For Year 2001

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From: anwar wazen" aewazen@msn.com
From: Corazon999@aol.com
Re: A cry for help from Montreal article
12.12.2001
I think we have a serious problems with the Lebanese churches and their leaderships.  I think they forgot what their purpose is.  They are suppose to bring people closer to God not away from God, they are suppose to teach love, caring, action etc.. they should set an example in compassion and charity.  Most do the opposite, they cause division and hate.  Partly it is our problem, we need to hold them accountable but we failed to do that just like we failed to hold the political leaders accountable.
I think we should boycott all Lebanese churches and find a place where they teach Christianity until they hear our cry.  Just because they wear a robe or whatever does not make them godly men, or that they are some semi gods or something.  the bible said teachers will be more strictly accountable and people will be judged on their action not words.  
I am sorry but I think the Lebanese Churches have not played the role they should play, and they are far from what God teaches.  I see more gossip, more hate, more arguments, more evil at churches than I do outside.  
They should have been the leaders in uniting people, on a national cry to the whole world.  There is a time for everything, they need to hold massive prayers for Lebanon where people can see them.  this would be much more rewarding than Sunday sermons with empty words.  how can we live such fake Christianity.  now I know why Gibran wrote such bad things about the church leaders.  I see nothing has changed Just like the politics, nothing has changed. Everyone bring his son into power to screw the Lebanese people and make their fortunes and the Lebanese are so gullible and accept that instead of holding them responsible.  Politicians should be public servants working for the people, they are not something special with permission to screw the country and the people.   until we Lebanese realize that, crying out to the UN or foreign government is of no use.  We need to clean our own house and our own hearts first.
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From: Jess ." jesse111@hotmail.com
Topic: LONG LIFE FREE LEBANON
9.12.01
Hi,
I'm a Lebanese guy, a student, and a Worker at the same time! I really think that everything you're saying is right, and we should do something about it! I hope that we can unite together cause I'm sure that if we UNITE ALL TOGETHER no one will be able to arrest or harm any of us, and I hope that all the REAL LEBANESE people can read this and hopefully we can do it, and get our Lebanon back to us, even if we should do like others did (Sheik Bachir Jmayil etc..)...
LONG LIFE FREE LEBANON
Marwan.
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From: Ghia Aweida" ghiamaweida_ctm@fairuz.zzn.com
Re: [cadmous] News English article from George Khoury
7/12/2001
I totally agree with you that all terrorism is bad.  Especially when it takes away innocent lives.  You may have relatives living in the States.  As in every culture, there are good seeds, and bad seeds.  That applies to both the Muslim and non-Muslim world!  I have been following up on the news in BC.  and I know what is going on.  Peace and freedom has no boundaries whatsoever, and you will see peaceful and loving people in every country.  It is the few like the Hezbollah, and other like them (I will not mention who they are), for you know them as well as I do, who deserve to be disarmed, jailed, and even brought to justice for their actions.If I say that these troops should be given the death penalty, you are not eliminating the problem.  You must pray that they will one day face the wrong that they have done.  Two wrongs do not make a right.  I think that we should all follow Fairouz's example and stand neutral, not to take sides.  For as she has gathered us all together, we can come together, lay down our weapons, put our differences aside, and live together in peace.
Remember:
Alardo lakom
Fa'alardo tabtahijo bemolamasat aqdamikom el3alia
Alardo lakom
Waantom tareeq
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From:Freedomlover2002@aol.com 
Date:Sat, 1 Dec 2001
Subject:From a Lebanese citizen in the USA
To:clhrf@yahoo.com
A message to minister Abu Jamra:
Dear minister Issam Abou Jamra
I am a Lebanese doctor in New York. I left Lebanon to continue my training in medicine in the United States few years ago. I always read your articles on the "clhrf" web site and I really appreciate the time you spend writing on the Lebanese issues, which shows how much you honestly and sincerely care for your country and how much Lebanon is always in your heart and mind. I used to be a fan of General Aoun when he was in power and I still am, although I don't always agree with all what he says and does now.
I like your articles because they're concise, straight, forward and strong. However I was reading this last article that you wrote on 11/30/2001, and I would like to make a comment hoping that it will change your strategy and your way in fighting for the Lebanese cause. We all know that the United States delivered Lebanon to Syrian in 1990. It's clear everyone knows that, but the question is why did this happen? One can't blame the USA. They would do what they think is for their best interest, and the best for them is to have someone who they can rely on. Someone who can take good control of the situation in the country and this someone unfortunately couldn't be a Lebanese. Since we were divided at that time, and we are still divided either because the Syrians are not letting us meet together or because we are so selfish and have no foresight. Starting from this understanding, our major focus and concern should always be our unity, at least in front of the international community, just to show them that we are mature people, who can handle their own fate. That's why I wasn't happy when the General openly and publicly opened fire on Gebran Tueni and Cardinal Sfeir. Although he was right in what he said, he shouldn't have done this. What would you do if you were an American and you see this happening?
You would say: I would never let these people take control of their country since it seems they can never agree with each other, and hence I can never rely on them for a favor and they will cause me trouble. I would look for someone more reliable. So number one is the impression that we should give to the superpower; that we are united, and that's what Syria is trying to destroy: our unity. Second how many fronts would you open if you were in a war? Even the United States doesn't open more than one: look at what is happening in Afghanistan, they won't start with Iraq until they finish with Afghanistan. So why do we have always to open two fronts? Why do we have to implicate Israel and Palestine in what's happening in Lebanon all the time? Are any of the Arab countries complaining about the killing in Palestine ? Not really.
How do you want to fight Syria, and Israel at the same time? Why do you have to find another enemy for yourself ? I agree with all what you said. but this shouldn't have been said. Who do you think made the USA put Syria and Hizbullah on the terrorist list? Us the Lebanese, you,General Aoun? I don't think so,  it's Israel. They know how to work and how to fight for their cause, and may be luckily and coincidentally this would be in the favor of Lebanon for the first time. For the first time there was a chance that Syria will be kicked out of Lebanon, so help it happen and do not reject it. Why to let them work against us. I'm not saying that we should support them but let's stay quiet. Otherwise they can screw us very easily and make another deal with the Syrians on our behalf like before. Isn't it time to learn yet?
It's time to do politics and quit poetry, you have to understand something about the general thinking here. They care too much about the way you talk to them, if you respect them or not. What you say about them, every a single word has it's significance for them. The only reason why I'm talking to you (and obviously to General Aoun) is because you're the only ones the Lebanese people trusted and will keep trusting. You are our last hope in a free Lebanon.
I hope you excuse me for being rude and I hope you will accept my constructive criticisms, and you will understand that all what I care about is to see Lebanon free from all occupations.
God bless you, and be with you.
Live long Lebanon.
sincerely
Lebanese citizen
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From: Sabine B" (sabynab@hotmail.com)
clhrf@yahoo.com
Wed, 21 Nov 2001 22:27:33 +0200
Six thousand years are gone and Lebanon is still in existence, and will always stay whatever happens. No matter who wants to erase our country or eliminate it, the land of the Holy Cedars will always be a Mission Impossible if we the Lebanese, keep believing in it. So, if you want to save your country from drowning there is only one way: believe in it the way it believes in you.
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From: "Jon Boulad" <bravepatriots@usa.com>
Subject: The Role of Saudi Arabia
29/10/2001
Day by day, it is becoming clearer that Saudi Arabia played a major role in financing terrorism. This reminds me of a story told to me by my uncle : In April 1982, my uncle pays a visit to the Lebanese president, the late Elias Sarkis. "Mr. President, after almost six years of presidential office, could you tell me who is our enemy and who did to us the greatest amount of harm ?" Sarkis said (this is an exact transcription of his words) : "It is clear that Israel is our enemy, and they did lots of damages, there is also no doubt that Syria is our enemy and they have even done more damages, but the one who did the most damages and that has been the most harmful to us is Saud Al-Fayssal". (i.e the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Saudi Arabia). Was Sarkis right ? Did he make the correct assessment ? What did he mean exactly ? Nevertheless, these words kept ringing in my ears for a long time. At the present time "they sound clear as a bell". These words are so meaningful nowadays and
fearful ...
Syria OUT
Jon BOULAD
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What we should do to Osama Bin Laden ?!
From: (jules@swissonline.ch)
19/10/2001
Killing Osama bin Laden will only create a martyr. Holding him prisoner will only inspire his comrades to take hostages to demand his release. Therefore, we should do neither. Let the Special Forces, Seals, Green Berets, etc., covertly catch him, secretly fly him to an undisclosed hospital and have surgeons perform a complete sex change operation. Then return "her" to Afghanistan to live as a woman under the Taliban.
