by Tzvi Joffre
"We call upon the Lebanese army to prevent the launching of missiles, not for the sake of Israel, but for the sake of Lebanon."
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Lebanese Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros Al-Rai visits the Lebanese embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, November 13, 2017.
(photo credit: REUTERS)
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Lebanon’s Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros al-Rahi
called on Sunday for the Lebanese army to take control of the southern
part of the country, Hezbollah’s stronghold, and strictly implement UN
Security Council Resolution 1701, after recent clashes between Israel
and Hezbollah.
“We
call upon the Lebanese army, which is responsible with the
international forces for the security of the South, to take control of
the entire lands of the South, to strictly implement Resolution 1701 and
to prevent the launching of missiles from Lebanese territory, not for
the sake of Israel’s safety, but rather for the safety of Lebanon,” said
Rahi during Sunday Mass, according to Lebanon’s National News Agency
(NNA).
The
Maronite patriarch stressed that he could not “accept, by virtue of
equality before the law, that a party decides peace and war outside the
decision of legality and the national decision entrusted to two-thirds
of the members of the government.”
On
Friday, 19 rockets were fired from southern Lebanon into northern
Israel, with the Iron Dome intercepting 10 rockets and six rockets
falling in open areas near Har Dov, along the Lebanese border. The
others fell inside Lebanon. There were no injuries or casualties.
It was the sixth such attack in recent months and the first in which Hezbollah admitted responsibility.
Alongside
the stance against Hezbollah’s actions, Rahi condemned what he called
“periodic Israeli violations against southern Lebanon, and the violation
of Security Council Resolution No. 1701, as well as the heated tension
in the border areas of residential villages and their surroundings,”
according to NNA.
The
patriarch stressed that “it is true that Lebanon has not signed peace
with Israel, but it is also true that Lebanon has not decided war with
it, and is officially committed to the 1949 truce,” adding that “we do
not want to involve Lebanon in military operations that provoke
devastating Israeli reactions.”
Rahi
also claimed that the clashes were meant to “divert attention from the
sanctity and glow of the Mass of the martyrs and victims of” the Beirut
Port explosion when the one-year anniversary of the blast was marked last week.
The
Maronite patriarch would go on to attack the country’s leaders. “We ask
officials and politicians: How will you convince the people that you
are qualified to lead them towards salvation, and every day you plunge
them into a new crisis? How will you convince the world that you are
worthy of help while you do not care about the international conferences
dedicated to the relief of the Lebanese and which are ready to save
Lebanon? How will you convince yourselves that you were up to the level
of responsibility and hopes? Is there any humanity in you to feel with
people in their misery?” he asked rhetorically.
“We
want to end the military logic and war and adopt the logic of peace and
the interest of Lebanon and all the Lebanese,” stated the patriarch,
according to NNA.
The
head of Lebanon’s Kataeb Party and former MP, Samy Gemayel, expressed
support for the patriarch on Monday, saying that the party is
“convinced” that there are many Lebanese citizens who agree with the
patriarch and the Kataeb Party concerning sovereignty and removal of
arms outside the military.
Hezbollah
supporters expressed outrage at the patriarch’s comments on social
media, using the hashtags “Patron of bias” and “patron of surrender.”
Hezbollah-affiliated reporter Ali Shoeib addressed the patriarch in a
tweet, writing: “Just for once, ask the Lebanese army to prevent the
Israeli attacks instead of asking it to prevent the firing of rockets!!”
Lebanese
MP Ibrahim Kanaan, a member of the Free Patriotic Movement, a Christian
party allied with Hezbollah, responded to the social media responses to
Rahi’s statements, saying that “insulting what [Rahi] represents and
who he represents is rejected by all standards,” according to NNA.
Kanaan
called for dialogue between Hezbollah and Rahi and a “discussion of his
concerns, which are national concerns, expressed by a wide segment of
the Lebanese people, with its various components and colors, in terms of
not keeping Lebanon an open arena for exchanging messages, heating the
borders and opening battles that harm the country and its economy,
especially since the Lebanese are going through the most difficult stage
in their 100 year history.”
The MP stressed that the patriarch’s positions must be discussed with respect, far from any abuse or anger.
This
isn’t the first time that Rahi has issued statements against
Hezbollah’s control of southern Lebanon and existence as a paramilitary
organization in the country.
In August of last year,
after the Beirut Port blast, the Maronite patriarch called for the
state to take control over weapons in the country and to confine
decisions of war and peace to the state. Rahi called on all parties not
to involve Lebanon in any conflict and to take Lebanon’s interests into
consideration first, according to NNA.
The
patriarch has also repeatedly called for Lebanon to focus on neutrality
and not to enter international and regional wars which he said have
nothing to do with the country.
In
2014, Rahi visited Israel during a visit by Pope Francis. Hezbollah and
other groups in Lebanon expressed outrage at the decision at the time.
Tzvi Joffre
Source: https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/lebanons-maronite-patriarch-calls-on-army-to-handle-hezbollah-676214
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