 By: Colonel Fayez Karam (Translated freely: By Elias Bejjani) With admiration and respect we bow to the Palestinian youth in Gaza and West Bank. Their courage is a role model, their heroic acts have made historic precedents and their daring enthusiasm enlightened liberation goals for future generations. They confronted weapons of killing and destruction with justice and virtue, They substituted dullness with action, and feared no one, They confronted bullets with stones and never lost faith, Their weapons are honesty, fairness, stones and patriotism. They are the uprising "intefada" generation. Their image is in every house, and their heroism is highly admired worldwide. Their uprising "intefada" forced itself with only a stone that secured existence, sovereignty and dignity for the Palestinian people. Lebanon's youth, male and female, have revived hope in the hearts of their people, and gave an example in courage and patriotism. They confronted oppression and arbitrary detention with weapons of faith, nationalistic stance and declarations of truth, They confronted collaboration and subservience with the wills of freedom and liberation, They substituted subservience with rebellion and feared nobody, They treated the national bleeding with cauterization and bowed for no one, They faced physical assaults and detention with happiness, singing the national anthem loudly, Their weapon was and still is freedom, a patriotic stance and the declaration of truth, They are the liberation generation. Their images are in every Lebanese heart and their daring heroism characterizes their stances. Their liberation stemmed from declarations of truth with no fear. Their heroism secured a virtue, a stance and a status for Lebanon and the Lebanese. Regimes from dark history eras have been imposed on our region against our will, These regimes forced on our people oppression, injustice and awkwardness, Regimes called for one thing and did exactly the opposite, Called for reform and practiced corruption, Called for freedom and practiced oppression, Called for dignity and practiced subservience, Called for knowledge and education, and practiced ignorance, Called for openness and liberation, and practiced collaboration and isolation, Called for patriotism and built its status on treason, Touted slogans that remained mere slogans. This imposed, awkward national status quo made our youth revolt. They were supported by local, regional and international human rights organizations and institutions. This solid support came for the right of free expression, right of choice, right of refusal, right of a dignified, decent life, right of confrontation and the right of every man, woman, elder and youth to be heard. The support was not for religious, denominational, fanatic, sectarian, ethnic or, political reasons. The work of the Human Rights organizations was remarkable and extremely effective. On the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of the International Human Rights covenant we all salute those pioneers worldwide who made it a reality. With dignity, gratitude, freedom, faith, and a will to give and sacrifice, we extend our hands for all our people. We ask them on this universal occasion to join the free world and work for freedom, liberation and democracy. We ask every man who believes in human dignity to support human rights organizations' endeavors to make their role not only observation and criticism, but suing, charging and sentencing. Let us all support Human Rights institutions so that not only Pinochet is brought to trial, but every other tyrant and criminal, So that law is not selectively, proportionally or arbitrarily implemented, and only in certain countries, but all over the world with fairness and justice. So that all people, poor and rich, strong and weak, educated and illiterate all are equal in the eyes of the law, and so that stances based on conscience, impartiality and fairness are safety measures for a better future. Let us all salute the heroism of our Lebanese youth, and youth all over the world, who make history by their daring fight for freedom, dignity and liberation. Long Live Free Lebanon France. December 11, 1998 |