BEIRUT: The different religious groups of the Middle East must remain united in the face of "takfiri" attempts to divide them, Prime Minister Tammam Salam said Friday.
“The longtime coexistence between the followers of different religions in this region of the world... has been subjected to two attacks, one old and one recent,” Salam said during a conference that brought together top religious and political officials.
The first attack, Salam said, was with the rise of the Zionist project and the creation of a “religious and racist” state on the Palestinian land, undermining the coexistence between Muslims, Christians and Jews.
“The new model, that is not less wicked than the Zionist one, is this evil and murky takfiri wave that is holding the banner of Islam, while Islam disowns it,” Salam said, adding that this rise of fundamentalist can only be fought through unity.
Salam called on the Muslims of Lebanon and the Arab world to reject extremism and defend the “moderate and open-minded Islam” in order to protect Christians’ right to remain in the region.
“I also call the Christian Lebanese and Arabs, to fully engage in drawing the destiny of their societies and nations in this historical, difficult phase that these nations are experiencing,” Salam said.
Salam’s comments came during a conference titles "The Family and the Challenges of the Era in the Middle East,” which was hosted at the International Center for Civilization Dialogue and sponsored by Gregory III Laham, the Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, and Alexandria and Jerusalem.
Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi, Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil, Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdel-Latif Derian, former Minister Nicolas Sehnaoui and Culture Minister Raymond Areiji all spoken at the conference.
Former president Michel Sleiman and Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Sleiman were also present at the conference, but did not speak.
Stressing on the Christian-Muslim unity was at the heart of all the officials’ speeches, as well as denouncing fundamentalism.
“Christians are not foreign expatriates in this east. They are their people and an essential part of the light shining from its front,” Salam said.
“They should not be treated as if their presence is an event, and they should not act as if their presence is temporary.”
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