Head of Independence movement says Christians seek protection only from legitimate state institutions
Head of the Independence Movement Michel Moawad addressed participants in the 14th annual dinner organized by the Social Aid Association at Ehden Country Club. Here follows the full text of his speech:
Rest in peace companion Tony Younes.
To those of you who didn’t have the opportunity to meet Tony, Allow me to tell you a little about him:
Our friend Tony Younes was a free man. A man of deep political convictions that he forged on his own. His involvement in the Independence Movement was not a coincidence but rather a personal choice. When I met Tony in 2004, he neither came to ask me for a favor nor did our families share any historic ties. On the contrary, he was an intern at a law firm that didn’t share our political convictions. But Tony shattered all barriers and conveyed to me his keenness to join hands to defend Lebanon as we have always envisioned it.
This is how Tony Youness started his journey with the Independence Movement. A journey of struggle, exceptional enthusiasm and remarkable modesty.
We will miss you Tony Youness like we miss Andre Zade whom we also lost early. We will always remember your accomplishments and deeds that helped the Independence Movement in Toula and other villages of Zgharta strengthen the people’s commitment to the principles of a sovereign Lebanon.
It is a cruel loss for the Independence Movement but our destiny is to pursue the same path with your family and ours in the Independence Movement.
Good Evening,
I thank you all for coming.
A year ago, I stood here and promised you that the time of coping with events has come to an end. It is time to take action, reorganize and build.
Last year, I promised you that the Rene Moawad Foundation will have a fresh start and today I can assure you that the foundation has expanded its developmental projects beyond Zgharta district and launched partnerships with towns and municipalities in north Lebanon, Jbeil, Keserwan, Chouf, Aley and south Lebanon.
The industrial and agricultural strategy that was implemented across Lebanon last year started bearing fruit as the agricultural produce increased year on year by 75 percent, which allowed the foundation to play a bigger role in supporting farmers and encouraging them to hold on to their land.
In addition to supporting farmers, the Rene Moawad Foundation is also working hard to support the youth through Incubator BIAT that has successfully provided consultancy and funding to several startup projects and FORAS which offers training for job seekers.
The foundation has also established a new mini football stadium which will be officially inaugurated early next season after hosting a tournament last May. We have also established a small Christmas village in Zgharta to get together with people rather than wait for them to come to us.
The youth movement is also organizing a two-day rally paper next week on August 6 that will be followed on Sunday night by an outdoor party at SKYBAR whose management I would like to thank alongside singers Joe Achkar and Mirva for participating in the organization of the event.
I also promised you significant development in our educational services with the launch of the Rene Moawad technical institute last year and I am proud to announce today that the institute which hosts 236 students and 132 academic staff members has celebrated the graduation of 71 students.
While I would have been excited to share with you the success rate of our students in official exams, unfortunately the Lebanese educational system has suffered a setback this year as exams were not graded and students were instead granted certificates.
In line with the restructuring of the Social Aid Association, I’m also proud to announce our new housing renovation project in cooperation with Habitat for Humanity. So far, we have renovated 16 homes in Ashash, Ardah, Kfarina, Sebeel and Zgharta as part of the first phase of the project that is aimed at improving the living conditions of a large segment of families in Zgharta.
I will not elaborate further on the project and I will leave it to my wife Marielle who is sponsoring the initiative to go into details at a later event.
I also promised you improvement in our media platform which speaks for itself.
We have restructured our media office, launched Michelmowad.com website in both Arabic and English to allow the Lebanese expat community to stay informed with our latest news and initiated a social media campaign that was crowned with success beyond our expectations: We have gathered more than 70000 likes on Facebook in a period of six months.
In partnership with a network of political allies, the Independence Movement has also launched imlebanon.org, a news website that managed to attract a large readership even before its official launch date in October. Our aim, however, is to position imlebanon.org among the top three most read news website in Lebanon by 2015.
Despite the progress achieved over the past year in several fields, two key issues have yet to be fully addressed and will represent a priority for us over the next few months:
The first issue relates to the organizational structure of the Independence Movement that should be addressed starting with the organization of the movement’s ranks in north Lebanon and we will be tackling this issue very seriously in the hope of announcing our first organizational changes in the coming months.
Our second priority issue is local municipal development. It is true that the other party has failed miserably on the level of local municipal development as admitted by its supporters while we succeeded in implementing a number of key developmental projects through our institutions despite lacking the means available to official municipal authorities. However, we are demanded as an opposition to better organize our ranks and to hold accountable those responsible for corruption, red tape and a lack of transparency in spending which eventually led to the fall of the president of the Union of Zgharta Municipalities.
Today, we are better prepared to take action as an organized, effective and constructive opposition on the legal, administrative and media levels. This said, allow me to commend the head of Zgharta’s Municipal Council Chehwan Moawad who is present amongst today. Moawad has taken a reformist course of action following the suit of late Toufic Moawad, Zgharta’s former municipal council president, may his soul rest in peace.
