BEIRUT: Officials swore Monday that Lebanon’s bloody 15-year civil war, which tore the country apart 40 years ago, would never be repeated. The war, which broke out April 13, 1975, left around 150,000 dead and plunged the country into long-standing political and economic crisis.
The country’s top officials and notable organizations took to social media among other methods to share their views to mark the anniversary of the war.
Future Movement leader Saad Hariri
Hariri pledged to help deter any likelihood of another civil war in Lebanon’s future. “40th anniversary of the start of Lebanon’s Civil War: Never again,” he tweeted Monday.
“We did not end our Civil War to push our country into the fires of other Arab wars,” Hariri said, in an indirect reference to Hezbollah’s participation in the Syrian war.
“We cannot protect Lebanon if we do not stop surrounding fires from reaching it, or worse, if we keep throwing ourselves into the flames.”
Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid JumblattJumblatt, whose party was among the most active in the war, described it as “the war of others on our land,” quoting late-intellectual Ghassan Tueini.
“I will not go on, because I was among the several factions who were driven by fanaticism and old grudges,” he said. “Whatever I say on this occasion, my point of view is not fair or objective ... I prefer to remain silent.”
The Druze leader called on the next generation, including his son and soon-to-be successor Taymur, not to repeat the mistakes of the past.
“My testament to Taymur and to all the Lebanese youth: Beware of violence and ignorance.”
Grand Mufti Abdel-Latif DerianDerian said Monday that “Lebanon today is in a bad state,” warning of the consequences of the presidential vacuum.
“Lessons must be learned from what happened during the conflicts experienced by this nation,” he said, asking leaders to adopt dialogue as a means to address disagreements.
Social Affairs Minister Rashid DerbasDerbas said that the Lebanese were now “immune” to civil war. He warned that there were still some looking to fuel strife and called on Lebanese to “be cautious not to fall again into the same hole.”
In an interview with a local TV channel, Derbas said: “I used to feel that life depended on my team losing or winning, and I discovered that all of Lebanon had lost.”
On the Cabinet’s role to prevent another war, the minister said that the government was not actually governing the country. “We’re just caretakers,” he said, because governance requires setting plans and programs and achieving them, “which is unfortunately not happening in our country.”
Minister of the Displaced Alice ShabtiniThe “Fighters for Peace” organization held a news conference in the Press Club Monday afternoon to air lessons learned from the war.
Shabtini, who sponsored and attended the conference, said: “The worth of life is to learn from history.”
“It’s my pleasure on this occasion to support and invite people to join this NGO [Fighters for Peace] whose founders wanted to expose our pacifist and civil culture,” she said.
The minister called on Lebanese to hang onto the policy of dialogue, as “experience has taught us that peoples and nations won’t be saved unless they establish the value of love and consecrate human freedoms.”Lebanese ForcesThe Lebanese Forces organized a day of events under the slogan: “April 13, 1975, courage didn’t die in us, we died with courage,” sponsored by LF chief Samir Geagea.
Activities include a Mass at Our Lady of Salvation Church in Ain al-Remmaneh, followed by a candle march and speeches.
Joy of GivingLebanese NGO “Joy of Giving” celebrated Monday around the National Museum with a display of colorful paintings depicting the beauty of Lebanon’s nature, as well as a theatrical show, performances and political discussions.
Religious figure Sheikh Mohammed Ali al-Hajj al-Ameli was at hand and addressed the crowd: “There is a big difference between Lebanon on April 13, 1975, when the county was divided, and today.”MP Ghassan MoukheiberChange and Reform bloc lawmaker Ghassan Moukheiber appealed for people not to hide the tragedies of the Civil War, but be open about them to the younger generation, in order to prevent them from reoccurring.
“We should work on documenting the atrocities of the wars and presenting them by all available means to the next generation, who did not witness them first hand, so all Lebanese can learn from them and avoid repeating the destructive mistakes of the past,” he said.
The Committee for the Families of the Kidnapped and DisappearedThe Committee of the Families of the Kidnapped and Disappeared and the “It Is Our Right to Know” campaign launched a campaign entitled “40 The War,” which will last five weeks.
The committee chairman Wadad Holwani said many hurtles lay in the way of the organization learning the truth about what happened to the disappeared. “Our struggle today has two sides,” he explained, describing them as institutional and legislative.
Our Unity Is Our SalvationAssaad Al-Chaftari, the head of Our Unity is Our Salvation, an umbrella organization for numerous Lebanese NGOs, said a campaign entitled, “We remember ... we proceed,” launched last week, was a message to ensure another war never occurs in Lebanon.
“Our society today is witnessing deep divisions and facing more challenges than it can face,” he said, describing the launching of the campaign as the duty of the organization, to prevent the tragedies of the war from ever happening again.
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