Lebanon’s Maronite patriarch, Nasrallah Sfeir, on Wednesday weighed in against stereotyping followers of any faith and reaffirmed Lebanon’s position as a model of Christian-Muslim coexistence.
Sfeir told a delegation of European journalists that Christians and Muslims in Lebanon “live together despite difficulties” in “a coexistence for the best," reported the Beirut-based Daily Star.
“Without this coexistence,” the patriarch added, “Lebanon would loose its significance,” in particular that of being a message, rather than simply a country - a sentiment also conveyed by Pope John Paul II.
Sfeir, who travels Friday to the Vatican to attend a Cardinals Synod, stressed that “Islam should not be perceived through the acts of individuals.”
“There is fundamentalism and terrorism in Islam just as in Christianity,” he said, “but this does not mean that all Muslims or all Christians are terrorists.”
Questioned about the Shiite Hizbollah movement, Sfeir assessed the resistance’s activity positively but cautiously, said the paper.
Hizbollah “is comprised of people who fought against the Israeli occupation of their country and are continuing to do so,” he said.
He added that although all political parties were disarmed in compliance with the Taif Accord, Hizbollah’s exceptional situation allowed them to legitimately continue carrying arms “to face Israel and liberate the land.”
The Maronites are “on very good terms with the resistance, provided that its activities remain within this framework,” he said.
Reiterating his opposition to the presence of Syrian troops in Lebanon, Sfeir said the existence of various communities within the same country was normal, but called “the interference of non-Lebanese in Lebanese matters” unacceptable and abnormal.
“The Syrians interfere in every matter,” he said.
“Nothing happens without their approval,” which the patriarch said was harmful to the country’s sovereignty and independence.
Sfeir said examples of such interference were numerous, mentioning in particular the latest parliamentary election based on an electoral law which, he claimed, led to an unsound representation of minorities.
“We are not alone” in calling for a Syrian redeployment in accordance with the Taif Accord following the Israeli pullout last year, the patriarch said.
Israeli troops withdrew from south Lebanon in May 2000 after nearly a decade of occupation, leaving in their wake ruined infrastructure, minefields and countless orphans – Albawaba.com
