In his weekly article with Al-Anbaa newspaper to be published Tuesday, Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblatt made the following comments :
Hezbollah arms:
Jumblatt wrote that that it is better for parties to “not discuss Hezbollah’s arms through the media because it would only increase domestic tension without any practical result.”
Border demarcation:
Jumblatt wrote that even though the Shebaa Farms are not yet liberated from Israel’s occupation, he said Lebanon and Syria should start border demarcation in other regions, such as the North. Demarcation would benefit Beirut and Damascus, he added.
Palestinians
The Palestinian refugees in Lebanon should be granted their rights, he said, adding that the parliament should legislate on the issue.
Municipal elections
Al Hayat newspaper reported today that Jumblatt is keen on handing over the head of municipal council seats to Christians in Druze-Christian towns in the Shouf region and has reportedly given the green light to his constituency
to choose Christian heads of municipalities which are currently occupied by Druze.
Jumblatt reportedly prefers to give the municipality presidency in Mazraat al-Shouf to Amal Abdel Sater, in Maaser al-Shouf to a consensual Christian and in Barouk to Elie Nakhle. The same also goes to the mixed town of Ain Zhalta.
PSP sources told al-Hayat that Jumblatt is insisting on bringing Christian municipal heads in these towns as part of his willingness to consolidate reconciliation and encourage Christians to return to their towns and villages.
The PSP sources also told al-Hayat that Jumblat won’t interfere in the formation of the list in Damour, one of the biggest Christian towns. He backs consensus on the basis of renewing the post of current municipal chief Charles Ghafari despite a tendency by some families to enter into an electoral battle against him.
In purely Druze towns, the PSP leader is against electoral battles. That’s why he is cooperating with Tawheed Movement leader Wiam Wahab in Jahliyeh. Jumblatt also encourages a coalition list in Jiyyeh given that it is a Sunni-Shiite-Christian mixed town.
Lebanon for all and united we stand
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Although on his Syrian stand I do not back Walid beyk, but I have to admit that he is doing everything to take care of the Chouf and the co-existence between all the factions in the Chouf, and when he says that he wants Christians to come back to their villages, I tend to believe him and I think he is sincere.
One other thing Walid beyk does very well in the Mountain is to take care of the environment: Preserving the Cedar forest in Barouk and creating water pools for the dry season and gathering the dead wood from the forests and distribute them to the poor in winter, etc…
No wonder his constituents love him no matter how crazy his politics can get sometimes. Without counting that he is accessible to the people and listens to their demands and problems on a weekly basis when he receives them in the Moukhtara palace.
However, I completely disagree with him when he wants to give the Palestinians their “rights”. What rights? As far as I am concerned the only right they have is to LEAVE Lebanon and go to any other country they want. Actually, if they go to any other country they ill be able to work, study, and improve their fate economically and culturally, but in Lebanon because of all our complicated political system they will never have this chance. Without saying that the Lebanese, in their majority, are not very much in love with the Palestinians. So if they emigrate to the States, Canada or Australia they can have a decent life and when Palestine is ready for them to come back they could pack and go back to Palestine, otherwise they are going to continue to live the misery they have been living in Lebanon for who knows until when…
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Wow Constantin, how humanitarian of you. As a Palestinian Christian, who has lived throughout the Arab World, I am dumbfounded by the complete inhumane attitude of the Christians in Lebanon to Palestinian refugees. Do you think they want Lebanese citizenship? Many Lebanese don’t even want Lebanese citizenship. They just want to be able to hold jobs, go to school, live a better life… everything short of naturalization, because as I said most if not all Palestinian refugees don’t want Leb citizenship. They want to hold on to their rightful and just right of return. So explain to me why Palestinians, in most all other countries, can work, study, own property, but in Lebanon they can’t have any civil rights?
And don’t give me the old story about how the Palestinians set up a “mini-state” or any other of your Phalangist propoganda. Guess what, the PLO is gone. And who is the resistance in the south now? LEBANESE. So I don’t want to hear accusations thrown at an overwhelmingly innocent civilian refugee population who is living in worse conditions than many Palestinians living under Israeli Occupation!