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From: Corazon999@aol.com
To: phoenicia@hotmail.com
n a message dated 10/9/01 1:15:20 PM Mountain Daylight Time, cedar_tree40@hotmail.com writes:
DAMASCUS, Oct 2 (AFP) -
Syria opposes any "hidden agenda" in the anti-terrorism coalition the United States is aiming to build, Foreign Minister Faruq al-Shara said Tuesday. {HE OPPOSES THE US , PERIOD.  WE KNOW HOW THEY CELEBRATE EVERY TIME AN AMERICAN IS HURT} Shara, at a joint press conference with visiting German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, also urged the European Union to put an end to Israeli "state terrorism" and said occupation was the highest form of terror. {A SUPPORTER OF TERRORISM SHOULD NOT BE SPEAKING ABOUT TERRORISM,  HE IS CONVICTING HIS COUNTRY BY SAYING OCCUPATION IS THE HIGHEST FORM OF TERRORISM.  SYRIA HAS NOT ONLY OCCUPIED LEBANON , IT HAS RAPED IT AND RAPED IT'S PEOPLE"
"We should uproot terrorism by removing the causes of terrorism, and there must be an end to occupation, which is the highest form of terrorism," Shara said.{WHO BUYS THIS B.S.  , WHY IS HE EVEN INVITED TO TALK ABOUT THIS ISSUE.  IF HE BELIEVES IN THAT THEN HIS GOVERNMENT NEEDS TO END IT'S OCCUPATION OF LEBANON.  THEY SHOULD LEAVE LEBANON AND TAKE ALL THEIR SUPPORTERS AND TERRORISTS WITH THEM} "We are determined to help the international efforts to combat terrorism"   {HOW, BY SPONSORING TERRORISM}  in  the wake of the terror attacks on the United States, {IS THAT WHY HIS PEOPLE CELEBRATED THE INCIDENCE} he said, but the battle  against terror must be based on "accurate information and sharp evidence." Damascus opposes "any hidden agenda for any country," the Syrian foreign  minister said. { HOW ABOUT HIS HIDDEN AGENDA, HE OPPOSES TERRORISM BUT THEY ARE THE BIGGEST SPONSORED OF TERRORISM, MANY AMERICANS, SYRIANS, AND LEBANESE DIED BY HIS TERRORISM"We have to be frank and open about what we are going to do in the future."  {THEN WE NEED TO BE FRANK AND TELL THEM THEY ARE TERRORIST BY THEIR OWN DEFINITION OF TERRORIST} "We need determination and wisdom, and we should also think about political solutions for the conflict in the region, and not only about the coalition against terror," chimed in Fischer, who also met President Bashar al-Assad. The official SANA news agency reported that Shara told Fischer in a meeting earlier that Europe should "assume more its responsibilities to put an end to the policy of state terrorism practiced by Israel" against the Palestinians.  { HOW ABOUT SYRIA'S TERRORISM OF LEBANON, WHY DO THE EUROPEANS EVEN HAVE A RELATIONS WITH SUCH A TERRORIST REGIME.  ARE WE GOING TO DO THE SAME BUILD HIM UP AS WE DID SADAM AND BIN LADEN AND THEN THEY TURN AROUND AND KILL US WITH THE SAME WEAPONS WE GAVE THEM, THE BIGGEST MISTAKE US WILL MAKE IF SYRIA IS REMOVED FROM THE TERRORIST LIST AND IF SYRIA IS NOT TREATED AS  A TERRORIST COUNTRY.  WE CANNOT CLOSE OUR EYES AND SAY '"THESE TERRORISTS ARE NOT HURTING US THEY ARE ONLY KILLING LEBANESE CHRISTIANS, SO IT IS OKAY, AND THEN TURN BUT YET WE WANT SUPPORT WHEN THESE TERRORISTS TURN AGAINST US" He also said Europe should work "according to United Nations resolutions to put an end to the Israeli occupation"  {NO NO NO NO, FIRST THEY SHOULD WORK TO PUT AN END TO LEBANON'S OCCUPATIONS BY AN ARAB TERRORIST COUNTRY NAMED SYRIA.   Fischer, who has been playing a leading role in efforts to bring Israel and the Palestinians back to the negotiating table, was to travel on to Lebanon for talks with Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri.  { WELL HE NEEDS TO BE INFORMED THAT SYRIA SAID OCCUPATION IS THE HIGHEST FORM OF TERRORISM AND SYRIA IS OCCUPYING LEBANON, AND MEETING WITH SYRIA'S PUPPETS IN LEBANON IS NOT THE SOLUTION}    Syria condemned the September 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, { OH YES I WILL BELIEVE THAT, WHEN THE SKY TURNS GREEN, LET'S FACE IT MOST ARABS REJOICED EVEN ARAB STUDENTS IN US UNIVERSITIES WOULD WATCH THE DESTRUCTION OF THE WTC AND REJOICE AND CELEBRATE  "  while calling for anti-terrorist action to be spearheaded by the United Nations, not the United States. Damascus is calling on the UN to sponsor an international debate to agree on a definition of terrorism that excludes the "legitimate" right of peoples to fight against foreign occupation. Syria's Golan Heights were captured by Israel during the 1967 Middle East war and later annexed by the Jewish state. Damascus demands their return, as well as the withdrawal of Israel from the Palestinian territories and from the Shebaa Farms, territory also captured from Syria in 1967 and now claimed by Lebanon with Damascus' approval.
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From: "Jon Boulad" <freepatriots@hotmail.com>
2.10.01
Subject: You were wrong Dear HENRY
In 1973, Mr. Kissinger sought a policy, which he qualified worthy of METTERNICH : "Give Lebanon to Syria and there will be peace in the Middle East" (ref. "Years of Upheaval" by H. Kissinger). A few years later, the great American strategist and geopolitical, Dr.Zbigniew Brzezinski declared on CNN that he would give a grade of D- to Kissinger for his foreign policy. In the process of swallowing Lebanon, Syria has sheltered terrorists and encouraged global terrorism. Therefore, Syria was and still is on the list of terrorist countries. Today, Syria wants to join the coalition provided it is no longer on this list. As in 1990 at the time of the Gulf War, the U.S are welcoming Arab countries to join the coalition. If this happens, it means that no lesson would have been learned from the terrorist acts of September 11.
Mr. President:
Please review all the terrorist acts conducted by Syria. You clearly said that America will go at war against all countries that support terrorism. Afghanistan is not the only one. Syria is a haven for terrorists, and unfortunately Lebanon too. Before accepting any of these countries in the coalition, they should be asked to first clean their own house. Mr. Kissinger:
Your policy was all wrong. You have been helping a terrorist country. It is such policies as yours that ultimately helped terrorists kill thousands of people. Not everyone can be a METTERNICH. I researched a lot about METTERNICH and guess what I found ? When METTERNICH was briefing his ambassador before sending him to Turkey; he told him : "Tell the Sultan, if there is war in Lebanon there will be war in the Levant; and tell the Sultan if there is peace in Lebanon there will be peace in the Levant". By the way, what were your grades in History and Geography?
Syria OUT
Jon BOULAD
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To: FDoudar@aol.com
From Elias Bejjani
21.9.01
Dear
I don't think your vision is in general different from ours. But may I ask you a question: If you really believe in equality and human rights how could you support a priest in an action in which he deprived a certain group of its right to pray for the dead? My friend democracy is to respect the freedom of others, their thinking, as well their worshiping rituals and political choices. We can not accept for our selves what we deny for others.
I agree with you 100% that Lebanon should be a secular country with free and democratic system, but we can't not decide who is to be excluded from the leaders, or otherwise we would be forcing our opinion on others. Regarding Syria, we love Syria as long as Syria is in Syria not in Lebanon.. Yes we should have the best relations with Syria, but not a subservient kind of relations as the situation is these days.
For the Palestinian refugees, yes we should treat them better, but after the Lebanese government takes over the camps and forces its authority there.
Israel has withdrawn from the South and has implemented the 425 UN resolution. Now we should wait till all the Arab countries had signed a peace treaty before we take any action. We should be the last Middle East country to sign a peace treaty with Israel.
It seems you hold personal grudges against the Phalanges, LF and FPM, I advice you to look into the national issues with a different perspective. We have to accept others even if we don't share their political or religious views.
Have a nice day
Elias Bejjani
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From: FDoudar@aol.com
To: phoenicia@hotmail.com
Subject: Re: Peaceful ??? Who's kidding who
Date: Wed, 19 Sep 2001 23:51:08 EDT
You asked for my vision of Lebanon, here it is:
1- Lebanon is a free and democratic country where all citizens are equal under the law , regardless of their religious background.
2- Religion is not the determining factor of government jobs and any elected or appointed office . It is the qualification of a person that matters.
2b. Political parties in Lebanon attract people from all religions, because they stress service" to Lebanon, not "protection" for religious factions.
2c. Political parties have social agendas, not military objectives.
3- The punishment for government employees involved in corruption is a long prison sentence . People look down at corrupt Gov. employees.
4- There is no civil war immunity extended to mass murderers like Jumblat, Hobeika, Geagea, etc.
5- Lebanon's highest priority would be to provide education to all of it's citizens. They are the most precious resource of Lebanon. An educated population would make for outstanding citizens.
6- Maintain free economy and banking . Also adopt economic policies that make sense . For example, can't say non Lebanese can't buy real estate when there's 40,000 vacant flats in Beirut . Also, reduce spending on the military .
7- Look into the future for leadership. Need new blood. General Aoun , Hoss, Bashir, etc. are from the past that devastated Lebanon .
8- Partner with Syria instead of fighting with Syria. Lebanese are too smart to have a confrontation with Syria . Save the Lebanese energy for something better.
9- Recognize that Palestinians are not in Lebanon by choice. Provide them with the legal authority to work so they would stop working illegally .
10 - Israel remains an enemy of Lebanon till there's a comprehensive peace settlement. Lebanon needs to prepare for this day to be ahead of all the Arab countries when peace prevails.
11- Lebanese are peaceful people that value human life !!
This is just a few, I can think of a lot more that would make my vision of Lebanon.
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This week we witnessed a great tragedy
Dear Brothers
By: George H
19.9.01
This week we witnessed a great tragedy.  This crime did not only effect the innocent people who died and their spouses, families and children.  This tragedy effected each and every one us .  It will effect our nation and the whole world.  This was not an attack on our country but an attack on democracy , freedom and our way of life.
Among this tragedy, I learned a great lesson in humility.   I have to admit that now I have even more respect and more pride for being an American.  How did the U.S. respond?  Did we resort to blind bombings? No, even though we are a super power.  Did we resort to militias and political parties to solve our answer?  No.  You see our president resorted to a greater power.  I am thankful that we have a Godly president.  The president called on every citizen to go into a house of worship and get down on his/her knees and pray for wisdom and guidance. Democrats and republicans, white and black, Christian and Jew , rich and poor, every one united, everyone praying together. At our church we held several prayers, and it was humbling to see our city leaders and pastors on their knees, with tears in their eyes crying out to God for help and wisdom.  
In contrast let's look at Lebanon.  The country was destroyed, occupied, many more death, much more destruction.  Every day Lebanon is being raped?  How did our churches respond?  how did our politicians respond?
Let's look at our churches in Lebanon. did they hold hands and pray, did they stand up to teach peace and love and caring? did they held hand and said enough is enough?  did they teach people that being a Christian is not belonging to a certain political party, or following a certain leader?  Did they teach humility?  I very much doubt that.  If they did we will not be in this mess.  In the future I will share with you how one little church changed the whole country of Uganda.   To this day I get messages from people with so much arrogance that is nauseating claiming that their party is in control and so forth?  I have news for you, only God is in control.  I meet people who go to church and say they are Christians but they do not know that first thing about Christianity.  It is time to resort to the greatest power on earth, we need to realize that we cannot take our next breath without the grace of God. You see our churches use the laim excuse  "we do not want to be involved in politics".  Since when caring about injustice and suffering is just a political matter?  I am not criticizing, I am stating what I see and I am humbly asking you to set an example and teach us to worship the Lord and make Him the center of our life.
How about our politicians?  did they ask the Lebanese to get down on their knees and pray for wisdom?  did they ask people to unite and save Lebanon?  oh, no each one of them wanted to be a chief and have his own flock of sheep to send to the butcher. They abused us, and now they want their children to abuse our children.  We resorted to the gun.  We butchered each other and handed our country to occupiers over on a silver platter.  Now we complain and cry.  It reminds me of the man who killed his parents and cried for mercy because he is an orphan.  Why are we so arrogant?  Somehow we think we are the greatest thing since the Beatles.  We are arrogant and think we are so important by the meaningless labels that we give ourselves.  We are ashamed to just say we are Lebanese. We have to say we are this or that.  In reality we are the joke of the universe, and let us face it, the whole world knows that.  That is why they do not take us seriously. How can anyone take seriously the people who cannot unite to save their country and families.  Even Arabs have jokes about the Lebanese.
This is your time to unite and point out the terrorism against Lebanon, do not wait till the sponsors of terrorism make themselves look like heroes.  I will quote Martin Luther king over and over "history will have to record that our tragedy is not what bad people did, but that so called good people stood by and did nothing"
God bless America
God bless our president Mr. George Bush.  
