Where Were The "Bristol Gathering" members?
By: Mike Dalle
June 4/2005

On March 14/ 2005 Lebanese from all sects and from all walks of life united in the Beirut's "Martyr Square" in the peaceful and civilized "The Cedars Revolution," demanding freedom and independence, calling for change, and for a new Lebanon built on true national reconciliation and representation for all its nineteen multi-cultural, multi-ethnic communities.

On May 7/ 2005, members from the "Bristol Gathering" crushed, betrayed and suppressed the revolution by making an under-the-table dirty deal with its enemies, Amal Movement and Hezbollah, and passed the biased, "made in Anjar" election law of 2000, in a bid to ensure their dominance on the 2005 parliament at the expense of the majority of the Lebanese people and against the wishes of the youths' revolution.

On May 7/ 2005, and after 15 years in forced exile, General Michel Aoun returned to Lebanon in a "tsunami" of actual change that the youths' "cedar revolution" were truly longing and looking for.

The "Bristol Gathering" betrayed all those real freedom Lebanese fighters who drove the Syrians out. They betrayed Lebanon and its soul of democracy, and the struggle, hopes and aspiration of the young men and women. When these members brag about opposition, one wonders what do they mean and what was their role?

By looking at the fifteen years history of the majority of the so called oppositionists one wonders,
Who ousted General Michel Aoun from power under the umbrella of the so-called "Taef Accord" that was forged between the United States, Israel, Saudi Arabia and Syria ?
Who arbitrarily arrested and imprisoned Dr. Samir Geagea and banned the Lebanese Forces Party (LF)?
Who served in all the "Made in Syria" governments since 1990?
Where were the "Bristol Gathering members" on August 7/ 2001?
Where were they when the LF activist Mr. Ramzi Irani was murdered ?
What did they do to secure a dignified return of the Christians to their homes in Aley, Baabda and Chouf regions, and does reconciliation in their dictionaries mean slavery and subservience?
Who were the major players in the Lebanese - Syrian police-installed state of oppression and terror since 1990, and who was responsible for the 43 billions dollars of public debt?
Who have been imposing the Christian MP'S and cabinet members for the last 15 years against the will of their communities? And the list goes on and on.

Therefore the majority of the so-called "Bristol Gathering opposition" members can not , will not and shall not give others lectures in patriotism and nationalism, because as General Aoun said: "We are the founding fathers and the grandfathers of this opposition. We are the beginning and we are the end of this opposition. We struggled for 15 years, we bled for 15 years and we were exiled for 15 years. The opposition started on October 13/1990, when the Syrian tanks rolled in Baabda palace not few months ago when the Syrians decided to extend Mr. Lahoud's presidential term".

Let the "Bristol Gathering" oppositionists from top of the hierarchy all way to the bottom know that we, the youth in both Lebanon and Diaspora, will not compromise on our beloved Lebanon's principles and beliefs, nor on our scared martyrs' blood and sacrifices. Sheik Bachir, "Al Bash" our dream and our patriotic role model did not teach us to betray Lebanon's history nor identity for a parliament seat and those who do shall be ousted and cursed.

The theatric political play the "Bristol Gathering" is putting together these days is an old one. Our great people already know its directors, actors, producers and vicious aims. We call on them to spare us their lectures of deception, as well as their twisted venomous propaganda tactics.

Political chameleons are known for their ability to deceive naive citizens. Proudly the majority of our people are intelligent and smart enough to identity who and is and who is not a genuine oppositionist. Fifteen years of betrayal can not be redeemed in few months of camouflaging opposition stances, and criminals whose hands are stained with blood will never be angels and savers no matter what they do..

Long Live The Truth

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