Time to bring the Lebanese civil war to an end!

posted 23/11/06

The assassination and cold-blooded murder of Pierre Jumael is a reminder that the Lebanese Civil War is not over yet and it will not be over until such time the Lebanese decide for themselves if they want a continuation of the war or they want a new, democratic and non-sectarian Lebanon.
I am one of those who may not forgive the Phalange Party and its leader Samir Geagea or the late Bashir Jumeal for the crimes committed in Sabra and Shatilla and the tens of thousands of innocent Lebanese killed during the war and the tens of thousands remain missing and specially their alliance with the criminal Israeli Defense Forces against Lebanon and against the Lebanese.
However the murder of the young and innocent Pierre Jumael is a cowardly act and it is intended to ignite the civil war again, and it is intended to make Lebanon again a blood path. I agree with Jihad Alkhazen when he said in his column today in Alhayat, that “ he does not accuse any one and does not exonerate any one” in this murder. However we know that both Syria and Israel have always played a major hand and roll in all political and sectarian assassination and always will have blood on their hands. The Syrian regime of Bashar Al-Assad is not different from his late father’s regime, with many murderers and killers high in government.
The murder of Rafiq Harriri, Basem Flehan, Samir Qasir, Gibran Tueni, George Hawi and the attempted murder of Marman Hamadi and May Shydiaq is a reminder of the long and murderous arms of the Syrian Ba’athist regime. No one believes that the late Ghazi Kan’an simply killed himself; he was murdered by the regime. Who else but Syria that killed Salim Al-Louzi and the late Kamal Jumblat?
What is surprising is the fact than non of the above murders have been solved and non of those accused of these murders and the murders of thousands of Palestinians in Sabra and Shatilla and Tel –Za’ater have ever been brought to trial. This is the sad thing about Lebanon. No one within Lebanon either have the determination, the skills not the courage to come forward and open a board of inquiry into all these murder and bring these murders to close, even it the accused are in absentia. No one can convince me that in all Lebanon, there are no competent and qualified criminal investigators that can open public hearing into these murders and attempted murder.
The murder of the young and innocent Pierre Jumael must be urgent calls for all Lebanese from all walks of life and from all political persuasions and religious sects to rise up to the occasion and have the courage once and for all and bring about a closer for the Lebanese Civil War. The first step will be for the Lebanese to hold a “referendum” on ending the sectarian system that is the cancer of Lebanon. It is time to go beyond Taif and to come up with something more original. Taif was to end the civil war, but not to rebuild Lebanon into a new modern and democratic state with religious and sectarian affiliation have no place and no role in Lebanese politics. It is time for all Lebanese to be equal citizens with equal opportunities. Let us never forget that Israel is the enemy number one for Lebanon, and always makes sure that the civil war never ends. It is time for the Lebanese to tell Syria and Israel that they are mature enough and that they will rebuild a new Lebanon that will be a challenge to Israel, Syria and the US and to all Arabs. May Allah/God have mercy on the soul of Pierre Jumael. Yes, he died a martyr for Lebanon.