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"From: Pierre Namroud" namroud@sympatico.ca
To: Corazon999@aol.com>, <ebrice@erols.com>, phoenicia@hotmail.com
RE: From Elias Bejjani/ What do you say? BRAVO!
8.9.01
Dear all,...
I think all of you pinpointed the problem at the right place.
Personally, I agree that we should address the problem of Lebanon, in a very clear way -as it is- a major attack against our Christian society. I agree that our churches (in Lebanon and Diaspora), are not giving the needed support for our cause; they pretend sometimes they don't deal with politics, and some other times they create different excuses, and so on....They always forget the role of the church in the history of Lebanon. What I think also, we have to stand up as you all suggested and show that we're still loyal to our country and our cause. We should take advantage of every single event anywhere in the world to address our cause and help to save our parents and our friends in Lebanon. They need our support ! Let us keep our major "Internal Problems" aside, and later we discuss the bill....Time is running. Let us join forces. That is the most important NOW ! Let us put the action plan for our movements. Let us not wait for the church leaders, They might not wake up ! We can do it without them, it is harder but, it is time or never. How can we cooperate to build together the action plan ? All your ideas are great and certainly there is some more .I add my voice to all your voices and say: we are stronger when we are united.
Pierre Namroud
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Corazon999@aol.com [mailto:Corazon999@aol.com
To: ebrice@erols.com; phoenicia@hotmail.com
Greetings
7.9.01
Thank you Ed for such an excellent email below and reply to Elias and Michel Kamel.  You mentioned about churches not allowing  political activities.    Actually churches and religious leaders have a responsibility to act and they have not even done 1/100th of what their responsibility is.   If they are true churches they should care about their people being killed and tortured, about their country being raped.  They should hurt for what hurts Jesus.   This is not a political cause this is a humanitarian cause about saving a nation and it's people.  It does not help us to have them preach love and caring when they are not practicing it. It is by our deeds we are judged not words.  The churches have failed us big time rather than set an example of caring, love and unity, they raised Christians who are apathetic who worship people rather than God, who stand up for political parties rather than unite and stand up for a great cause and for Lebanon.  I contacted 120 American churches and more than half replied and held special event and prayers for Lebanon.  I contacted about 80 Maronite churches twice and I got only one reply.  I am sorry but the churches have failed us just like our government and political leaders have failed us and abused us.  It is time we unite and become one. it is time to bring the Lebanese together to maintain our culture , to make friends and to lobby for freedom, peace and justice and certainly not for this or that party or this or that leader.  if a leader loves Lebanon then he should join us and serve us not the other way around.  Can you imagine the difference we can make if we are one united community??  Our symptom is Syria but our disease is lack of unity.
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From: ebrice@erols.com
To: LCCC@10452lccc.com
7.9.01
Dear Elias and Michel Kamei and all of a like frame of
mind, I AGREE WITH AND SUPPORT THE CONCEPT that a newspaper statement is imperative and urgent now.  An idea like that from Kamei is one whose time has come.  Signatures could be obtained from individuals and organizations,  particularly parishioners throughout the USA, Canada and anywhere there are Maronite, Malachite and Orthodox Churches WHICH ALLOW SUCH POLITICAL ACTION ON CHURCH GROUNDS.  (This is not permitted in one church at least which I know of.) DO WE CHRISTIANS OF LEBANESE BACKGROUND REALIZE THAT FOR MORE THAN A CENTURY WE GAVE ENTREE INTO THE USA AND CANADA AS WELL A WELCOMING ACCEPTANCE AND RESPECTABILITY HERE TO MUSLIMS FROM LEBANON AND THE OTHER ARAB COUNTRIES?     
The statement could say that the CHRISTIANS OF LEBANON AND THE REST OF THE MIDDLE EAST NON-CHRISTIAN MAJORITY COUNTRIES-- SHOULD HAVE THE SAME RELIGIOUS AND POLITICAL FREEDOMS WHICH ARE COMPLETELY AND FREELY ENJOYED BY THE NEW ARAB AND OTHER MUSLIM IMMIGRANTS TO THE USA AND CANADA.  THESE HAVE COME AND CONTINUE TO COME HERE FROM THE MIDDLE EAST AND ELSEWHERE OTHERWISE,THE NEW IMMIGRANTS AND US LONG TIME DESCENDANTS OF ORIGINAL LEBANESE PIONEERS, AND/OR  WITH STATUS, WEALTH, PRESTIGE OR FAME WILL REMOVE OUR NAMES FROM ALL ORGANIZATIONS WHICH ARE IDENTIFIED AS PRACTICALLY, EXCLUSIVELY IN FAVOR OF  MUSLIM ARAB CAUSES ONLY, TO THE DETRIMENT OF CHRISTIANS.  NO LONGER WILL THE DESCENDENTS OF EARLY MIDDLE EASTERN CHRISTIANS ALLOW THEIR NAMES TO BE USED BY ORGANIZATIONS WHICH IGNORE, HENCE ULTIMATELY SUPPORT THE DEFAMATION, PERSECUTION, EXPULSION  AND DESTRUCTION OF INDIGENOUS CHRISTIAN COMMUNITIES
IN THE ANCIENT MOTHERLANDS.
 I wish I could include here our known fair, tolerant and familial Muslims, Druzes, and moderate Kurds, but I do not think that they would openly lend their names to anything which condemns and exposes Muslim persecution of Christians in Lebanon, the Holy Land, etc. I personally am convinced that we IN THE WEST MUST PUBLICIZE our pro-Christian, pro-Western  position and mention the negative reactions being felt when the extent of this persecution and its threat to America and Canada are explained to the people.   We must make this fact clear --openly for the first time-- to Muslim organizations in the USA,  like CAIRO (Council on American Islamic Relations).  We should inform the ambiguously identified and basically anti-Christian organizations like the
ADL, NAAA, and more whose names I do not know exactly and whose membership includes, besides Muslims and Druzes, some very prominent Christians. ALL ARAB, MUSLIM OR MIXED Christian and Muslim-Druze organizations MUST BE TOLD PUBLICLY THAT WE ORDINARY AND THE WELL-POSITIONED AMERICANS OF CHRISTIAN LEBANESE HERITAGE AND OTHER ETHNIC MIDDLE EASTERN BACKGROUNDS WILL NOT ALLOW OUR NAMES, ACHIEVEMENTS, AND OUR INTEGRATION INTO AMERICAN AND CANADIAN SOCIETY BE EXPLOITED TO OUR DISADVANTAGE.  PUBLICLY, THE GAME IS UP!  WE MUST INFORM THE LESS INTEGRATIONABLE MUSLIMS WHO --WITH CHRISTIAN COOPERATION-- EXPLOIT ALL CHRISTIANS BY PLACING US UNDER THE CATCH-ALL TERM, "ARAB AMERICANS". ONE OF THE CONSEQUENCES I ENVISION IS THIS: WHEN A MIDDLE EASTERN PUBLICATION HERE OR ABROAD PRINTS THE NAMES, PHOTOGRAPHS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF 10 OR 20  ADMIRABLE AND PROMINENT ARAB AMERICANS, ALMOST ALL WILL REMOVE THEIR NAMES SINCE THEY ARE NOW INFORMED CHRISTIANS OF MIDDLE EASTERN BACKGROUND.  CASEY CASEM WHO IS A DRUZE AND POSSIBLY ONE OTHER WHO MAY BE MUSLIM CANNOT ASSOCIATE THEMSELVES WITH A PUBLIC STATEMENT WHICH CONDEMNS PERSECUTION OF AND DISCRIMINATION AGAINST CHRISTIANS BY ANY ARAB OR MUSLIM COUNTRY.  WHY DO THE MUSLIMS HERE AND ABROAD ONLY GIVE PROMINENCE AND GOOD PUBLICITY TO CHRISTIANS OF MIDDLE EAST HERITAGE WHEN CHRISTIAN INCLUSION AND GOOD PUBLICITY ENHANCE THE REPUTATION OF ARAB MUSLIMS IN AMERICA, GRANT THEM GREATER ACCESS TO ALL RIGHTS AND THINGS AMERICAN, AND MAKE THEM MORE ACCEPTABLE  IN THE EYES OF LESS AWARE AND LESS INFORMED ANGLO-SAXON AND OTHER AMERICANS OF NON-MIDDLE EASTERN BACKGROUNDS.  
Why do we Christian Lebanese, or Christian Arabs of Palestine as they may wish to be called, allow our names, reputations and good status to be used in causes which exclude the Christians and ignore their welfare and God-given rights? Only the most significant offenses against Christians in Lebanon should be listed in such newspaper advertising.  I regard the following to be some of the most significant elements of religious persecutions and  violations of human rights:  foreign Muslim military and irregular volunteers in Lebanon; financial  assistance and military hardware to the persecutors, and military training for them (even from the USA and other Western Christian countries); the massacres of monks, nuns, whole Christian villages and destruction of churches and schools;  the arming of only one militia, Hizballah, and the expulsion and imprisonment of high numbers of Christians in Lebanon and Syria. That's all I have for now.
COME FATWAS, "HELL OR HIGH WATER!" THIS IS AMERICA, NOT AFGHANISTAN, PAKISTAN, IRAN, INDONESIA, SUDAN, CUBA OR COMMUNIST CHINA!  Yeh and it is not Lebanon now, or Syria, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Iraq or any other intolerant land. I am not speaking here for the Knights of Columbus, nor for the Maronite Research Institute and its Journal of Maronite Studies of which I am an  editor; nor for any other group to which I belong. However  I will obtain individual signatures for the ad whenever the project takes shape.
Your fellow Christian,
Edward Brice

Greatness Of America
Alexander de Tocqueville
Early in the nineteenth century the French statesman, Alexander de Tocqueville, made a study of democracy in our country and wrote as follows...
"I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious harbors and her ample rivers, and it was not there.
"I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her fertile fields and boundless forests, and it was not there.
"I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her rich mines and her vast world commerce, and it was not there.
"I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her public school system and her institutions of learning, and it was not there.
"I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her democratic congress and her matchless constitution, and it was not there.
"Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power.
"America is great because America is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great."
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Dear Mr. Hraiki
From: CLHRF secretary and Coordinator, Elias Bejjani
1.9.01
The mandate that governs all the CLHRF  activities focuses on  defending the Lebanese Human Rights in all domains. The first need for such a mandate is to witness for the truth and name things as they are without any camouflaging. Accordingly we believe strongly that the President, General Lahoud, as well as the whole installed Lebanese regime are all puppets and do not represent the peoples' aspirations or hopes. They are working to divide the country and give Syria the required justifications to maintain its occupation. The Syrian occupation is a Lebanese issue and concerns every and each Lebanese. The Syrian issue, becomes a non-Lebanese issue once the Syrian occupational Army is withdrawn completely from Lebanon and the UN Resolution 520 is implemented. Each Lebanese currently has an obligation in regards to calling for the withdrawal of the Syrian Army. From our side, we call on you to join the ranks of the patriotic Lebanese in a bid to liberate Lebanon and reclaim its confiscated freedom and independence.
