Press Release from
fourteen Lebanese Diaspora Organizations
and Clubs
addressing the painful unfolding events in Lebanon
Toronto – Canada,
July 17, 2006
For Immediate Release
Iran and Syria Must be Held Fully Responsible for the Situation in Lebanon,
and
the Hezbollah Leadership Must be Brought to Justice
We, the undersigned activists in the countries of the Lebanese Diaspora, and on
behalf of the organizations and clubs we represent, express our deepest regrets
for the mounting human losses among civilians that our homeland Lebanon is
suffering as a result of the destructive military confrontations that are
ongoing on its soil between Israel and the fundamentalist Hezbollah group.
Those confrontations were imposed on the country against the will of all
segments of the Lebanese people and without any say or decision by the Lebanese
government in the matter, as the Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora has
admitted publicly and repeatedly over the past four days.
We offer our most sincere condolences to the relatives and families of the
innocent victims, and we pray for the prompt recovery of the wounded. We
declare our full solidarity with our people who are subjected, as we speak, to
imminent danger at this moment of the history of Lebanon. Our homeland has been
transformed by terrorist and fundamentalist organizations into a war arena for
the execution of plans and designs dictated by their sponsors in Tehran and
Damascus.
We affirm the necessity for an immediate intervention by the United Nations and
the Free World in order to secure a ceasefire on the basis of the full
implementation of all clauses of UN resolution 1559 and its corollaries,
after issuing a binding mechanism for such an implementation by the United
Nations Security Council in accordance with applicable international laws.
We reject the military and terrorist hegemony that is imposed on the Lebanese
people by the Hezbollah group and its sponsors in Iran and Damascus and the
full spectrum of regional and international terrorist and fundamentalist
organizations. We also categorically reject the shedding of a single drop of
Lebanese blood on the altar of regional interests and foreign alliances. We
call on the international community and the Arab countries to move quickly to
end the acts of violence and to condemn terrorism and its destructive
adventurism from the standpoint of the right of Lebanon to sovereignty,
independence and free decision-making.
We consider the Lebanese Government responsible for legalizing Hizbollah's
militia under what is called "resistance" and for granting this militia
privileges over other citizens and for conceding parts of the national territory
to its terror networks. In addition, we reiterate our condemnation of the
Government offering portfolios to representatives of Terror militias.
We demand the resignation of the Ministers representing the Hezbollah group, the
suspension of their representative members in the Lebanese Parliament, and
their prosecution for the crimes they have committed against Lebanon and its
people.
We request the United Nations to issue a resolution condemning Iran and Syria
and holding them responsible for the escalation leading to the present
situation, and holding them financially liable for the costs of the
reconstruction ensuing from the massive damages caused by the military
operations and for the compensation of all those who have suffered as a result.
We thank those countries who have expressed their friendship for Lebanon and
their support of Lebanon’s independence and sovereignty, led by the United
States and other countries of the Free World, and we urge them to support the
demands expressed in this statement.
Signatories of the release
Elias Bejjani/Canadian Lebanese Human Rights Federation (CLHRF)
Walid Hadad/Lebanese Canadian
Coordinating Council (LCCC)
Noel Haddad/Canadian Lebanese Christian Heritage Club (CLCHC)
Khalil Kaekati/Phoenician Club of Mississauga (PCOM)
Colonel Charbel Barakat/World Lebanese Cultural Union (WLCU)-Canadian Chapter
Charbel Constantine/Canadian Phoenician Community Services Club (CPCSC)
Camille Eid/Lebanese Forces Reforming Movement (LFRM)
Dr. Joseph Hitti/ New England Americans For Lebanon (NEAL)
Atef Harb/World US Maronite Union (WMUSAU)
John Hajjar/National Council for the Cedars’ Revolution (WCRC)
Ghabi Galo/Aramic Democratic Organization (Ardo)
Chebl Zoghbi/Ex Lebanese Forces Veteran Fighter in Diaspora (LFVF)
Roni Doumit/Solidarity organization for Middle Ease Christians (SOMAC)
George Chaya/WCLU Media Chairman for Spanish America
NB: For any needed further information contact:
For more information, please contact us at one of the following e-mail
addresses:
clhrf@yahoo.com or
Phoenicia@hotmail.com
Related Web sites
www.10452lccc.com,
www.clhrf.com,
www.aramaic-dem.org,
www.neal-us.org,
www.lfvf.org,
www.maroniteunion.org,