Aoun made the statement at the Royal Hotel in Dbaye during his address to the participants in the "National Christian Gathering," which is being held by the Christian opposition.
Key representatives of the Christian community such as the Phalange Party , the Lebanese Forces , Qurnet Shahwan and many other pro-government factions have not been invited . The organizers are hoping to bring together about 150 Lebanese Christian political, economic and social figures and hope to come out with a unified position regarding the role of the Christians in Lebanon.
Habib Ephram delivered the opening address on behalf of the Union of Christian Leagues in which he stated
That the region is threatened by Islamic fundamentalism which should encourage intra-Christian reconciliation. He urged the president to support such a reconciliation. He also called for full partnership between Christians and Muslims in Lebanon
General Aoun was next and he started out his speech by defending his alliance with Hezbollah . "Our understanding with the Resistance is based on the need for Lebanon to fortify its resistance against the Israeli policy of aggressions : Aoun said . Aoun added : Supporting the resistance is an option to defend the nation.
Aoun then directed his attention against the US . He said he opposes the US foreign policy and his opposition is an act of self defense. Accused the US of dominating the world since the demise of the soviet Union . On the other hand he said that his "disagreement with the American administration does not mean enmity with the American people, whose humanitarian values we share." "Supporting the resistance is an option to defend the nation" he added
Aoun then switched to the Palestinian issue and warned against the naturalization of the Palestinians in Lebanon. He talked about an alleged scheme to naturalize the Palestinians but did not provide any details on who is behind the scheme
After Aoun delivered his speech Chakib Kortbawi (the former Head of the Lawyers' Syndicate) recited the gathering's charter. The charter primarily called for :
* Settling the Lebanese -Syrian relations
* Partnership between a strong Muslim and a strong Christian community
* Ending the ordeal of the Lebanese refugees to Israel and the Lebanese detainees in Syria
* Changing the distribution of electoral seats in some constituencies '
* Rejection of the naturalization law
* Recreation of the middle class
According to political observers few expect any positive results from this event since this gathering is dividing the Christians right in the middle and therefore its resolutions are not binding and because the could not be enforced within the Christian community
Tags: Christians, Hezbollah, Israel, Lebanon, Muslims, Palestinians, US, Ya Libnan