Elias Bejjani
===================================================================================
From:"Rahif M. Hraiki" <haek@sahara.com.sa>
To: <clhrf@yahoo.com>
Subject: Proposal
Date:Fri, 31 Aug 2001 06:31:17 +0300
Dear chairman,
I would like to propose to you to concentrate on the lebanese unity by recpecting the differences betwen them.All enemies of lebanon like to see us divided,all your articles and messages must focus on unity and the problems facing the lebanese people. Addressing these problems with this spirit is the most effective way to fight dictatership,and this was very clear during the historical visit of Patreriach Sfar to the mountain.Our president believe in uniting all lebanese for the interest of lebanon his job is very difficult because of foreign and local obstacles.
Addressing the Syrian problems in Syria is the responsibility of the Syrian only.
Loocking forward for a new and modern Lebanon, a home for all lebanese.
Regards
Rahif Hraiki
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From: "Jon Boulad" <bravepatriots@usa.com>
24.8.01
"FREE PEOPLE, NEVER VASSAL",
this is and has always been our creed. Our ancestors fought and died for it;
Our parents, and the parents of our parents endured many sacrifices to keep it alive;
Our generation is paying a heavy tribute for this sacred belief.
God, The Almighty, help us to resist for freedom is deep in our souls;
God, The Almighty, help us in our sufferings for nothing big can happen without efforts and pain;
God, The Almighty, help us to defeat evil with goodness;
God, The Almighty, forgive us when we are unable to forgive our persecutors.
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From: Tony Shakar tanios1@yahoo.com
Re: [Phoenicia] Press release from the CLHRF
20.8.01
Dear Elias,
this is not in defense of our beloved brothers and sister Syria, but the intelligence men in civilian clothes were NOT Syrian. they were Lebanese army intelligence. this is not the first time they appear: remember when we were protesting against what they did to Samir Kassir? there was a demonstration next to the Sanayeh garden, and the intelligence in civilian clothes, probably more than the demonstrators, came in and started beating up protestors real bad. these are the men of Raymond Azar, the head of the army intelligence, and not Syrians. and the red berets and security forces DID NOT smuggle the protestors away. far from it. they participated in that shameful event. on the other hand, I remind you that this regime started out as a MILITARY REGIME since its beginnings, since the day president Hrawi agreed to send in the army to crush "Aoun's rebellion". Rene Mouawad refused to do so and we all what happened to him.
Tony
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Responses received
The Assassination of Liberty
By: Jon Boulad
16.8.01
"The people have denied its confidence to the authorities", said the people; "Change the people", said the dictator. Our Lebanon is at present worse than a banana republic. We are witnessing the very methods of fascism and stalinian brutal force: 150 plainclothesmen (Syrian Services S.S) beating up pacific demonstrators while the nearby army and police stood watching. This is what the Servants have learned from their Syrian Masters; the use of repression to assassinate the freedom of thinking and speaking. The arrested were then submitted to pretence trials and false accusations and beaten up again to force them sign papers without reading them. The result is an actual atmosphere of terror in the whole country. But what is the cause of all these arrests? Remember: It is forbidden for the Lebanese to UNITE. "Divide to rule", said the Lion to his Son. The reconciliation between the Druze and the Christian was forbidden. Syria cannot annex Lebanon if we are united.  But Syria's plan is to annex Lebanon with the help of its Servants. It is the traitors who should be judged and sentenced for HIGH TREASON, not
our good people who are fighting for their legitimate Liberty. These Black days will be written in the great book of History and will list the assassination of freedom and democracy savagely repressed by the Servants, Valets, and Slaves. Lebanese from all over the world, UNITE to recover our sovereignty, independence AND dignity, Revolt and rebel against the Syrians and their Servants. Let each of us "forward" this message to as many as we can. "LIVE FREE OR DIE" echoed the mountains.
Syria OUT
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MikeLeb81078@aol.com
clhrf@yahoo.com
12/8/2001
The demands by opposition groups have died down since the His Beatitude the Patriarch returned home from the North American tour.Even when he did come back nothing was changed except a few empty promises and a couple of pointless meetings. The puppet Lebanese government had played the game right in the last few months. Its Syrian-installed puppets pretended as the opposition groups were no threat and kept on ignoring and criticizing them alleging they are just a minority that serves the interest of Israel. The whole Beirut regime went along with this faked propaganda. Meanwhile workers' strikes' and   dangers of economic debts started to make headlines. They were successful in distracting  peoples' attention from major issues like the confiscated independence, corrupted regime, and Syrian occupation.
Things changed on august 7, 2001, The opposition could not be ignored any more, the Maronites and the Druze finally reconciled and the call for independence became stronger and stronger. The regime made a wrong move in dealing with this event. It  could have let this event go, just like the way they managed to ignore the arrival of the Patriarch from his north American tour. But instead they made a stupid move that can can cause uproars for month to come. This time not only few students were arrested, but also influential opposition leaders, although they were no threat to the country's security. The regime targeted both the Lebanese Forces and the Free Patriotic Movement after fabricating the routine false charges, treason and dealing with Israel. This charge is always there for those any one who opposes the Syrian occupation and the corrupted Lebanese regime.
This stupid move of arbitrary arrests will cause uproar for month to come and it can be the beginning of a massive resistance movement if the opposition groups plays their cards right.  General Michel Aoun said: "The current arrests remind me of the 1947 arrests executed by the the French authorities against Lebanese patriots who were calling for independence". The Lebanese Syrian appointed President General Lahoud and his puppet regime can rhetorically engage Lebanon in the Arab Israeli conflict as they wish, but the people are calling for independence and withdrawal of the Syrian occupation army.
Lahoud can no longer get Lebanon involved in the Arab and Israeli conflict while the rest of the Arab countries including Egypt, Jordan and even Syria have recognized Israel.
This game has now changed and the opposition groups shall not be threatened by these stupid arbitrary arrests, but rather they will become stronger and more organized. August 7, 2001 will be remembered as the actual day  the resistance started.
Long Live Free Lebanon
mike. D    
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Jon Boulad" <freepatriots@hotmail.com>
To: bravepatriots@usa.com
Subject: Brave Lebanese
Date: Sat, 11 Aug 2001
"I am proud to have been arrested by the totalitarian regime", said one young man after his arrest. "I refuse to answer your questions or even tell you my name(although you know it)", said another young girl. "I am for the Lebanese Army, but I am against the Syrian army", said another man."I am ready to be arrested as many times as needed until total liberation", said one teenager. "I told them : Why are you arresting me ? They said : because you are insulting a friendly army. I said : if they were friendly I would not insult them, and I shouted again and again while they were pulling my hair:
Syria out, Syria out, Syria out", said this young women.
"When they took me inside the room, they said : we will beat you on the sole of your feet if you don't answer our questions. As I remained mute, a woman soldier took me into another room to beat me. Once we were alone she said : I am with you, I don't want to beat you, so start shouting to simulate as if I am beating you. I said : I won't shout until you start beating me!" said this brave young girl. The Liberation process is IRREVERSIBLE, it has started and it won't stop until Lebanon is free again. Free Lebanese,
Free Men and Women,
Free Brothers and Sisters from all over the world,
Revolt and rebel against the Syrians, their valets and servants.
"LIVE FREE OR DIE" echoed the white mountains and the green valleys.
Syria OUT
Jon BOULAD
====================================================================================
From: Mari Lynn
Hi Elias:
10.8.01
After reading the letter sent to Congress from the American Lebanese Institute, I find myself once again wishing that all of us who love Lebanon had an interactive web site with the express purpose of immediately updating the largest number of people possible, encouraging and guiding them to actively participate in Lebanon's fight for freedom, sovereignty and independence. If encouraged, and provided with specific guidelines or suggestions, most of us would readily write a letter, forward an e-mail, make a call, sign a petition or participate in a nonviolent demonstration.
If given 1) a person or persons to target, 2) a concrete and specific action to perform
2) a few concise talking points that need to be addressed, I have no doubt that the results would really be phenomenal.
Please let me know any thoughts that you have on this subject at your earliest convenience. If there is a form letter or request for others to add their voices on behalf of our detained and harassed brothers and sisters in occupied Lebanon, please send it to me at your earliest convenience. Hope all is well.
Thank you in advance,
Mari Lynn
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From: Corazon999@aol.com
To All the Lebanese in Diaspora
10.8.01
I hope that all of you got the chance to see the Lebanese students being kicked and beaten while the army just sat and watched.  I hope that you felt the pain I felt.  This is your opportunity to make a difference and it is not coming cheap it is coming with a price of students being beaten and humiliated in their own country and betrayed by their own government that cares more about Palestine and Syria and their pockets  than they do about Lebanon:
1- Rally , write or even throw eggs at the Lebanese embassy.  They need to know that we do not approve of such a government.  By doing nothing we have allowed this government to rape us.  We have allowed them to do this to our country and people.
2- Write your representatives, and the UN as well.
3- Get your churches involved.  We do not need religious leaders who have no love and do not act.  Even Jesus used a whip to beat up the merchants at the temple. Are these people above Jesus?  Wearing a robe and a cross does not make you a Christian.  It is your actions that show what you are.  They have the power to attract world wide attention and achieve miracles.  They sit and do nothing.  Words do not get results, action speaks louder than words.   I have asked about 100 American churches to mention what is going on in Lebanon and pray for the Lebanese this Sunday.  Most of them have several services and at least about 20,000 people will know what is going on.  
4- The American Lebanese should unite as one force.  We need to preach that to everyone.  we have had enough.  we cannot continue to be the joke of the world. How can we lobby for Lebanon and how do we explain that we have a 100 Lebanese Christian parties who killed each other and caused more death and damage than all foreign forces put together.  Let's look at the facts, all they accomplished was to kill our young men and to hand over Lebanon to Syria.  What guarantees do we have that they will not do the same again.   Every damn politician wants his own men so that he can send to the slaughter house for his benefit. Those who do not learn from history are bound to relive it. They all claim to love Lebanon yet they do now work together and be one.   which tells us that  they all put there parties and leaders ahead of Lebanon.
On your death bed you will reflect on what you did for your country and your people not what party you belonged too or what politician you worshiped.  Set a good example for your children and do not allow them to be like sheep. If we do not unite then you are making the decision to support the enemy which makes you an enemy and a traitor.  If you do not want to do anything at least tell send this message to 12 people and have each of them send it to 12 people and so forth. Please do something, do not just sit and watch your people get humiliated and your country gets raped.
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From : Corazon999@aol.com
9.8.01
what should the church leaders do for Lebanon?
From George Corazon: what should the church leaders do for Lebanon?  Here is what the bible has to say: "what good is it, if man claims to have faith but has no deeds?   can such faith save him?  suppose a brother is without clothes or food, and one of you say I wish you well, keep warm and well fed. But does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?  Faith is dead if not accompanied by action. You believe that there is a God, even the demons believe there is a God. Faith without deed is useless.  A person is justified by what he does not just faith."  James 2:14-24.
