LEBANESE FREEDOM ANNIVERSARY


On April 26, 2005, the Lebanese people, backed by the international community, liberated their country and recovered their freedom through ending the Ba'ath occupation of Lebanon. Therefore, Lebanon is the second country kicking the Ba'ath tyranny out after Iraq.

In honor of this occasion, I will post the celebrating editorial by the Lebanese martyr and hero, the brave leader and symbol of the liberating Cedar Revolution Gebran Tueni who paid his life for freedom and truth and for his country.

Gebran, rest in peace, Lebanon is free and will always be, and you will always be alive in our hearts.

Happy anniversary for all!


The Dream Came True? And Lebanon is Risen

By Gebran Tueni

Lebanon is finally free of Syrian military and intelligence presence.

On April 27th, 2005 Lebanon recovered its freedom, sovereignty and independence.

Today, Lebanon recovered its freedom of decision.

Today, after 29 years, Lebanon is liberated.

The credit goes to the Lebanese people who resisted, defied and endured killing, repression and humiliation.

The credit goes to the people who remained attached to their right, freedom, land and their faith in a better future, the people who believed that their dream will come true one day. And it has come true.

We thank the international community that took a renewed interest in Lebanon and helped it recover its sovereignty, independence and freedom through UN Security Council resolutions 1559 and 1595.

And the biggest thanks to Lebanon?s martyrs, the latest being PM Rafic Hariri whose martyrdom cemented the unity of the Lebanese people who revolted to recover their stolen rights and violated land.

The decorations given to Syrian senior officers by President Emile Lahoud before they left Lebanon, should have been given to the heroic Lebanese people, to the Lebanese living martyrs and to the martyrs? parents? unless these decorations are a way of thanking the tutelage authority for keeping its protégés in power for more than a quarter of a century!

Mr. President, how can you thank someone who laid his hands on a country, which you had pledged to safeguard, and stripped it of its freedom of decision?

The Lebanese people cannot forget that Syria governed Lebanon for more than 30 years and benefited from its fortunes and resources. It also contributed to the disintegration of the familial and political society, and hindered the reconciliation of the Lebanese people thus applying the policy of ?divide and rule?, not to forget its role in the war, the kidnapping, the killing, the destruction and the displacement?

Mr. President, it would have been better for you before awarding those decorations, to assess the damages caused by the Syrian presence in Lebanon for 30 years, and determine the best ways to indemnify those who suffered financial and moral damages because of this presence.

However, our position from the Syrian presence and the schism it caused among the Lebanese people does not mean that we do not genuinely aspire for the establishment of the best relations with Damascus on the basis of mutual trust and respect. And this cannot happen unless all missing and kidnapped persons and detainees in Syria return to Lebanon, and diplomatic relations are established between the two countries.Today free life is back to Lebanon with the restitution of sovereignty and independence.

Today, our dream came true, the dream of the long-awaited resurrection, a dream we almost thought it would never come true: Lebanon without Syrian presence!

Let the bells ring and the minarets resonate with Koran verses. Cheer and celebrate. Smile and rejoice because Lebanon is free?

The Syrian army withdrew from Lebanon, and Lebanon is risen, really risen!

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