File photo: A huge rally in Bkirki in support of Patriarch Rai’s neutrality calls. “No right shall be wasted. I understand your pain and anger well. I understand your revolt. Do not stay silent about politicizing the judiciary. Do not stay silent about illegal arms. Do not stay silent about innocents kept in prisons, or the naturalization of Palestinians. Do not stay silent about the coup against the state and system. Do not stay silent about the delayed government formation, or about reforms or our martyrs. .” Rai told the people at the rally on March 2021
Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rai on Sunday renewed his call for Lebanon neutrality and condemned “the brutal war that is ongoing in Gaza,” while rejecting “its expansion to the southern Lebanese villages
“Lebanon is not a land of war but rather a land of dialogue and peace,” al-Rai said in his Sunday Mass sermon.
“The expansion of the war to Lebanon comes in violation of Resolution 1701 and it is necessary for Lebanon to return to its neutrality through diplomacy, , he added.
He also reiterated that “Lebanon’s neutrality is not something new, but is rather part of the core of Lebanon’s identity since 1860.”
Since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war on Oct. 7, Hezbollah and Israeli forces have engaged in skirmishes on the border that have killed around 150 people on the Lebanese side — most of them Hezbollah and Palestinian operatives and allied groups. At least 17 civilians were also killed.
According to Rai over 72 , 000 people in Lebanon are displaced, as a result of the Hezbollah Israel fighting.
This is not the first time that Rai, the highest ranking Christian authority calls for neutrality towards the regional conflicts despite opposition from the Iranian-backed Hezbollah and its allies. On June 30, 2020 he was quoted as saying “Time for Hezbollah to get the message that all Lebanese want neutrality not only Patriarch Rai”
For this reason Hezbollah dispatched various types of influential people to Rai’s summer residence to dissuade him from carrying on with his campaign for neutrality but so far Hezbollah appears to have failed badly , specially since the majority of the Lebanese appear to side with him on this issue .
“Lebanon was open to all countries, east and west, except Israel which occupied our land. Lebanon was Switzerland of the east … Today, Lebanon has become isolated from the whole world. This is not our identity. Our identity is positive and constructive neutrality, not a warrior Lebanon,” the Patriarch was quoted as saying following a meeting with former president Michel Aoun, a Hezbollah ally.
There is huge concern that the war could expand to Lebanon.
In the 2006 war 1200 Lebanese were killed, mostly civilians and over one million Lebanese from South Lebanon were displaced . During the that war Hezbollah was still relatively popular and for this reason the rest of the Lebanese took care of the displaced , but this time around it is a different story , There is a lot of anger at Hezbollah for its role in the regional conflicts and will be on its own if it goes into any war , which of course spells danger for its community .
One analyst was quoted as saying: “Time for Hezbollah therefore to get the message that neutrality is what the Lebanese people want . The Lebanese want to live in peace and dignity , enough isolation and despair , Lebanon wants its friends back.
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