Can someone tell me why is it that I can get American churches to have a prayer for Lebanon or to start a letter writing campaign or take action but I cannot get one Lebanese church to do anything?  How could they preach about love and care when they have no love and care?  isn't this hypocrisy?  years of war, thousands dead, thousands orphaned, pain, suffering, occupation , bad economy, people are leaving Lebanon now at a faster rate than during the war, there is no freedom and the list goes on.  How could they ignore that and not care?  what kind of ungodly men do we have for pastors and priests?  I say the church leaders in Lebanon should stand up for what is right, they should rally and demand a better government that cares about the people.  I say the churches in the US should hold prayers in front of the UN or may be in front of the white house.
They should show there concern.  If they cannot do that then they should be fired from their position and we should find true believer and not hypocrites. They have failed us miserably.  they should be the conscience of a nation, they should teach people about love and caring.  The only thing they teach Christians is to argue about whether you use 3 fingers or 5 fingers to pray.  How discussing , this is not even mentioned in the bible.   I say they have failed us and if someone is not for you , they are against you.  I say it is time we demand that they do something to turn Lebanon into a godly nation.  They should hit the street and have a nationwide prayer in front of the presidential palace.  This action will get the attention of world wide media.  By doing nothing they are teaching their church members about not caring.  Yes, they have failed us just like the government has failed us, just like the political parties have failed us , just like the Christian leaders such as Lahoud have failed us.
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From:"Jop"<jop-1@home.com>
To:< clhrf@yahoo.com>
Subject:The Identy of Lebanon
Date:26.7.01
The Identity of Lebanon
A great deal of debate has gone on regarding the identity of the Lebanese, many state that the Lebanese are Arabs and that Lebanon is an Arab state, whilst many argue that this is not the case, that the Lebanese are not Arab. In the Lebanese constitution the word Arab does not appear, the constitution only makes reference to Arabic as being the official language in article 11, yet this seemingly trivial matter was deemed of such importance that an entire sentence stating that Lebanon is Arab was inserted at the beginning of the Taif agreement in 1990. The contribution of the Arabs to the development of mankind cannot be ignored, as it was truly immense in its proportion. In almost every field the Europeans learnt much from their eastern neighbours. In medicine, astronomy, chemistry, physics, geography, mathematics, and architecture the Europeans drew heavily from Arabic books. In industry the Europeans learned of the processes used by the Arabs in paper making, leather working, and textile manufacture. It seems that it would be an honour for any country to be identified as Arab, however one cannot simply state that one is an Arab just for the sake of it, similarly one cannot state that an entire country is Arab just because he wishes to please his neighbours. In order to answer the question of Lebanese identity one has to look into the history of Lebanon so as to determine the origin of its inhabitants.
The earliest recorded texts refer to the inhabitants of Lebanon as Canaanites. Philo of Byblos claims that the Canaanites were autochthonous, i.e. born from the soil of a land, and so have inhabited Lebanon from the earliest times, and that they were not only men but also gods and that the whole human culture hails from their area. However many theories involving migration have been put forward as to Canaanite origins, which range form Eritrea, the Sinai, the Persian Gulf or as far away as Antarctica. Herodotus locates them on the Eritrean sea and Justin tells how they were driven from their original land by an earthquake and settled first on the coast of the Dead Sea and then on the Mediterranean. For migration theories to make sense they must presuppose that some kind of 'nation' must have existed for the Canaanites to migrate from before their appearance in the area of Lebanon, but there is no historical or archaeological evidence for such a 'nation' and so migration does not hold.
Evidence of human settlement in Lebanon dates back to the Palaeolithic period when man was differentiated from other animals by little more than the simple tools he was able to make. It was at the end of the last glaciation around 10,000 B.C. a period known as the Mesolithic, that mankind took an enormous step forward by cultivating plants and domesticating animals. Archaeologists have proven that this process began in what is known as the Fertile Crescent an area comprising the Nile Valley, Israel, Lebanon, Syria and Iraq. It was around this time that small towns started to appear, the oldest in the world being Jericho in Israel and Byblos in Lebanon going back to at least 9000 B.C. as shown by carbon-14 dating. By 8000 B.C. these Canaanite towns had populations of between 2000 and 4000.
The Canaanites who lived in what is now present day Lebanon were later called the Phoenicians by the Greeks c. 10th century B.C. The Phoenicians are well known as having been great benefactors to mankind.
From the dawn of recorded history Lebanon has swung between independence and occupation. Long periods of independence were interrupted by Assyrian rule, then Babylonian and Persian rule, then by Alexander and by 64 BC Lebanon had become part of the Roman Empire. Throughout these years, the original native inhabitants of Lebanon were not displaced nor were they diluted, their Levantine, Canaanite origin remained intact.
It was in Roman times that a carpenter's son who was born in a stable was to forever change world. News of the teachings of this Jesus of Nazareth was to reach Lebanon early in his ministry and it prompted people from Lebanon to go and visit him (Mk. 3:8, Lk. 6:17), and he was also to journey to Lebanon where he healed the daughter of a Phoenician woman (Matt.15:21-8, Mk. 7:24-31) and attended a wedding. After the death of Christ, upon the martyrdom of Stephen, some of the disciples that were scattered abroad to preach went north to Phoenicia (Acts 11:19), through their works and the work of Paul, Lebanon converted. The pagan Canaanites, the early Lebanese, became Christian. Christianity flourished in Lebanon and by the close of the second century Tyre had become the seat of a Christian Bishop as has Sidon, whose Bishop attended the council of Nicea in 325 in which the Nicene Creed was formulated, furthermore in the year 335 a church council was held in Tyre. At about the same time, Frumentius, a Tyrian missionary introduced Christianity to Ethiopia. From early in the 5th Century and throughout the 6th, through the works of the disciples of St. Maron the people of Lebanon, the Phoenicians, joined the Maronite Church.
For many years the Maronite Lebanese worked the land, terraced the mountains built their villages and expanded their cities. Soon a human tidal wave was not only to change the demographics of Lebanon but was also to change the history of the civilized world.
In a little know area of a Byzantine province in 570 AD was born, to a camel trading father, a child known to history by his honorific name Mohammed, or 'highly praised'. The religion founded by Mohammed in Arabia was that of Islam, and he is regarded by his followers as a prophet. The book he, an unschooled man produced, was written by one of his followers and is considered by the Islam (Muslims) to be the literal word of God told to Mohammed by the Angel Gabriel. By the time he died in 632, Mohammed had converted the Arabian peninsula, mainly by the sword, to Islam.
In 633, a year after Mohammed's death, in a valley just south of the Dead Sea, a group of Arabian Muslims fought their first battle outside of Arabia against the Byzantines. By 637 almost the entire Middle East had fallen into Arab hands. The victory of Islam was in three parts: Islam the state; Islam the religion; and Islam the language, Arabic.
Lebanon, however, remained a Christian island in a sea of Islam. It is in Lebanon that Islam the state did not govern, Islam the religion did not convert, and Islam the language did not take over from Aramaic Syriac for over a thousand years, and even then never as a spoken language but as the written one. In Lebanon today there is a huge difference between the spoken Lebanese and the written Arabic, Lebanese being a mixture rich in Syriac. A great part of the coastal population of Lebanon joined their fellow Christian countrymen high in the mountains out of Arab reach. The mountains offered no attraction to the desert Arabs, agriculture was considered below their dignity and and they knew little of industry and even less about maritime trade. The Arabs did not realize the strategic importance of Lebanon and they left it to itself and so opened the way for Byzantine naval raids. Such incursions were a prime reason why an inland seat of government, Damascus, was chosen by the Arabs. As a result of the coastal inhabitants of Lebanon refusing to convert and moving to the mountains the Lebanese coast was left undefended and so it became necessary for Muawiyah the Caliph, in 663, to transplant Persians and Arabians to the Lebanese coast so as to provide a measure of protection against naval incursions by the Byzantines.
By the end of the 7th century the Arabs and the Persians, newcomers to an ancient land, began to settle on the Lebanese coast and in the Bekaa valley and the native Lebanese moved deeper into the mountain.
The transplantation of outsiders into Lebanon in 663 was not the only one to occur in Lebanon's long history. Lebanon's refusal to be assimilated so infuriated the Mamluks that in the years following the departure of the Crusaders from Lebanon the Mamluks launched heavy military reprisals against Lebanon. In 1307 the Mamluks under al-Nasir Muhammad went so far as to occupy the coastal strip between Beirut and Tripoli and divide it between three hundred transplanted and newly introduced nomadic tribes from north east Persia. The Mamluks hoped that the settling of these thousands of pro Mamluk nomads would not only provide a measure of protection against Mongol attack or Crusader raids from Cyprus but they hoped that such a step would over time change the very orientation of Lebanon itself. These measures however failed to reorientate Lebanon and the Lebanese remained a thorn in the side of the Mamluk established order.
Over the many years that were to follow the Arab invasion, the religion of the Muslim and the mainly Maronite Christians, coupled with the Maronite siege mentality, kept the two peoples firmly apart as they had very little in common. The sea crossing and mountain dwelling Maronites share nothing in the way of culture with the desert Arab, even their language was different, the Maronites speaking Aramaic Syriac well into the 18th century. Marriage between the Shiite Muslim Persians and the Sunni Muslin Arabs was common but for the Christians of Lebanon marriage outside of one's own village was rare and marriage between Maronite and Muslim was non-existent, even today it is extremely uncommon. The Muslim and Christian blood lines thus remained pure, even the most modern of the Lebanese are still in touch with their ancestral village and have a good knowledge of their forefathers. The resistance of Lebanon to absorption ensured it maintained an individual identity and remained a separate entity.
The history of Lebanon as a separate entity from its neighbours began many thousands of years ago, long before the modern state was born. In fact it is doubtful whether any country in the Middle East apart form Egypt can claim such a long and continuos history as a separate political entity. Certain unique features had appeared as far back as the Byzantine Empire, but the modern Lebanese entity emerged in the late 16th century during the rain of Fakhr al-Din II when within its territory an evolving form of political authority continued without interruption to our own time, giving Lebanon and the Lebanese a separate and distinct identity and a strong sense of nationality.
The Lebanese have always been great travellers, and due to the many hardships the Lebanese have had to face over the ages, they have been forced to look outside their borders for the right to live in peace and so emigration plays an important role in their history. Today the majority of the Lebanese live outside of Lebanon, some 3.5 million living inside its borders and 14 million of Lebanese origin living outside the country. Of those living in Lebanon around 2 million are Muslim and of those living abroad some 12 million are Christian.
