BEIRUT: Christian politicians from the opposition are condemning remarks by the mufti of Mount Lebanon, who accused Maronites of being loyal to Syria and suggested that they return to that country. On Tuesday, Metn MP Nabil Nicolas said Sheikh Mohammad Ali Jouzou’s words applied to the mufti himself, rather than the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), of which he is a member, or the Maronite community.
Nicolas called the mufti’s statement discriminatory, sectarian and punishable by Lebanese and international laws and expressed his surprise that the Court of Cassation hadn’t taken action concerning the matter. Nicolas added that the FPM was preparing to file a lawsuit against Jouzou.
For his part, political activist Massoud al-Ashkar also condemned Jouzou’s remarks, and said that any Christian silence would be considered an agreement with the mufti’s statement.
“The suspicious silence of the Christians in March 14 should be considered an acceptance of Jouzou’s accusations,” he said, adding that the Syrian alliance of which the mufti accused the Christians was in fact the policy adopted by the partisans of the Hariri family.
As for the Liberty Front, headed by Fouad Abi Nader, it blamed speeches such as Jouzou’s statement for instability in Lebanon.
“The mufti only has to look into his own mirror to see the face of strife and unrest,” a statement by the group said. From the March 14 camp, the Independent Nasserite Movement-Murabitoun commented on the mufti’s statement, while urging all sides to remain calm as not to increase tensions in the country.
A statement by the group’s head, Mohammad Dargham, said that Jouzou’s “previous remarks have spared neither Sunnis nor Shiites,” and called on everyone “to hold back on emotional [responses], so that we do not open doors that cannot be closed.”
Jouzou had said in a statement on Sunday that Lebanese Maronites were collaborating with the Syrian regime and that they should go back to Syria. “Didn’t the Maronites come from Syria? Then let them go back to it,” he said.
The FPM had responded on Sunday, blaming Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri for Jouzou’s statement, and asking both men to stop inciting sectarianism and factionalism. – The Daily Star
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