Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea decried Friday attempts to portray the Syrian crisis as one targeting Christians, stressing that the religious sect should continue to support the Syrian revolution .
“We as Christians cannot be but with the Syrian revolution,” he said during a conference dubbed “the Christians in Lebanon and the Middle East: Challenges and Prospects.”
He admitted the Syrian revolution is facing some problems but nevertheless it remains on track to achieve democracy ..
“There is some chaos in the Syrian revolution, but without any doubt it is a conflict that is aimed to achieve democracy.”
” Geagea said
He accused his Christian opponents in Lebanon of exploiting events in the Christian Syrian town of Maaloula that was recently taken over by rebels for the sake of President Bashar Assad .
“Some politicians are creating a huge drama about Maalula in Syria in an attempt to hint that the conflict in Syria is about Christians.”
He stressed that the conflict in the region is not between a Muslim majority and Christian minorities.
“We realized that some figures or Lebanese Christian groups, whenever something happens in Maaloula try to portray the conflict in Syria as anti-Christian and this a big hoax,” he said.
Geagea said this scheme aimed at portraying the Assad regime as the protector of minorities “is an effort aimed at prolonging the life of the regime .”
Geagea decried calls that the minority Christians in Lebanon should ally with the Assad regime and the Iranian government and said such a suggestion destroys Christians.
Geagea also ridiculed the so-called alliance of minorities, saying the Assad regime has strongly attacked Christians.
Geagea said Christians should decide their own fate. “If we hold onto dictatorships, then we would vanish.”
“The Christians in the Orient are part of the social fabric. We are not immigrants. We don’t need protection from anyone.”
Geagea urged the Christian community to remain put in the region and support the Arab Spring.
“The Christians should remain in the communities of the Orient. So we should adopt their causes and the foundations of the Arab Spring.”
“Whether we like or not, there are major historic changes in the region that are bringing more freedoms.” He added
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