The Palestinians practically built up the Gulf on their own in the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s. It doesn’t mean they got citizenship. But you know what, they were able to contribute to the economy very positively and they were able to live a decent life. Instead you guys bring over South-East Asians to do the dirty work for you, or so you can manipulate and abuse them. You call yourself a democracy yet you deny 10% of your population basic humanitarian rights. Shame on you for your inhumanity and backwards sectarianism.
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Nader,
We welcomed you and helped you survive an unjust fate but we are now overcrowded and we really want you out guys. Do you have what it takes like the Lebanese to free your country? When the south depended on your guerillas you guys had weapons and men but instead of fighting the Israelis you exercised hegemony over the Shiites in the South and then you let the Israelis waltz in and you and the Syrian army did NOTHING but tug your tail and run and hide in Beirut until you had nowhere to go. Not only you lost your country because of your cowardliness but we the Lebanese almost lost our country because of your actions. You have the nerve to talk. The Christians of Lebanon defended your cause and if you studied history you would know that President Chamoun had a heart attack at 35 debating against Zionism and pro Palestinian at the U.N.
When the hordes of refugees came into Lebanon THE ONLY SECT that was willing to give up land for you was the Maronite sect and ALL the refugee camps today are built on the Waqef Marouni. How did they repay us back? By siding with one sect over another and help ignite a civil war. So stop your bullshit rhetoric of acting like a dumb victim, carry weapons and fight your real enemy like Hezbollah and other Lebanese did to defeat Israel.
Now back to history if you do know it. Lebanon paid a heavy price but never assumed to own the Palestinians, however Syria owns you guys and you say nothing, they use you to do their dirty work and you say nothing… The Egyptians claimed Gaza and denied the existence of Palestine as did the Jordanians claiming the West Bank area of Palestine. That was the root of your problem, when the Israelis went to the U.N. they argued and rightly so, there is no Palestine, as the remaining land was claimed by Egypt and Jordan.
By the way, the Christian attitude towards the palestinian refugee is NOT true, check the facts, it is the Shiites who are against your naturalization because they do not want the Sunnis to even swell more in numbers.
Speaking of Sectarianism I have Palestinian friends who were Christians and they were terrorized in West Beirut by the same PLO that claimed to defend your cause, JUST FOR BEING CHRISTIANS. I can bring them forward anytime so they testify about the fact.
Now, be a good boy, go get a weapon, fly back to Palestine and enlist with Hamas to fight the Zionists. OOPS sorry they won’t let you because you are a Christian, as in Hamas ONLY sunnis are allowed to liberate Palestine.
YUP, chraab men el biir wu kebb fii hajar…
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Constantin I agree with your comments. Well put!
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Nader, you don’t like it LEAVE. Nobody is forcing you to stay in Lebanon. Lebanon is our country NOT yours. Just Leave! As I said in my previous posting, if you leave you will most probably have a better life.
Let me remind you of some facts that up to date: 1) All the Palestinian camps in Lebanon are not accessible to the Lebanese security forces and police, i.e. still we have Palestinian states within our state; 2) up til now All Palestinian camps are camps where all sorts of criminals and fanatic extremists are hiding from justice, i.e. a source of trouble and insecurity; 3) up til now there are illegal Palestinian camps in the Bekaa training and smuggling arms illegally into Lebanon; 4) We Lebanese did not get but trouble from the Palestinians, remember Nahr El-Bared, I am sure that Ain El Helwi is next; 5) up til now Palestinian factions send rockets into Isreal from Lebanon not caring about the reaction the Jewish state is going to have against Lebanon and ncertainly not caring about the sovereignty of Lebanon.
You see my dear Palestinian why we want you OUT!
Simply because you’re ungrateful for the land of honey and milk that received you. As the Arabic proverb says: In Akramta al-kareema malaktahou wa in akramta al-la’eema tamarrada.
As for the innocent Palestinians (who definitely exist) living besides the criminals in the camps, I cannot be other than sorry for them.
