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A HAPPY NEW YEAR  On the occasion of Christmas, the birth of Jesus Christ, God of sacrifice and mercy, and on the occasion of the New Year, we wish our Lebanese communities all over the world, happiness, health and prosperity. We ask almighty God to have mercy on our people in occupied Lebanon who are enduring all kinds of atrocities. We ask Jesus to grant them the grace of courage, faith and patience, and to help us all work authentically for Lebanon's liberation. We welcome the New Year with complete confidence, hoping Lebanon shall be free again, in spite of all hardships. We are confident victory will be on Lebanon's side and all collaborators, opportunists and traitors will be doomed and made to face the consequences of their treacherous deeds. Dear Fellow Lebanese, descendents of Gibran, Malek, Kadmous, Hannibal, Bachir, Fakereddine and King Aheram. Dear Sons of great Lebanon, that gave humanity its first alphabet: Let us all welcome Christmas and the New Year with joy and hope, kneeling down to Jesus at the Nativity with our hands raised towards heaven. Let us ask Almighty God with warmth and intensity to protect our people and lead their steps toward endurance, faith and freedom. While we in Diaspora are celebrating Christmas and New Years and enjoying our time surrounded by families and friends, we should never forget the downtrodden citizens in our own home country of Lebanon. We should never forget that while we are living in free and peaceful countries with our human rights well respected, people back home are tortured, humiliated, and deprived of their basic rights. It is tragic to find members in our Diaspora communities whose memory is fading and who are trying to distance themselves from the dilemma of their families back home. It is painful too, that some are still lobbying for the advantages of Syrian occupation under the disguise of brotherhood and Arabism. To all of those, we say: You are Lebanese and will remain so, no matter what you do or say. You cannot escape or hide from your roots and heritage or from your destiny. Enjoy life wherever you are, but always remember your people in occupied Lebanon. They are deprived of everything you have and everything you enjoy. Let your conscience be the judge, and focus on atrocities they are enduring. The puppet, Lebanese-Syrian installed officials, are destroying the country and forcing its young generation to leave and then replacing them with foreigners. They stole historic riches discovered in downtown Beirut and at other locations and buried what they could not sell or smuggle. They confiscated downtown Beirut real estate from its actual owners under the flag of Solidare, and through laws legislated by the fraudulent Parliament. They even murdered a number of citizens who refused to leave their properties. The "Khayyat's family" dilemma is one live example incriminating the Parliament, Cabinet and security forces. Through the so-called Arabic Highway they are ruining and destroying all patriotic villages and towns in Mount Lebanon, like Jamhour, Araya and Kehale. They mortgaged the country with huge foreign debts (25 billion dollars) beyond all reason and naturalized (in 1994) four hundred thousand foreigners with a pen stroke, most of whom have never seen Lebanon…some are even criminals. At the same time they are denying the Lebanese in Diaspora their rights in Lebanese citizenship and discouraging them from returning to their own country. Inhuman atrocities are committed on a daily basis through organized infringements on all human rights. The Lebanese nationals, who call for independence, sovereignty and withdrawal of foreign troops, are persecuted, imprisoned, sent into exile and even killed. More than one and half million Syrian workers reside and work illegally in Lebanon, depriving the Lebanese of their jobs. The 'displaced crisis' is stalled and remains without an effective solution and half a million Lebanese are kept living as strangers in their own country. The majority of our people are oppressed and deprived of their freedom in choosing their own representatives in the parliament and other authority positions. Parliamentary and municipal elections were forged and Lebanese national leaders were sent into exile, isolated, imprisoned or murdered. Syrian troops and intelligence services arrest Lebanese nationals in Lebanon and transfer them illegally to Syrian detention centers, while the Lebanese regime has abandoned all the detainees in Syrian jails, putting its head in the sand like an ostrich. South Lebanon remains an arena for violence and a battlefield for other's wars. The judicial system is politicized and corrupted and media freedom is confiscated and media facilities distributed portions to officials and Mafiosi. The Regime is refusing to take responsibility for South Lebanon by ignoring Israeli proposals for withdrawal. The Syrian interests are the priority, not those of Lebanon. Syria wants the Israelis to stay in South Lebanon to justify its occupation and to justify the Israeli occupation in the Golan Heights. The regime is destroying the Lebanese environment by polluting water, soil and air and burning its forests. It is turning the mountains into plains through quarries owned by officials and Mafiosi. The officials are smashing historic rocks in Kisrwan and Bekka, aged 170 million years and turning them into gravel to build houses for foreigners. They are implementing the imperialistic doctrine "divide and conquer". They divided families, parties, denominations and regions, and planted hatred among the people. They are destroying Lebanon's national identity and falsifying history. They have tied up the country in hundreds of unfair agreements with Syria under the guise of brotherly coordination and cooperation. Lebanon's agriculture is being destroyed because of the Syrian products flooding the country's markets. The farmers in North Lebanon threatened to cut their fruit trees and vineyards if the government does not take strict measures to control Syrian products invading Lebanon. The same calls came from North region farmers. We, in Diaspora, have a national, holy obligation to support Lebanon with all resources and capabilities available to us. Our people are facing the hardest, most inhuman circumstances inflicted on them in contemporary history. Let us all pray that soon our country shall be again an oasis for freedom, an asylum for the persecuted, an example for coexistence and a shrine for faith. We are Lebanon's great last hope, we are the great last resort. Let us not turn a blind eye to our family but stand with them until Lebanon is free once again. Long Live Free Lebanon |