It would seem that any country with a dual Canaanite and Arab identity should consider itself truly blessed. Since Arabs are a Semitic people originally inhabiting the Arabian peninsular who spread throughout the Middle East, N. Africa and Spain in the 7th and 8th centuries A.D., its is clear that a large part of the Muslim population of Lebanon are of Arab origin. There is no doubt however that when the Arab arrived in Lebanon it was already inhabited by the Maronites who are of Canaanite origin and not Arab. The Canaanites had lived in Lebanon for many thousands of years before the arrival of the Arab, and Lebanon was touched by Christianity some 600 years before being touched by the Arab and Islam.
==================================================================================

To be from Lebanon means you are from a place of refuge and tolerance. You share a country with people of many different backgrounds, cultural identities, and faiths. To make Lebanon like it's Arab neighbors is to deny her identity.Lebanese people are free to be what they want to be. If they thinks they are Arabs, than they are. If they think they are European or whatever it is they think, than they are. This is the beauty of Lebanon.  One should be free to be different. this is the essence of being Lebanese.
Syria appoints puppet leaders who don't know how to be free. They bring in puppet leaders and try to brainwash us like a bunch of little kindergarten kids by telling us freedom is wrong and we don't know what is best for us. They install puppet leaders and they try to tell us the cause of Bachir Gemayal  was a false. They allege our martyrs did not give their precious lives for a and a holy Lebanese cause and identity.  They stupidly claim that the Lebanese cause never really existed in the eyes of all the Lebanese.
You puppet leaders, if the cause of having a free, sovereign nation capable of making it's own decision is not a real cause, then why are we supporting Hizbollah to free Shabaa farms or why are we supporting the Palestinian people's  struggle for freedom and sovereignty. The installed puppet leaders have oppressed their own people by denying their freedom for the price of power they received and for the fake peace that we have had since 1990. We call on these leaders to be Lebanese Shiite, Sunni Maronite or any thing else.
The issue it about freedom and being free. It is about preserving Lebanon's distinguishable identity that Almighty God endowed to the Lebanese people. The Issue is independence, sovereignty, dignity and tolerance.
What is depressing and frightening is that out identity has been slowly and slowly fading away into the the rest of our Arab neighbors' milieu since October 13/1990.
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From: tony shakar tanios1@yahoo.com
To: Phoenicia-owner@yahoogroups.com
Re: [Phoenicia] Article from Freedom Fighter
3/7/01
This time however, the Lebanese have learned their lessons well, and they shall not reject Israel's offer of genuine peace.
I personally have had it with these dammed Syrians. And I am eager to make peace with Israel and be its greatest Lebanese friend. And to hell with all the Arab Dictatorships and Sheikdoms if they do not like it.
Long Live Free Lebanon
Freedom Fighter. Been there, done that, and it didn't work.
This kind of talk means another war in Lebanon.
Thank you, but no.
Tony Shakar,
Beirut
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From: MikeLeb81078@aol.com 
To: Clhrf@yahoo.com
Subject: We all forget
They forget about us. Israel attacks Lebanon, it's in the front page news. They kill children in an ambulance, it is still in the news . They bomb a UN shelter killing 105 civilians, it gets reported. The fighting goes for a week , its gets moved back to page three. It goes on for two weeks , more people die, and its no longer news.
People forget. They forget who is Hafez Al-Assad-Assad. Americans and Lebanese puppet leaders forget that Assad have killed twenty thousand of his own people by ordering his air force to bomb the City of Hamma , a major Syrian city. They forget all the terrorist groups he helped to foster and export. They (the West and Israel) kept treating him (till the last day of his life) as as a major player in their new world order. They kept on portraying him as a sheriff in Lebanon, the sole keeper. The Christians too forget that they encouraged the Syrians to get involved in the Lebanese war and they later on fought them valiantly.
The Druze forgot that their spiritual and political leader, Kamal Jumblat was killed by the Syrians, while they are still on the Syrian side ready to fight their fellow Lebanese Christians. We all forget. We became pawns in a game we don't understand. We forget that Israel have used nail bombs in Lebanon, and the Syrians used 240 cannons to bomb the Lebanese civilians . We forget that the Syrians massacred hundreds of Lebanese soldiers in Baabda and Beit merri in 1990. The war stops and starts again and we forget. We forget how we watched Assad , Begin's, and Arafat's armies battling in Beirut in 1982 while they sat on the side line and watched Lebanese people die by the thousands.
we also forget that Assad kidnapped and tortured thousands of Lebanese people, many were killed and some still arbitrarily detained the Syrian notorious jails. We forget the the USA Secretary of State, Warren Christopher used to negotiate with Al-Assad We also forget that Perez kidnaps and tortures thousands of Lebanese citizens and Christopher use to kiss his ass. The Lebanese people keep forgetting who are their enemies and who are their friends. Most importantly they keep forgetting who are they and how they should be. We the Lebanese people have a very poor memory.
mike.D
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Thursday 7 June 2001
Friends,
Your web site is of great interest and importance beyond Canada. The audio is good. Is there a video site? I probably overlooked it. Naturally as a first generation, American-born Maronite, my concerns abroad are firstly for the continued existence of Christians --the Maronites and their allies in the vanguard-- in Lebanon and throughout the Middle East.
I cannot be aware of the occasional realignments, divisions and disagreements which occur within the free Lebanon supporters in Lebanon and overseas (i.e. here in the USA). I do not belong to any of the various Lebanese Christian groupings or parties; in general I welcome or at least tolerate just about all of them (even the most politically unacceptable).
Basically, Patriarch Sfeir is my guide. Enough said!
I do believe in rebuilding the destroyed churches, monasteries, convents and Christian villages and the building of facilities in the Christian hearland --eg. hospitals and good schools for ALL Christian children whether or not they are privileged. I was enraged to learn that two Hizbollahis, who had no children in the Ayn Ibl Maronite Nuns' School, were able to force their will upon the Maronite nuns who then had to accept the wearing of the "hijab" by two girls and then made it the NEW policy for the whole school! They demand those same privileges and more here in America --Dar al-Harb-- and we Americans are succumbing! I guess most Americans believe that all religions are equally good.
I enjoyed the description of Najah Wakim as "eccentric", especially after his call to attack American interests. (Didn't General Aoun's troops besiege the American embassy? An aberration, I believe!) I have read some sensible Wakim statements reported in the Beirut Daily Star. So, you can see that I cannot keep up with these individuals' changes of policy and positions. The Tueini press and family have maintained a loyal, patriotic and consistent course, I have never been jolted or misled by their writings for decades.
I also appreciated the statement by the Israeli Druze minister without portfolio who "confessed some of the sins of the Israeli Druzes" against the Palestinians. I was pleased that by their own statements, others besides Christians can be demonized. The Maronites have been labeled "treacherous Crusaders" in the Arab, and especially Palestinian, media for decades. Something similar, not so blatant, happens here in America by most of the expatriate organizations (both the Muslim and some Eastern Christians) who receive great support from American Christians of Middle Eastern descent who only remember the war for Palestine in 1947-8 and don't care about the war begun in Lebanon in 1975 and which still has not ended --as far as I am concerned! The only way to avoid being demonized is to to surrender, apostatize, become Muslim and receive the approval of the Iranian, Pakistani, Afghani, etc. Islamists in Middle East and their apologists here in America..
My views are not necessarily those of the organizations to which I belong. I am an active Knight of Columbus and the Deputy Chief Editor of the Maronite Research Institute's (MARI's) Journal of Maronite Studies (JMS) < http://www.mari.org >
I would like to send you some material occasionally in the hopes that your site might be interested and supportive enough to publish.
Sincerely,
Edward J. Brice
FAX: 703-527-0107
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From: ziad sad" <zsad@email.msn.com
To: clhrf@yahoo.com>
Subject: response to Eli Alam
Tue, 5 Jun 2001
first of all , thank you for your intelligent articulate response to my last email. Please allow me to disagree on the following points .
1-the greatness of  the Arabic language and culture apart from rival languages and cultures is that Arabic DOES make a race, Arabism is exclusive not diclusive
you can't call a person from Haiti French, because French - as a nationality - is referred to the European country (France) , and you can't call an American person English, because English is a nationality referred to the citizens of the European country England . on the other hand there is no country called Arabia ( Arabia is a European expression that refers to the Arabian peninsula ), so simply are all the people of the Middle East and North Africa who's native language is Arabic are Arabs? period .
2-Middle East; is a colonial European expression to partitioning the Arab world ( by disclosing mostly Arabic North Africa) and adding non Arab Turkey , Iran and Israel to the region .
3- If Lebanon is enough bond, what made its Moslem and Christian residents engage for years and years in a civil war, and made Moslem Lebanese ally with Moslem Palestinians and Christian Lebanese ally with French ? don't miss understand me, I am not trying to open old healed wounds, I am just pointing to a fact so that we face it instead of pretending as if it doesn't exist .
4-Yyou still didn't clarify your statement when you said that our evolution has surpassed the neighboring Arabs, I am proud of my Lebanese heritage, but we are not extremely surpassing in civilization the rest of the Arabs:We ddo not have extremely advanced industry and our national income per capita is in the same like our neighbors ,and our so called democracy is not phenomenal knowing .
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lebanesegroup@yahoogroups.com
savour@ozemail.com.au
Re: [LebaneseGroup] Thoughts And What Not
22/5/01 (This message was taken from the Lebanesegroup)
Hello,
As far as I am concerned, Lebanon, the creation, existed well before 1916. Perhaps, yes, the contemporary state did not come into being until 1920. I believe the correct term is "The Republic of Lebanon" aka "Al Jumhuriyah Al-Lubnaniyah". This is the title of our country, not Arabic Lebanon :o) Whether you choose to believe that it is an Arab Republic or part of the Arab world, this is your right, no one is able to take it away from you. Being Lebanese is not something you are simply by being born there, it is a whole lot deeper than that. It is something we feel in our spirit and blood, and believe me, the spirit of Lebanon stems well back until the 3rd millennium BC. I believe at which time, Tyre, Sidon, and Byblos were highly active and dominate centers of trading. So in your line of thought, in 1920, the contemporary state of Lebanon came into being. In this year, France administered Lebanon as a League of Nations mandate and thus was established the state of Greater Lebanon. I am not denying you any of this. The fact remains, as a creation, it existed well before this time. I believe Lebanon was made a Republic in 1926 and then achieved independence in 1943. To continue with your line of thought, that Lebanon is part of the Arab world (which, I am not denying), we therefore share some of the cultural characteristics, but we have MANY attributes that differentiate us from our Arab neighbors. It is saddening to see, that some do not acknowledge Lebanon's existent prior to this time as the spirit of Lebanon has been eminent for a very long time. Why do you or anyone else for that matter bring in the concept of Mount Lebanon? I do not recall mentioning it. Why do people like to continue the segregation of the Lebanese? As you say, Lebanon has not been able to experience an ample amount of time with stability. The lack of stability, is without a doubt, due to the Lebanese people, but whether you choose to like it or not, the ARAB world has played no part in helping Lebanon, but only created more unstability in our beloved Land. You are an Arab Australian. Why do you not acknowledge your Lebanese identity? Why do you classify yourself as Australian? What makes an individual's identity? It is simply a citizenship or a place of residence? It is a sense of belonging and contentment within? What defines your identity? Or anyone else's for that matter? Does someone who claims to a Lebanese (but not an Arab) any less a person or less Lebanese? Then again, you do not even acknowledge your Lebanon, so perhaps I am directing my questions to the wrong person? Tell me, why is it "MORE THAN BEING LEBANESE"? Is this not Lebanon's greatest problem? Everything is more than being Lebanese, how do we expect Lebanon to continue to survive with such attitudes and mentalities?