By the way, why the Palestinians did not stay in the Gulf? I’ll answer this question for you: Because they betrayed Kuwait when Saddam invaded it, they stood with the invader against the land that received them and fed them, this is why they were kicked out of all the Gulf countries, because they were traitors to their host country.
I am sorry, no more mercy to the Palestinians! I have had enough with them.
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Constantin,
You come off as an intelligent person, but your so-called “facts” are completely exaggerated and are reminiscent of a typical fear-mongering right-wing Fox News commentator. Let me break down the real facts for you, my Lebanese friend.
Tha Palestinians can’t just LEAVE, if you haven’t been paying attention for the past 62 years, THEY HAVE NOWHERE TO GO. And even if you don’t like to admit it, Lebanon (and all of the surrounding Arab states) will always be a part of the history and current struggle of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. It’s just history man, read something substantial for once in your life. You can’t AVOID the fact that Palestinians were FORCIBLY removed and ethnically cleansed from their land, and they took refuge in the countries neighbouring them. You might not like it, but that’s the facts, and instead of trying to AVOID history you can try to become a part of the solution of the current impasse. But perhaps your deep-rooted racism and sectarianism is blinding you.
Now to decimate your twisted logic:
1) All the Palestinian camps are not accessible by Lebanese Armed Forces for a reason, a reason you ignore either because of, again, your lack of knowledge of history or your overwhelming bigotry. In the 50’s, the camps were controlled RUTHLESSLY and VIOLENTLY by the Lebanese Army and it wasn’t until the PLO came that the Palestinians started assembling a life of their own with their own civil and social organizations and activities which provided services to Palestinians AND Lebanese alike. Yes we were grateful for our temporary tents after going through a CATASTROPHE, but perhaps we weren’t ready for brutal military rule. You can’t blame the Palestinians for wanting to run their own affairs given the treatment they received on their supposed “welcome”.
2) Palestinians camps are filled with extremists? Really? Is that why Nahr- El Bared, before the battle, was the largest market in northern Lebanon? Why, I bet all of them were fanatical extremists. And I bet Fatah al-Islam was all Palestinian too (sarcasm). The only real extremists I see in Lebanon are the Lebanese on both sides of the political spectrum, but that’s another story.
3, 4 and 5 (because they’re all rubbish statements really: Illegal camps in Bekaa training? Source of instability, sending rockets into Israel? Are you serious? Are you sure you’re not referring to a party who has representatives in your government, they go by the name of HEZBOLLAH?! But it seems all you really are is afraid of offending “the Jewish state”, as you call it. But it was Lebanese who were launching rockets in 2006 as a method of SELF DEFENCE against Israeli aggression. And it wasn’t the Lebanese Army who was defending Lebanon against this aggression.
Instead of placing blame and pointing fingers at the Palestinians for YOUR PROBLEMS, why don’t you look inside your own society and figure it out. Land of milk and honey? Where’s the milk? Where’s the honey? It’s BANNED to Palestinians.
Don’t keep perpetuating this myth that the Palestinians wanted to go to Lebanon or anywhere else for that matter, and then say you gave us everything in the world and we just crapped on it. That is a myth and a totally misrepresentation of history and the truth on the ground.
And in regards to the Palestinians in Kuwait, I can tell you from personal experience that the 400,000 Palestinians in Kuwait, half of the population of the entire country who had been living there for decades, were mostly against the Iraqi war and actually lost lives in that war. One statement from Arafat does not justify collective punishment against half of the population. What the Kuwaitis did was immoral, and again when the Palestinians left they brought in cheap Asian labour so their dead-beat house wives can beat on them all day. But trust me, the Gulf countries WANT Palestinians back because they’re hard workers and they are a boost to Arab economies. Have you been to Dubai recently?
And in any case, who was once a big supporter of the Christians in Lebanon and provided them massive amounts of military and financial aid, wasn’t it Saddam Hussein?
Go read something substantial and then reply back, because otherwise your comments are lacking in thought and objectivity.
