CLAO

Founded in 1989 to serve the USA and Lebanon.

THE COUNCIL OF LEBANESE AMERICAN ORGANIZATIONS

       Eastern USA: P.O. Box 181116 Cleveland, OH 44118  ***  Western USA: P. O. Box 661823, Los Angeles, CA 90066

November 30, 2004                                                                                                PR 041130

The Syrian Occupiers Protesting Against The Independence Of Lebanon

Truckloads of Syrians crossed the Syrian borders into the neighboring Syrian-occupied Lebanon to join other Syrian nationals, Syrian-armed Palestinians and other Syrian-sponsored Lebanese militias in a protest against free, sovereign, and independent Lebanon today. Despite the fact that the Syrian regime and its puppet government in Lebanon have done their utmost, the protest was boycotted by most Lebanese citizens and was considered as a failure. Many of the over a million strong illegal alien Syrian workers who have invaded Lebanon in the past decade and a half along with Hizballah members and extremist Palestinian groups managed to gather no more than 100,000 protestors, far short of the million that the Syrian and the Syrian-installed puppet regime have threatened the freedom seeking Lebanese with. The protesters chanted pro-Syrian slogans and waved thousands of pictures of the Syrian dictator President, Bachar El Assad. In a clear warning to the vast majority of the Lebanese, Hassan Nasrallah, the Hizballah leader claimed that the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1559 is masterminded by “Zionists” against Syria and the “resistance” that he categorizes his group to be. He made it clear that all those who have supported the resolution are his enemies.

The Council of Lebanese American Organizations (CLAO) condemns the Syrian occupiers and the Syrian-installed Lebanese regime and sponsored militias in their intimidation attempt aiming to silence the will of the freedom seeking Lebanese. Instead of issuing direct and indirect warnings, the Syrian dictators and their puppets in Lebanon need to obey the will of the free world and must immediately implement UNSC Resolution 1559. This resolution clearly demands that Lebanon must become sovereign, Syria must withdraw from Lebanon, Hizballah and all other Syrian-armed terrorist militias must lay down their weapons, and that free and fair democratic elections must take place in Lebanon in order for the Syrian-installed government to be replaced by one that would truly represent the will of the Lebanese.

The Syrian-occupied Lebanon is suffocating with the presence of Syrian troops and intelligence, Syrian-armed militias, Syrian workers, and Syrian-installed corrupt puppet regime. Since 1990, Syria has had a free hand in running the internal and external affairs of Lebanon, jailing dissidents who call for ending the Syrian occupation, and imposing in treaty after treaty, a vicious set of agreements that completely subordinates Lebanon to Syria in all matters of foreign affairs, security, education, the military and the economy. Since 1990, the war of bombs has relatively stopped, but it was replaced by hundreds of political prisoners who were sent to Syrian jails, and by a decimated economy that was never allowed to recover. This has compounded the post-war trauma into deep social and economic depressions. Over a million and a half low-wage Syrian-workers have found Lebanon as a relative haven when compared to their homeland, causing very high unemployment rates among the Lebanese. These Syrian workers enter Lebanon illegally, and the Lebanese State is unable to control the flux or enforce its laws pertaining to foreign workers. The Syrian occupation troops and intelligence services became widespread in Lebanon, and the Syrian-orchestrated “civil war” was replaced with oppression, rape, murder, and looting. Living conditions have substantially deteriorated and citizens have been emigrating abroad at the average rate of 15,000 each month. In the meantime, citizens who remain have translated their frustration into organizing anti-occupation peaceful resistance movements. Despite warnings from the corrupt Syrian-installed puppet Lebanese regime, the streets of Beirut were packed with peaceful demonstrators on Friday November 19, 2004, protesting the Syrian occupation of Lebanon. Tens of thousands of activists from various Lebanese communities chanted “Syria out” in support of the Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act of 2003 legislation signed by President Bush on December 12, 2003 and the US sponsored UN Security Council Resolution 1559.

It is time for the Syrian occupiers to withdraw, for the militias to be disarmed, and for the Syrian-installed government to be replaced by a freely elected one. The Lebanese Syrian-appointed puppet regime is not a freely elected government and is unrepresentative of the people of Lebanon. The opposition and anti-Syrian dissidents have been silenced by repression, assassination, and exile. Unlike its heady period between independence in 1943 and the early 1970s, Lebanon today is democratic only in form. It has the institutions but not the practice of democracy. Therefore, democracy in Lebanon needs to be re-activated and re-energized in order to reconcile between the government and the people on one hand, and between the various communities on the other. To this, CLAO proposes the following:

1.       In conjunction with a full Syrian withdrawal, the Lebanese army needs to be dispatched to the South and other areas in order to gain full control over Lebanon’s borders and in fulfillment of Lebanon’s commitment to international laws and agreements.

2.       All remaining armed groups and private militias in the country must be disarmed, including Hezbollah, Amal (the private militia led by the Speaker of Parliament, Mr. Nabih Berri), the Syrian Baath Party branch in Lebanon, the Palestinians, etc.

3.       All Lebanese citizens who were exiled for political reasons must be allowed to return, and all political prisoners must be released. All displaced Lebanese must be allowed to return to their homes and villages.

4.       The current government must be disbanded and the assistance of the international community is needed in order to produce an ”Interim Government” with a three-month timetable that would have the mission to set up the proper environment and just prerequisites for free and fair parliamentary elections.

5.       Free and fair parliamentary elections to be held, supervised by a team of international observers.

6.       The newly elected parliament to elect a new Lebanese President.

7.       The new President and Parliament to appoint a Prime Minister who will put together a new government. High on the agenda of this government will be to create a climate that is attractive for the return of Lebanese capital investments to re-energize the economy and improve the standards of living for all Lebanese. A return to civil peace must be coupled with an improvement in economic conditions in order to cement stability and strengthen the faith of the people in the state.

8.       These representative institutions now in place will conduct a national debate on any outstanding issues of importance to the nation: electoral reforms, constitutional amendments, and others.