A standing Islamic-Christian conference in Lebanon to meet the region’s challenges
Bkerké (AsiaNews) – An interfaith meeting was held yesterday in Bkerké, See of the Patriarchate of Antioch of the Maronites. Lebanon’s Christian and Muslim religious leaders met to take stock of the region’s tragic developments, and understand the country’s predicament in the evolving situation.
Participants decided to make the meeting a permanent Islamic-Christian forum, convened at quarterly intervals. Although late, yesterday’s decision to make the meeting permanent is to be welcomed.
It is especially necessary in view of the dangers hanging over Lebanon in a region whose borders – based on the Sykes-Picot agreement – are being challenged by groups like the al Nusra Front and the Islamic State group.
This, in fact, is happening to Lebanon’s eastern borders, at a time when the country is still without a president, whose role is to supervise the normal operations of government and serve as a figure of national unity.
The first and main point in the final communiqué centres on parliament’s failure to elect a new president. Since May 2014 when Michel Sleiman’s mandate ended, the Maronite Patriarch, Card Bechara Rahi, has led the campaign to solve the impasse.
An anonymous source close to the participants said that the “Presidency, which is [constitutionally] reserved to a Maronite, plays a symbolic role in Lebanon’s collective life and thus in its very existence. For Christians, a president embodies and represents their participation in public life. This is why the repeated postponement of the election has been criticised. As an alternative, voting has been proposed in accordance with the spirit of the national pact.”
Vacant presidency
Here are the main points from the meeting’s final communiqué:
1) Domestic issues: The summit expressed "deep concern and dismay" over the failure to elect a new president. This constitutes a “danger for Lebanon’s sovereignty, security and stability, as well as for its constitutional order, as a message to the Arab world, and beyond".
"Talks must focus on the election of a new president (. . .) since the election of a Maronite president will preserve cordial relations and thus Lebanon itself."
2) The country’s social and economic problems need an urgent solution. Crises are compounding each other. The government’s budget, checks on wasteful spending, job-creation schemes and help to the poorest citizens required quick action.
3) Refugees: War in Syria and Iraq have had a devastating effect. Half a million Syrians have fled to Lebanon, along with thousands of Iraqis, this in a country that is already home to half million Palestinians.
Although full of compassion for the refugees, Lebanon has far exceeded its capacity to absorb more of them, given its size and their distribution over its territory.
The country does not have enough room for more refugees nor the means to sustain their presence over the long haul. Consequently, everything must be done to prevent refugees from becoming permanently settled. Otherwise, Lebanon’s own unity and stability will be compromised.
Looking at borders
4) Terrorism: Under the banner of religion, and as the violent rejection of others (takfirism), terrorism has created a situation that has de facto wrecked the Middle East’s existing borders. As such, it must be challenged on cultural, educational, economic and political grounds.
Sectarianism and disregard for existing borders fit with the well-known Zionist plan to divide the region into small confessional states permanently at war with each other, thus guaranteeing Israel’s regional supremacy.
5) Eastern Christians: Eastern Christians are the first victims of the wave of violence that is causing havoc in the region. Assyrians are but the latest.
Lest we forget, the Mashriq (the Arab countries east of Cairo) has always been a place of religious diversity, where the Christian presence preceded the Muslim by several hundred years, and the contribution of Christians was vital for the preservation of Arabic.
The Christian presence was and is a key component to the region’s identity.
6) Yemen: participants expressed hope that the conflict in Yemen will be contained, without the violation of the sovereignty, security and territorial integrity of other Arab countries.
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