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what a Lebanese law abiding citizen wants for a guest in his house to live by the rules of the family not to trash the house nor to get involved in afight with a powerful neighbour so the neighbour does not attack and trash the house cause the familly do not have the means to fix it, what I am saying abide by Lebanese laws do not pick up a fight or side with this family member against an other family member, this is a universal law
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Nader, you too seem an educated person with whom we can have some civilized discussion, however, for you Palestine and the Palestinians will always come first, which is completely normal and just, and for me Lebanon and the Lebanese will always come first.
A guest in my house who does not want to live by my rules is not welcomed in my house. You would react exactly the same if you were at my place.
I should also tell you that I am 100% with the Palestinian cause and support all the Palestinians in Palestine fighting for their land and freedom. I will always respect them and support their just cause. But for the Palestinians in Lebanon, it is a completely different story.
Also I do know that generally the Palestinians are a hard working people and many of them are very educated. Well good for them, however, these educated Palestinians are not controlling the camps in Lebanon.
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Constantin,
I appreciate your support of the Palestinian cause and I don’t doubt that most Lebanese share this view.
There is a reason, however, why you don’t regard the Palestinians controlling the camps as “educated” or “hard-working”, and it’s because they don’t have the opportunity to. The Palestinians in Syria don’t have citizenship but are much better off. Why is that? Because the Syrian Government actually allows them to work!
But in any case, I agree with you that my primary concern is the well-being of the Palestinians, and your primary concern is the well-being of the Lebanese state. Only natural. But I find it funny that you don’t see that the well-being of the refugees in Lebanon is a key to the well-being of the Lebanese state. This is how you avoid extremism and general poverty. You provide opportunities. You might even gain the trust of Palestinians in the future and then the Palestinians wouldn’t see a need for having weapons to defend themselves.
And Lebanon will benefit from this. The Palestinians are not trying to stay in Lebanon, or take over Lebanon, trust me they have been waiting for decades to leave! But they can’t. They have no country. We have to understand the realities and deal with it. This transcends nationalism, sectarianism, or political ideology. We are talking about basic human rights. So I personally find Jumblatt’s stance to be refreshing.
Thank you for a good discussion.
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hey Nader,
i see your point bro. you’re definitely a moderate and a pragamtist unlike constantin whom you say sounds intelligent and i’ve seen anything but intelligence out of that guy. he insults my name always as he seems to disapprove of mixed marriages. he’s a racist and absolute arrogant extremist at best.
i wrote my full name once and following many idiiotic remarks from posts that don’t undestand mixed marriages, i changed to tony a and constantin seems to think he has the right to still use my full name when he speaks to me as if he knows me.
it angers me that this lebanese who probably doesn’t think of himself as an arab anyway, wants the palestinins out.
if our government allows them to work without voting powers – first, they would contribute to the economy and the work force, second, poverty creates rebellions everywhere.
the palestinians don’t want citizenship as i said in previous posts cos that will mean a victory for israel which constantin seems to support. the whole symbolism of the palestinian camps was to remain there until they have the right of return.
the above article re walid jumblatt as i have also said in previous posts in contradiction to constantin’s many oppositions with anger against walid’s actions and comments, that walid is not an idiot and he knows what he’s doing.
of course time is telling that i have been correct in my comments while he was wrong as many doubted walid’s actions and i never did.
lebanon is for lebanese and non-lebanese so until we come to terms with that we will remain primitive.
i don’t want to assume anything re walid’s statements about their rights cos i would like to know specifically what he means. i know he’s not talking citizenship cos that’s not what htye want. if he’s talking employment then i’m all for that cos idle hands give the devil more time to play.
nader bro i commend you for having so much patience but that is one fella i wouldn’t waste time debating with cos he is clearly a racist.
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Tony,
You are spot on my friend. Constantin, despite perhaps having some potential to understand the realities of the situation, has a deep-rooted sentiment of racism and sectarianism that is quite evident in his remarks about mixed marriages, Lebanese politics and society, Palestinian refugees, etc… It is also, may I add, very easy to “100% support” the Palestinian cause, but very hypocritical to be vehementely opposed to the very victims who are the crux and backbone of the Palestinian cause!