Diane
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Dear Diane
I was very happy to read your simple and straightforward response, a response from the heart, soul and mind. You have expressed the authentic feelings of many Lebanese, God bless you. It is true that Lebanon falls in an Arabic region, and it is true too that some of the Lebanese come from Arabic roots..But what mostly is more true, is that not every Lebanese is an Arab. What is also true is that Lebanon is Lebanon, this is its name and its identity. It is not an Arabic country and will never be. We the Lebanese respect our Arab brothers and neighbors, but this does not mean that we have to deny who we are to prove this. With respect to all Arabs and those Lebanese of Arabic roots, the reality is the Arabs invaded our country and forced on many of us not only their language, but also their religious belief. This is a historical fact and has nothing to do with love, hate, nationalism or treason as the narrow minded Arabs see it. The Lebanese are Lebanese, this is their identity. They can not be but Lebanese and you Dian expressed our feelings very well. Still we gave the Arabs and the Arabic language, that became our own, more then any Arab country. If it wasn't the Maronite monks and their monasteries the Turks would have wiped off the Arabic language. If it wasn't the Lebanese philosophers and writers the Arabic language would have remained without grammar or even structure.Again these are historical facts that make that the narrow minded Arabs angry and hostile.My dear Dian, let me add another given (gift) for being a Lebanese and here I stress loudly the fact that I mean every Lebanese, Muslims, Christians and Druz alike...Being Lebanese is a gift from God and a grace from heaven, this is not given to many, but only to the Lebanese.
God bless our holy Lebanon and forgive those who know nothing but hatred and spreading venom.
Elias Bejjani
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Hi there, No need to thank me :)
It is just disheartening to see what happens here at times. One can not keep quiet all of the time. Sometimes we have no choice. What it comes down to, is ignoring the bad vibes and continuing to join together as a community, as Lebanese people, and try to protect Lebanon, our home, the Land which encompasses so much of our love. Empty rhetorics regarding Israel or Syria will get move us nowhere. You are right, it is time we stopped reflecting on the past mistakes and used it as knowledge to push us forward. Unfortunately, without people putting Lebanon first, this may be unlikely. Which is a very sad thing in my opinion. No other place I have been to in the world is like Lebanon. It just makes you blood pump and your heart thump. It gives the sense of solace and serenity and that anything can be accomplished should we strive to achieve it. Perhaps it is just me, but the simple thought of Lebanon gives me goosebumps and makes me feel alive. Take care and continue to keep the faith.
Diane
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From My Home Lebanon site (http://www.loubnan.org)
Ffor those who have no faith
Man is free at the moment he wishes to be. (Voltaire)
Soon, You will open your eyes and realize that you have been witness on a disaster that is going to happen to our country Lebanon. I feel such sadness for the situation our country is in. I still find it difficult to believe when any political party trying to protect Lebanese independence and talk about the Syrian existence in Lebanon, they simply called them betrayals. And they say that the existence of a 35,000 Syrian army in Lebanon is a request from the Lebanese government to protect us( Bullshit), they say too that this matter should only be discussed between the two governments and people should not talk about it, It seems if Lebanon is not our country which we must defend and they dare not tell us exactly what they re planning, because they know we will reject it.
To the Lebanese government and to the president Lahoud or better saying to our betrayals, I would like to tell you that you are only fooling yourself by trying to convince us with lies that you’re only good in it about the good relation between Lebanon and Syria, and about the Syrian help for Lebanon.
Just want to tell you that Lebanese people are much more mature than you think.
We all know that it’s a conspiracy on Lebanon and I don’t want to go into more details cause I’m sure everybody is aware of it.
To Lebanese people I address my words :
It is easy to postulate principles, but very difficult to put them into practice. Believing in freedom and independence is very well but the final step is putting into practice what we have learned or have begun to believe in. This final step is what eventually determines the quality of our lives.
Freedom is something that most of us take for granted. It must be fought for on a daily basis to insure that it shall never be taken from us.
If you go back In the history and you see how much Lebanese suffered to get a free independent country you will realize that its shame for us to witness for the loss of our lovely country.
Allow me to send my regards to all the heroes which they are working for the Lebanese case to regain a free and an independent Lebanon.
In conclusion, I would like to mention a quotation of Gebran Khalil Gebran :
Long Live Free Lebanon
By Man Of Honor
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From : Corazon999@aol.com
22/5/01
Late response to "Farewell Lebanon"
Sorry for the delay in the reply. I read the original message and all the replies. As I said before I agree with the writer. I noticed many others agreed as well. It takes a person with great love to write such an emotional letter. Those who did not agree with him, also made it clear that they love Lebanon so there was no reason to attack someone who loves what they love as well.
Yes we are sick, yes we have problems. The first step in healing is to admit we are sick. yes we failed miserably, or else we would not be in this mess. Failure is not fatal but failure that could be revoked and changed. We cannot become what we ought to be by staying what we are. if we keep doing what we are doing we will keep getting what we are getting. We need a change. We need a revolution of thinking.
We are where we are because of our own doing and no one else's. There is no force in the world that would stop a united people fighting for a good cause. We are neither united nor fighting for a good cause. We are fighting for our own little tribe or foolish belief. We have a hundred parties they claim to love Lebanon but they each have their own agenda. IF they truly love Lebanon then they should unite and work for Lebanon. What good is it to have a hundred Ahrar factions and a hundred Kataeb parties or whatever if we have no Lebanon. I am amazed that with all the mess we are in , you see a grown man who has children adjusting his collar and bragging that he is LF or Ahrar or so and so, as if that label is what gives man a value. Our value comes from God and not from some stupid politicians or their parties. you cannot help but laugh and understand why Lebanon is in this mess. We are the true
enemies.
Look at the Arab organization ADC or whatever , they are organized. A lot of Lebanese are raising money for that organization which has not supported Lebanon. They attract top notch speakers from Powell to Nader. but look where we are , there is not one single strong powerful organization working for Lebanon even though we have the means.
I know many American Lebanese like me who want to help but they get so confused about this party or that party and this politician or that politician. They give up and say Lebanon is not ready for freedom, these people cannot get along. The Lebanese worship politicians as if they are Gods. we need to stop that. if a politician cares about Lebanon he is only doing what is expected of him so do not make him a God. These parties and these politicians got us in this mess today. They had a responsibility to do what is best for the Lebanon. But instead they destroyed it and turned the Lebanese against each other and got our children killed, our women raped, and sold our freedom.
With all the discussions and with all the hundreds of parties and with all the hundreds of organization I still do not see any one working to get the Lebanese together , I still see no unity, I still see no plan for the future. My suggestion is to:
1- get people to bond by their love to Lebanon and not divide because of politician. Men become great because they believe in a great cause. We need to believe in a great cause not in some thieves .
2- Our country is dying , we need to get the thousands of organization to work together as one voice and the world will hear us.
3- We need to be sending daily petitions to hundreds and thousands of people. Not once a year but daily. If we are persistent even a wall will hear us. Even little drops of water will shape a rock.
4-We need to demand more of our religious leaders. We need to get our religious leaders on the street with the students. They are not doing any good in the church anyway, how can they be hypocrites and preach love when they do not have love and they are not helping their people. Jesus himself took a whip and went to the temple and got rid of the thieves. Are the church leaders that we have better than Jesus? Can you imagine if all religious leaders got on the streets with the students that would make world headlines. There are a million and one things to do but we need to want to do it. We need to be motivated enough to do it. If things divide us then they should be eliminated whether these things are a political party or a politician. What is wrong with having one political party called "Lebanese who love Lebanon" and want to save it. I am not too convinced that all those who claim they love Lebanon want to do anything to help. So if we do not want to help why should we expect Americans to help. I know many Americans who feel the same way, they say the Lebanese do not know what they want. if they unite they can help Lebanon. It is sad that we are losing our brain resources in Lebanon and here we are not working together and losing our resources as one community. All the emails and all the discussions have been repeated for 25 years , it makes me sick to read what this idiot leader said or what his son said and it is a repetition of what was said before. Why not discuss what we you want for the future. forget the idiot politicians. when we reach our death bed we are not going to say oh I am so happy I was LF or whatever alphabet you choose, we are going to stay what stupid idiots we were and what a joke we are as a community. what have we done to our country, our land, our women and our children?
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From Rose Marie
Cobein@idirect.ca
22/5/01
HOW DARE YOU SPEAK ABOUT GIBRAN AS IF HE WAS AN ARAB. FOR YOUR INFORMATION
LET ME WRITE A PASSAGE OF THE PROPHET'S BOOK ABOUT "FREEDOM"
"At the city gate and by your fireside I have seen you prostrate yourself and worship you own freedom, Even as slaves humble themselves before a tyrant (SYRIA) and praise him though he slays them.,Ay, in the grove of the temple and in the shadow of the citadel I have seen the freest among you wear their freedom as a yoke and a handcuff. And my heart bled within me, for you can only be free when even the desire of seeking freedom becomes a harness to you, and when you cease to speak of freedom as a goal and a fulfillment. You shall be free indeed when your days aren't without a care nor your nights without a want and a grief, But rather when these things girdle your life and yet you rise above them naked and unbound. And how shall you rise beyond your days and nights unless you break the chains which you at the dawn of your understanding have fastened around your noon hour?
In truth that which you call freedom is the strongest of these chains, though its links glitter in the sun and dazzle your eyes. And what is it but fragments of yourown self you would discard that you may become free? If it is an unjust law you would abolish, that law was written with your hand upon your own forehead. You cannot erase it by burning your law books nor by washing the foreheads of your judges, though you pour the sea upon them. And if it is a despot you would dethrone, see first that his throne erected within you is destroyed.  for how can a tyrant rule the free and the proud, but for a tyranny in their own freedom and a shame in their own pride? And if it is a care you would cast off, the care has been chosen by you rather than imposed upon you. And if it is a fear you would dispel, the seat of that fear is in your heart and not in the hand of the feared. Verily all things move within your being in constant half embrace, the desired and the dreaded, the repugnant and the cherished, the pursued and that which you would escape. These things move within you as lights and shadows in pairs that cling. And when the shadow fades and is no more, the light that lingers becomes a shadow to another light. And thus your freedom when it loses its fetters becomes itself the fetter of a greater freedom.
WAKE UP MY LEBANESE FRIEND, GIBRAN, WAS THE GREATEST, THE BEST AND THE ONLY ONE WHO IS SHOWING US THE LEBANESE THE WAY TO CHASE OUT ALL UNWANTED SYRIAN AND ARAB NATIONS ON OUR HOLY SOIL. YES AND YES GIBRAN IS LEBANESE AND MARONITE, WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT! TOO BAD!!!
