NNA -The head of the Free Patriotic Movement, MP Gebran Bassil, affirmed during a popular rally organized by the movement marking the 20th commemoration of the Syrian army's withdrawal from Lebanon, that "FPM initially resisted Syria alone, before others joined in successively. We rallied support for the Syria Accountability Act in the US Congress, and Prime Minister Rafik Hariri was martyred, so a second March 14 occurred in 2005, with a mass mobilization in which loyalty to Lebanon was a response to loyalty to Syria on March 8."
He stressed that March 14 "is a path from the military liberation in 1989 to the popular liberation in 2005, and an expression of a people's will for freedom that led to the withdrawal of the Syrian army on April 26, 2005, which was the day of the dream, the dream that led us to another dream with the return of General Michel Aoun from his exile on May 7, 2005."
He continued, "They falsified our history because, with pride, we ended the state of hostility with Syria after it withdrew in 2005. We worked on dialogue to protect Lebanon’s sovereignty and establish equal and diplomatic relations with Syria, and we succeeded. We always said we are against Syria when it is in Lebanon and we are with Syria when it is outside Lebanon, at a time when others were with Syria inside Lebanon and became against it when it left Lebanon, and when everyone knelt to the Syrians on the Anjar tiles, while we, from the heart of prison, were becoming growing in pride.”
Bassil went on to state that the FPM has always chanted for "Freedom - Sovereignty - Independence," and its "struggle has continued from wartime to peacetime, from the battle of legitimacy against militias in wartime to the battle of the state against mafias in peacetime."
"Lebanon is facing a new kind of occupation today, and it must be confronted by demanding its withdrawal. Lebanon is also subject to international guardianship through the UNHCR, which decides who returns and who stays. This is a clear infringement on our national sovereignty and our independent decision-making, which we must confront by rejecting guardianship," cautioned Bassil.
He added, "The government, through the Minister of Social Affairs and the Displaced Persons Committee, has so far accepted the UNHCR's proposal on the concept of conditional voluntary return, and this is a national humiliation."
"Our demand is clear and firm: the immediate and unconditional return of all displaced Syrians. Just as we liberated Lebanon from the Syrian occupation once, we will liberate it once again from this occupation disguised as humanitarian work," affirmed Bassil.
He considered that "we are facing a national emergency due to an attack on our sovereignty and identity, and the municipalities are the current focus of our battle, and the Free Patriotic Movement will have the honor of liberating Lebanon from the army of displaced Syrians."
"It is not racism when we demand the return of a people to their land. It is racism when we remain silent about their displacement and close our eyes to attempts to settle them," Bassil underlined.
He concluded, "We support every municipality whose agenda includes defending the existence and livelihood of the Lebanese and preventing Syrian refugees from undermining the Lebanese people's livelihood. We are facing a national emergency, with our sovereignty and identity being violated. Municipalities are the current focus of our battle, and the Free Patriotic Movement will have the honor of liberating Lebanon from the army of Syrian refugees."
=============R.Sh.