And I also agree that I would like to know more specifics about Walid’s stances. And it is interesting to note that most Lebanese and most of their political parties are in acceptance of granting the Palestinian refugees all their rights, short of naturalization. However the parties that continuously torpedo these developments are the LF and the Phalange, who like Constantin, cannot escape the mindset of their bigotry. I can only hope they will progress in their viewpoints through simply looking at the realities.
It also angers me that an Arab (even if he doesn’t believe he is one) would spew such racist comments against his fellow Arab, and even fellow Lebanese. There should never be personal attacks, as I assume this is a civilized discussed.
History may have been bitter, but I just simply cannot fathom how anyone could just say “Just LEAVE.” It’s as if he’s completely oblivious to what’s going on outside of his village.
Thanks Tony,
Nader
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Nader,
I thought this discussion ended, apparently not.
Every one has his opinion and entitled to it. However, to come back and start calling me “names” because my opinion does not coincide with yours or with any one else’s, this is not the civilized discussion that you’re talking about.
Just to let you and others know I do not respond to people who get personal and start insulting me on this site or anywhere else. You say: “There should never be any personal attacks here and this should be a civilized discussion” and then you call me a: Bigot and a racist…Gee I over-estimated earlier your civilized manners.
I have my point of view on Lebanese politics and society as much as any other LEBANESE has, you don’t. What is happening in Palestine should be your concern, not what is happening in Lebanon.
Yes, I am for Lebanon and the Lebanese first and foremost, and if this translates to racist in your mind, well too bad, I cannot help it. I am pretty sure that for you Palestine and the Palestinians are first and foremost, should I call you racist?
After what the Palestinians did in Lebanon in the 60s, 70s, 80s and up til now with Nahr el Bared and other incidents, I do not want to hear of any rights for them in Lebanon.
In my country, we have plenty of youth who cannot find work and are leaving to work in the Gulf, Europe or even in Africa and you want me to grant 0.5 million Palestinians the right to work and buy property? No way!
Then you talk about my remarks about mixed marriages ?! I don’t know what you’re talking about!…
Finally, I would like to let you know that I am not a Kataeb or FL or a member of any political party in Lebanon, which is anyways non of your concern, I do not live in a village but in Ras-Beirut, again non of your concern, and have a post-secondary education from AUB.
In Lebanon no major decision is taken unless we have a concensus on it, so the Palestinian refugee’s situation, however tragic it might be, definitely does not have a consensus and they will not get any rights in Lebanon.
I don’t think you are going to convince me nor I am going to convince you. Let’s leave it at that.
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lol hilarious and what a hypocite when the tables turn. i have never gotten personal once in my posts ya mr constantin cos i have a high education including debating.
but when i have to come down to the level of the person posting some rude comments (you) one must give the other’s own medicine for that person to see how i feel.
this is he comment you left for and about me in other posting and see how you would like it if that was posted about you personally.
THIS IS HOW CONSTANTIN THINKS DEBATING SHOULD BE LIKE:
Reply to this comment Very well said Ghassan. As for the other chameleons on this site who hide behind names that mislead the readers on their allegiance like Tony A (or Tony Ali) they understand Walid beyk because they are like him with 2 names, 2 faces, 2 positions, etc…
WELL NOW THAT YOU KNOW HOW IT FEELS YOU WILL REFRAIN FROM FUTURE PERSONAL ATTACKS COS WE CAN ALL BE RUDE AND NON-PROFESSIONAL.
YOU STARTED THIS MESS CONSTANTIN COS I NEVER ONCE IN MY WHOLE POSTINGS ON THIS SITE DID I GET PERSONAL.
I REST MY CASE AND GHASSAN, I WOULD NEVER DREAM TO TELL THE PALESTINIANS TO LEAVE MY COUNTRY BRO. 7ARAM YA 3AALAM. WE TREAT PEOPLE LIKE GARBAGE THEN WE WONDER WHY HIZBOLLAH EXISTS AND WHY PALESTINIANS HAVE WEAPONS.