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From: ABECHEHAB@aol.com
To: Mr. Malek
22/5/01
Mr. Malek,
It is a shame to have someone like you paint a Giant like Gibran as a sectarian individual. Gibran contribution to greater Syria and the whole east is clear in every piece of literature he wrote. If had known that someone like yourself is going to confine his legacy into the farm mentality, he would probably opted to burn his writing. Gibran belongs not only to Syria, the Arab world, and the East, but to humanity at large. Those who would like to frame Gibran as a sectarian should be buried in the landfill of history. Those like yourself are the primary responsible for the current fate of the Maronite in Lebanon. For over two centuries, the Maronite intellectuals were the pioneers of progress and Arabism in the Middle East, until the famous Pierre Gmayel et al brought his fascist idea from Spain and destroyed the nation and well rooted community. Someone like you is more dangerous to the spirit and very existence of Gibran and the Maronite community in Lebanon that those who fought on the other
side.
God bless you
Abe...
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From: Youssef Karam
karam@adam.com.au
17/5/2001
Dear Lebanese fellowship
I decided to email you because I can feel that you are worried about the future of our homeland. We have become all the sudden from all over the world as a group that we believe in the same plan and we talk the same language at any time any where in the globe without knowing each other at all, that I will tell you about. We all know the past; some of us have contributed to it either for the good or for the bad, let’s start from here, confessing to our self first. Now who is to blame is not the question, the question is are we going to gain knowledge from our mistake?
The dream!!!!
The knowledge and the education to our people is the solution to our situation that is our job for as long as we leave we might never see it but you dam well know that you have done your bit to your own country. But you have to leave by example; if you want some one to do something you show him the way.With this attitude we are getting to know each and trust each other more and more every day, let me tell you, this is an iced ball made from the will of the people witch is the strongest chemistry on earth for the right of the individual and the community. We had a chance to feel and practice our right in all fields we have tasted the ultimate kind of freedom we think that is the best way to the road of recovery, I guess you have to tell your doctor what is wrong with you so he can give the right medication don’t you think so? We as migrants are prepared to work one day a week for free in our country, and help rebuild our homeland, donate a large amount of money to make the dream come true. On one condition that the government should be elected and voted by the new generation of Lebanon, that is you and me together without any influence at all including our parent if they do not believe in our dream, the dream that bring in a brighter future for our children. If we elected the government that we believe have the best plan for our affaires we will help them to implement the rule of the land, then if we succeeded and uphold the law above every one and I mean every one then we will have no worries about witch religion we belong to. That is the way to bring every one to justice and the free press that is washing like hawk. I will tell you a short story about how important is the individual in the land of the law, sometime I have a cigarette while I’m driving when I finish my cigarette if by mistake I decided to throw it on the road I look behind me and round me to see if any one saw me because I will be thinking what are they going to think of me? Then I decided that the easiest way is to put it out in the ashtray!!
Can you feel my dream???
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Answer to Wael on Jubran
From Karim Malek
EastBeirut@aol.com
17.5.01
Finally some critical sense comes with Wael Masri.
He writes: "Gibran Khalil Gibran belongs to all of humanity, and I take offense at Tom Harb's letter below. Instead of celebrating the universal spirit of Gibran's beautiful works of poetry and art, Tom Harb apparently seeks to encapsulate Gibran with a narrow interpretation of his great man's identity based on sectarian grounds."Good attempted, but off the subject! Harb's letter doesn't aim at denying Jubran to anybody, just the opposite. It aims at resisting his hijacking by the American Arabist lobby in order to abuse his legacy by banking on it to serve their agenda. Jubran after all is an American-Lebanese author and artist and he must remain as he was and offered to the entire world as such, not repainted as an Arab-American militant and gain foreign aid to the PLO and Syria on his shoulders. We want the world to celebrate his universal spirit of art and poetry but we don't want the Arabist lobby to use his symbols to promote the agenda of 21 Arab regimes at the expense of Lebanon, Jubran's own ethnic community, and human rights in the entire region. It is not Harb letter that encapsulate the worldwide famous Jubrane but Zoghbi's machinations to abuse every single drop of Lebanese-American achievement to score points with the Administration.
Wael writes: Ironically, the Maronite Church in Lebanon was against Gibran during much of his living days because of his controversial writings (e.g., for his book: "Jesus, the Son of Man" and, to a lesser extent, for "The Prophet"), and now we are to believe that Gibran must be identified primarily as such I fail to see how this type of divisive, intolerant, sectarian language can ever bring the people of Lebanon together. We deserve better."
Answer: Yes sir you deserve Jubran to wake up and see the wealth exposed at that celebrating dinner. The sum of those Arab Multi National Corporation bosses, the representatives of the Oil-backed regimes, the Princes and Monarch in whose name (Arab League) the AAI is promoting Jubran. The man who wrote the "Prophet" will certainly boycott a dinner aimed at endorsing regimes oppressive of people, of writers and poets in their own countries. Yes you deserve to know what Jubran would have done had he was asked to praise the House of Saoud, the Dictator of Baghdad, the Massacrer of Hama or the Lockerby Bomber..
Yallah, "Jubran al-Arabi " is an open domain. Just because he wrote in Arabic, he is a Baathist. But he wrote in English, isn't he an imperialist too?
It is ironic to see Arabists celebrating Jubrane in Washington DC, while they use those political benefits to support regimes which are abducting, jailing, torturing and eliminating Jubran's grand nephews and nieces, his blood relatives and his own people in Bcharre, his native village. If Jubran' was present at the Washington dinner he would have blasted Zoghbi and the planners and told them to never ever use his name in association with regimes that are oppressing his people..
Karim Malek
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Answer to N. Aboukhalil
From Karim Malek
EastBeirut@aol.com
17.5.01
Again, another Arabist to be!
Mr. Aboukhalil can "hear Ghibran shouting don't let me die twice, If I am a Maronite I happened to be an Arabic Maronite and proud of it." (Spell check is not an Arabist tradition but that's ok. It looks like the cyber Arabists translates all from the same 'dactylo'..:) So the man of the Broken wings is a hidden Maronite Arabist? Maybe he was a Baathist before the Baath, a Qawmi before Saade or a Murabitoun from Becharre. Let's go further. How about Jubran was not born in Becharre but in Taif, the city that brought those jewels to us. Abukhalil goes on: "Lebanon is an Arab country that is what we Lebanese decided on, in our constitution. Like it or not If certain groups of Maronites (not all) do not like that, It is their problem.and I hope they are enjoying Canada and the USA.
Answer: Lebanon's identity is not decided by the Syrian occupation nor by a bunch of Arabists who came with Syrian tanks and will leave with them on time. And this constitution sir is your constitution, which will be packed on Syrian trucks through the Bekaa valley. Our constitution is the one of a Free Lebanon, to be legislated by Free Lebanese. Yes, as Jubran puts it, Syrian Arab Lebanon is your Lebanon, and we have our own Lebanon, a pluralistic society where even Arab identity can be accepted, but not Arab colonialism. As for those groups of Maronites, well they are in the heart of Lebanon, they write graffitis right under your windows, all over Lebanon. And soon to be joined by all our brothers and sisters in the Lebanon of Jubrane, the Lebanese in the world.
Abukhalil goes on: "I will mention some facts and that is not intended to the true Lebanese Maronites Arabs like Khalil Ghibran or Niamma that is intended to the group who think they came from Mars." Strange that the Arabist-Qawmi cyberteams have the same rhetoric, almost the same style, perhaps this is just one operative doing all that noise. He goes: "First Your group has lost the war Like it or not Your group has destroyed the Christians in Lebanon more than their fellow Muslims. Your Group is the very minority in Lebanon today and there is nothing you can do to change that, Even more you scaring the Arab Christens in Lebanon and that is one of the reasons they are leaving Lebanon Your Group is forcing the economy in Lebanon to go from bad to worst. And the results more immigration from the Lebanese Christians first before the Muslims. It could be fashionable to be a hatred of the Arabs these days special in countries in the West but that will not change the olive color of your skin. or your religion or your culture or your language The Maronites Arab Lebanese were the leaders of spreading Arabism and wrote about that dream. Do not count on the True Lebanese who believe in Lebanon to stand or care for you I just bid you GOOD BYE from Lebanon
Answer: The translated Arabic is the same. Same guy with various screen names...Repeating the Syrian-propaganda non sense. Those who destroyed the Christians in Lebanon are those who manned the Stalin Organs and 122 mm over Beirut, Zahle and the north. The criminals of Hama, the massacres of Damour, Beit Mallat and Aishiye. Those criminals, who manipulated the killings of Sabra and Chatila and assassinated Presidents and leaders. Those criminals who will one day appear in the Hague when time will come. The Maronite Arab Lebanese are no where but in the imagination of the Damascus Alawi gangs who spread terrorism and drigg trafficking in the Middle East, instead of culture and renaissance. The Maronite and Lebanese Christian authors spread culture to the world, even the culture of their enemies. They master Arabic as they master French and English, while Syriac remains their identity. The Syrian operatives, they can type for ever..they will remain just that..
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To the Cheb from Beit Chebab
BECHEHAB@aol.com
17.5.01
From Karim Malek
EastBeirut@aol.com
Tahia Suria ya azizi..but of course the Aramaic-Syriac (Christian) Syria..The one we all long to, but was crushed under the Arab hordes in the 7th century and is ruled by Arab Baath elites, and supported by Syrian National-Socialists (Nazi) You write: "To the sectarian author of the article below: I am surprised that someone in the 21st century would dare to post such a low intellect. The fact is Gibran was a Syrian Lebanese. All his writing speaks to the Syrian cause and not to the shallow sectarian thinking of someone like you. Khalil Gibran was a great Maronite who belonged to the pioneers in the greater Syria before the colonists decided to carve Lebanon. The real Christian Arabs like Gibran, Saadeh, Rihani, Aflak, and many many others who started the modern cultural revolution in the Arab world would definitely spit on someone sectarian and isolationist like you. You belong to Pierre Gemayl school that inherited the Nazi doctrine and sunk Lebanon into a 20 years of civil war and marginalized the great Maronite community in the Lebanon. The writer of this letter lakes the courage to read Gibran's writing to know who is Gibran. I am sure that the writer is here to serve the goal of the Zionists and ignore the contribution of many great Maronite (like Gibran) to the Arbian renaissance in the 19th and 20th centuries. If you wish to sponsor something that represent your line of thinking, you should erect a memorial to your masters Gemayl and Geaga. With them you may be able to eliminate what left from the Maronite community in greater Syria.
Keep it up!
AC

Answer: Besides the facts that this Syrian-Nazi (qawmi) operative doesn't even represent the highly intellectual elite of the traditional Hizb Qawmi Suri, nor does he use their methodology, he brings the respectable forum which we praise