Post by Janjoon-Lebanese on Nov 25, 2006 3:43:33 GMT -5
Too many citizens are already wearing black
Saturday, November 25, 2006
FIRST PERSON YASMA FULEIHAN***
Justice will not be allowed to elude Lebanon. With the cowardly silencing of every freethinking, outspoken voice in Lebanon, the obvious goal is to try and push justice farther and farther away.
The murderers seem to have the courage to kill, but not enough courage to show their faces and claim responsibility for their actions. Why don't they have the courage to allow Lebanon to be free and sovereign? Why don't they have the courage to let men speak their minds? Why don't they have the courage to let justice take its course?
We, as Lebanese, should have no fear of justice. The actions of those who are vainly trying to bury justice betray their fear and cowardice.
Their fear that they will lose power and control has driven them to kill. These cold-blooded murders have changed our nation forever. But we humans have a remarkable ability to forget our pain and our struggles with time.
Even though our physical body has been designed with eyes facing forward, giving the impression that we should always look ahead, we must not forget the past. If we stop learning from the past, we lose the lessons that have been hidden there. So far, that lesson is that violence cannot solve any problems. And as this cycle of violence perpetuates itself, is hope fading for true unity and genuine peace? We can keep hope alive, and reach our goal through our words, actions and our determination to bring justice to all Lebanese. Is our purpose on this earth to destroy violence through enlightenment, education, vision and evolution or are we destined as a nation to continue to destroy ourselves with violence?
My husband Basil died because he believed in Lebanon. Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, Samir Kassir, George Hawi, Gebran Tueni and now Pierre Gemayel have all suffered the ultimate punishment for having the courage to raise their voices for unity on behalf of their beloved Lebanon.
Are we now facing a future where we will have to tell our children that their fathers died because they believed in a lost cause? Too many citizens are already wearing black, let us see no more of them, or else Beirut may turn into a city of ghosts.
Some would try and split the trunk of the majestic cedar, but we must not allow ourselves to fracture. Instead we should stand firmly together, with courage to heal this tree and not allow any more branches to die.
It is said that those who do not remember history are doomed to repeat it. Let's not repeat history at the expense of any more Lebanese martyrs. It is enough.
**Yasma Fuleihan is the widow of late former Economy Minister Basil Fuleihan, who was killed alongide
Saturday, November 25, 2006
FIRST PERSON YASMA FULEIHAN***
Justice will not be allowed to elude Lebanon. With the cowardly silencing of every freethinking, outspoken voice in Lebanon, the obvious goal is to try and push justice farther and farther away.
The murderers seem to have the courage to kill, but not enough courage to show their faces and claim responsibility for their actions. Why don't they have the courage to allow Lebanon to be free and sovereign? Why don't they have the courage to let men speak their minds? Why don't they have the courage to let justice take its course?
We, as Lebanese, should have no fear of justice. The actions of those who are vainly trying to bury justice betray their fear and cowardice.
Their fear that they will lose power and control has driven them to kill. These cold-blooded murders have changed our nation forever. But we humans have a remarkable ability to forget our pain and our struggles with time.
Even though our physical body has been designed with eyes facing forward, giving the impression that we should always look ahead, we must not forget the past. If we stop learning from the past, we lose the lessons that have been hidden there. So far, that lesson is that violence cannot solve any problems. And as this cycle of violence perpetuates itself, is hope fading for true unity and genuine peace? We can keep hope alive, and reach our goal through our words, actions and our determination to bring justice to all Lebanese. Is our purpose on this earth to destroy violence through enlightenment, education, vision and evolution or are we destined as a nation to continue to destroy ourselves with violence?
My husband Basil died because he believed in Lebanon. Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, Samir Kassir, George Hawi, Gebran Tueni and now Pierre Gemayel have all suffered the ultimate punishment for having the courage to raise their voices for unity on behalf of their beloved Lebanon.
Are we now facing a future where we will have to tell our children that their fathers died because they believed in a lost cause? Too many citizens are already wearing black, let us see no more of them, or else Beirut may turn into a city of ghosts.
Some would try and split the trunk of the majestic cedar, but we must not allow ourselves to fracture. Instead we should stand firmly together, with courage to heal this tree and not allow any more branches to die.
It is said that those who do not remember history are doomed to repeat it. Let's not repeat history at the expense of any more Lebanese martyrs. It is enough.
**Yasma Fuleihan is the widow of late former Economy Minister Basil Fuleihan, who was killed alongide