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we are afraid to look in the mirror and see where the problem starts. if we can all do that then lebanon wouldn’t be in this mess.
love to all and constantin hope you enjoyed your own medicine so you can DO UNTO OTHERS AS YOU HAVE DONE UNTO YOURSELF.
MY USERNAME IS TONY A
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Walid,
Maybe if Fatah had balls, or Hamas had IRANIAN AND SYRIAN MONEY AND WEAPONS, we could fire out katyushas at Israel. But if you haven’t noticed, we don’t get weaponry or cash. The shabab in Gaza are shooting Qassams… do you even know what a Qassam is? It’s a crude HOMEMADE rocket. Before you go comparing your resistance to ours, you must make a realization of the different situations they both are in. Do I go around claiming Hamas defeated Israel because they pulled out of Gaza? Absolutely not. And Israel can once more, like they can and WILL in Gaza and Lebanon, if they choose, run over the South and take it for good.
You are rewriting history by unjustly dismissing the Lebanese and Palestinian resistance against the Israelis in 1982. That’s probably because you are actively ignoring certain historical truths, for your own propagandistic benefit. While East Beirut was protected by the Israelis and was run like a military authoritarian regime, West Beirut had a pluralistic, non-sectarian, and nationalist alliance of the PLO-LNM, which fought admirably against the Israeli attack on Beirut and was able to withstand repeated attempts at overrunning the city before it was finally taken. What exactly was anyone else, other than the PLO-LNM resistance, doing to defend the city, huh? The limited capabilities of the resistance was able to fight, rather than cowardly flee or take cover, against a militarily and technologically superior adversary which had no regard for civilian human life. What were most of the right wing sectarian militias doing at the time, securing the rest of the country for the Israelis! Palestinians and Lebanese alike lost their lives defending Beirut, a city which is the pride of the Arab World. And you just sat by and cheered when the Israelis took it, and then you participated in the massacring of its civilians.
The Palestinians did take sides in the war, and this is obviously something that was unfortunate. But it is understandable. The Lebanese National Movement was struggling for their natural rights, and saw a natural ally in the Palestinians, NOT the other way around. Wasn’t it the LNM which saw an advantage in having the Palestinians on their side and manipulated them into fighting alongside them? Both the LNM and the PLO, may I add, had many Christian leaders, which I don’t believe was true the other way around. Wasn’t it the massacre of Muslims, both Lebanese and non-Lebanese, that sucked in the PLO to Lebanon’s ALREADY simmering sectarian war (Black Saturday, Karantina, Tel El Zaatar, etc…)? The crux of the issue is the splits within your society, and you try to make the crux the Palestinians themselves, which is unjust and completely untrue.
Of course there were many Christians in Lebanon who defended the Palestinian cause. Does that justify the SLA or the LF blindly massacring civilians? Does that justify barring 10% of your population from becoming active members of society, or even to seek a decent wage?
And trust me, I do not hold ANY of the Arabs in high regards, especially Jordan and Egypt, when it comes to supporting the Palestinians during the catastrophe that was unwittingly bestowed upon them. Do you think the Lebanese would have survived millions of European Jews, after WWII, coming in and methodically cleansing your land? Why attack the integrity of the Palestinians when they have had to, on their own, struggle against a Western-backed imperialist, militaristic, and racist ideology? Is it perhaps because you agree with that ideology?
WE DON’T WANT THE SHIA TO WANT OUR NATURALIZATION. WE DON’T WANT NATURALIZATION. WE DON’T WANT THE LEBANESE CITIZENSHIP. But at least the Shia can defend their country when an enemy attacks them. And at least Aoun has the balls to support them in their rightful cause. Neither Aoun or Hezbollah or Berri or Jumblatt or Hariri for that matter want naturalization for the Palestinians, and neither do we. I am talking about BASIC HUMAN RIGHTS. It’s only right, my friend, especially if you want to call yourselves a democracy and want to show the world how “western” and “progressive” you are.