Keep on the same course of action and we will be there to support you in every step of the way and help you implement the reforms that Zgharta residents have long awaited. I also call on all political parties to realize the importance of reforms and ask them to stand firm against any all those who are obstructing this course of action regardless of its political affiliation.
Zgharta is a city for us all and so is Ehden, our summer residence and their interest should come first.
To the youth I say,
Many rumors have been circulating lately about meetings that led to an understanding between us and the Marada Movement. I care to honestly say that none of what has been said or being said is true.
I also want to assure you that given the current circumstances and challenges, I’m convinced that we cannot as Lebanese, Christians and residents of Zgharta live in isolation despite our political differences.
In line with these convictions, I have established contact with the Free Patriotic Movement and met with General Michel Aoun a few months. As for our relation with the Marada Movement, I will say the following: Yes, we are on opposite sides of the political divide but at the same time I’m convinced that given the current political and security challenges, we need to seek an agreement over issues of key importance to Zgharta and its people.
In line with these beliefs, I’m open to dialogue with the Marada Movement while staying committed to our political principles that envision a sovereign and Independent Lebanon and I believe Sleiman Franjieh is also clear about his choices.
Likewise, I’m convinced that confronting any potential future threats facing Zgharta requires partnership with our close surrounding starting with Tripoli. On this occasion, let me recall what I said during the 2009 parliamentary election: When the moderate movement in Tripoli is in good shape, so is Zgharta.
Five years have passed since I made that statement and I’m confident today that everyone believes in its rationality.
My friends and companions,
Today, we face the growing danger of Takfiri terrorism that has swept through the region and is threatening Lebanon with suicide bombing and terrorist attacks which most recently targeted Arsal where Lebanese Army soldiers and Internal Security Forces members were taken hostage.
While we condemn these terrorist actions and express our solidarity with the families of kidnapped soldiers who are being threatened with execution, we should ask ourselves: How can we confront ISIS and similar terrorist organization?
Is it with extremism that we fight extremism as some are claiming? Are Hezbollah’s weapons the solution to confront ISIS weapons?
No, this is a fallacy because extremism fuels counter extremism. ISIS wouldn’t have existed in the absence of a sympathizing environment, molded by both Bashar Assad’s terrorism against its own people and Iran’s sectarian policies in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon.
The fall of Nouri al-Maliki in Iraq is all but a concrete admission from Iran that its sectarian policy was behind the rise of ISIS. And I hope that Iran reaches the same conclusions in Syria where it should give up on Bashar Assad to restore stability and in Lebanon where it should entice Hezbollah to yield to the authority of the state.
Recent events have confirmed that Hezbollah’s military victories in Qalamoun and other regions of Syria were mere propaganda and proven wrong those who claim that Hezbollah’s weapons can protect Lebanon from ISIS. The illusions of a sweeping military victory were shattered as Hezbollah sunk in the Syrian war that Lebanon is paying a heavy price for.
Hezbollah’s claim that it is fighting ISIS in Syria to ward off its threat against Lebanon has also proven wrong after ISIS reached Lebanon where the Lebanese Army had to confront it in Arsal and Dahiyeh after Hezbollah’s failed attempts at self-security measures.
This has practically proved that only the Lebanese Army and legitimate security forces can protect Lebanon against terrorism. We won’t seek the protection of any party other than legitimate forces and in Zgharta we know how to defend our land, freedom and presence.
My friends and companions,
I have repeatedly stated that extremism cannot be classified into an acceptable form and unacceptable one. There are no evil and good terrorists. Thus, we will not accept to be confronted with two choices: either to succumb to dictatorship rule or radicalism and chaos represented by ISIS because such faced with these two choices, the whole region will eventually plunge into a hundred-year war that will destroy all forms of civilization.
To Christians I say:
Choosing between two forms of extremism will neither protect you nor preserve your freedom. Only the state and values of moderation forged in partnership with moderate Islam will help you fight extremism.
Partnership with moderate Sunnis against Sunni extremism and partnership with moderate Shiites against radical Shi’ism is the only mean to fight the growing threat of extremism.
To those who want to confront ISIS, I say: you shouldn’t have assassinated moderate figures like Mohammad Chatah and barred Saad Hariri from Lebanon.
Only partnership with moderate movements and a strong state led by a president can protect us, which brings us to today’s challenge of electing a head of state to strengthen the role of constitutional institutions.
This is the only way to confront ISIS and extremism and the ongoing debate over whether to extend parliament’s term or amend the constitution is only intended to distract from the true goal that is the election of a president.
Despite the mounting challenges, rest assured that we will remain attached to our land and we and moderates will always represent a majority
العربية