq that are being persecuted by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

Free Patriotic Movement chief MP Michel Aoun kicked off the session by condemning the developments in Gaza and Iraq.

“All minorities in Mosul are being subject to genocide,” he remarked.

“We don't know what is happening in the region due to all of the chaos raging in it,” he added.

“We do not question Israel's bloody actions, but we wonder that ISIL's actions in Syria and Mosul are equal to them,” noted the MP.

“We question the silence of the Arab world over the crimes against the Christians,” he said.

Mustaqbal bloc chief MP Fouad Saniora remarked that Mosul would not be witnessing such oppression had Iraq had a just state.

“A just state protects its people,” he stressed, while saying that the moderate people in the region are victims of extremists.

“Dictatorship created extremism. The people's struggle to escape barrel bombs landed them in the hands of fundamentalists,” he said in reference to the crisis in Syria.

“We have no choice but to adhere to the state in order to shun fundamentalists and militias,” Saniora urged.

To that end, he stressed that the Taef Accord that helped Lebanon achieve coexistence between its sects should be adopted in the region.

“The accord is the basis of a diverse state,” he said of the agreement that helped end Lebanon's 1975-90 civil war.

“We see a need for its implementation in order to confront rising fundamentalism, including Israel's threat,” added the MP.

“Just states must be established in order to meet the demands of the people and avoid oppressing them, which will only wield extremism,” Saniora continued.

Moreover, he remarked: “Christians and Muslims must cooperate to confront fundamentalism because falling victim to it will make us prey to dictators.”

“Arab countries must unite to confront extremism,” he said, while lamenting the Arab and international communities' failure in addressing the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

The conflict is at the heart of the problems in the region, noted Saniora.

There are no excuses that justify the persecution of Christians and Muslims, he stated.

“We reject all forms of violence and fundamentalism because they violate the core of moderate Islam and ISIL has nothing to do with historic or modern Islam,” added the head of the Mustaqbal bloc.

Speaking on behalf of Hizbullah's Loyalty to the Resistance bloc, MP Ali Fayyad asked: “What use are words in the face of the brutality in Gaza and Mosul?”

“The violence in Gaza proves that the choice of resistance is the best way to confront the enemy,” he stated.

“Israel will not succeed in defeating the dignity of the people,” he stressed.

“The takfiri threat of ISIL meanwhile wants to fragment the region,” Fayyad said.

“All Arabs, regardless of their differences, must unite against Israel and ISIL,” he demanded.

Berri concluded the session by demanding on behalf of parliament that Israel end its blockade against Gaza, release Palestinian prisoners, and end its campaign.

“Israeli officials should be tried as war criminals for their violations in the Palestinian territories,” he declared.

Addressing the situation in Mosul, the speaker said: “The parliament condemns the persecution of minorities.”

“It calls for effective international action to confront the injustice in Iraq,” he continued.

“It also demands a fair trial of the takfiri war criminals who are tarnishing the image of coexistence in the East,” said Berri, while urging “immediate international action to avert the spread of ISIL's crimes.”

Hundreds of Christian families fled their homes in Mosul after the jihadist Islamic State threatened them to convert to Islam, pay a special tax or leave.

At least 900 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in Gaza since the beginning of the Israeli campaign against Gaza.