Thank you for your “warm” welcome. As for the Christian Palestinians, we don’t have this sectarian divide which so pronounces your society. Go ask 99% of the Christians in all of Palestine and anywhere else. The leaders of the PFLP and the DFLP were both Christians. Our most famous intellectual was a Christian. Does this mean there aren’t problems every now and then, of course not. All of us Arabs operate like that unfortunately. But we certainly don’t exhibit the same hatred and racism that you do.
First it’s the Palestinians, then the Syrians, then the Iranians, then still the Palestinians. I’m not saying there hasn’t been outside meddling in your affairs, which again is very unfortunate, but have you guys ever looked in the mirror and realized YOU are the problem? Any self-reflection in the deep-rooted divisions in YOUR society that you never managed to solve when you started your republic? Like Tony A says, you treat everyone like shit and don’t expect them to arm and defend themselves. Trust me, we don’t want to stay.. But we certainly have no where to go and we deserve to have HALF-DECENT LIVES.
BTW, you’re also speaking to a half-Gazan Christian, who still has family in Gaza, and they may not be members of Hamas but they have ALWAYS defended their country against Zionists. So don’t ever question that and don’t ever call me boy.
Nader
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That was awesome!
I did get a reaction out of you and may be got your attention now…
The reason I wrote what I wrote is to prove my point using reverse psychology.
You said, and I quote, “I am dumbfounded by the complete inhumane attitude of the Christians in Lebanon to Palestinian refugees”
To which I intended a reply so unjust to get your attention. Why do you lump all the Christians of Lebanon in one basket. Most of the SSNP are Christians and they fought and bled by your side as did the communist party of Lebanon amongst others.
That said, my family worked for, with, and employed Palestinians and I am for your comment as to employing them instead of South East Asians. At least they speak Arabic.
That said, I will never blame the Palestinians as a people for what happened as everyone had a hand in murders, rape, stealing and massacres. However, the PLO leadership was VERY wrong at what they have done in Lebanon. Let’s not forget the infamous Arafat’s saying: “The road to Jerusalem is through Jounieh…”
May be we should not blame him, because they haven’t invented GPS back then although a pure compass would have helped.
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Walid,
Very witty indeed! I really don’t intend to lump all of the Christians in Lebanon together, and I know that it’s not the case. Like I said, there were many Christians on the left who defended and still defend our rights to this day. And I also agree the PLO leadership made some horrendous decisions that harmed the Palestinians, in Lebanon and elsewhere.
In terms of employment of refugees, at least you can be pragmatic and understand the economic and social realities of the situation, unlike many others on here who tend to stick to a very inflexible position and cannot seem to fathom reality.
And, my friend Walid, I don’t think Arafat made that comment. From my understanding, which I could be wrong, it was made by George Habash, PFLP Christian. Dissappointing to me even, but true.
With that being said, I will be visiting Lebanon for the first time this summer (don’t worry I won’t be staying!), and I will be staying in Jounieh, so I will let you know if I miraculously see a map and road directly to Jerusalem there.
Thanks,
Nader
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Fair enough!
LOL
Yup, from Jounieh keep going South, as you reach those guys carrying yellow flags with no Cedar in them you will know that you are getting closer.
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that’s what i’m talking about!!!!!!! awesoe debates with no pesonal attacks.
so far the score is lebanon 1 palestine 1 and the whole world against us. UNITED WE STAND DIVIDED WE FALL GUYS.
PALESTINIANS AREN’T OUR ENEMIES.
WE HAVE LEADERS WHO KEEP DISTRACTING US WITH HIZBOLLAH AND PALESTINIAN CAMPS. OKAY, THERE ARE ISSUES THERE WHICH DO HAVE SOLUTIONS.
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let’s turn our debates to more internal issues that affect the actual population like: increase minimum wage, pave the freaking roads, restore tourist sites to bring in more money, sort out the expatriate vote, sort out the mixed marriage issue where women’s kids get citizenship, teach the sheep that red light means stop, encourage real estate purchases to people who actually live inthe country,24 HOUR ELECTRICITY FOR GOD’S SAKE
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