By Claudys de Kantara, Writer/Editor  www.neat-edu.com

Today, Lebanon loses another stout pillar of its independency’s stronghold, a clear voice, a focused mind, an honest spirit and a dynamic stride towards progress and development. Today we stand in consternation and anger as we mourn the loss of another priceless asset to our country. The hearts scream, the minds rage, the eyes weep and the spirits bluster: Till when?!

How many martyrs must a noble family like the Gemayel offer at the altar of glory as they prevail in their adamant patriotic journey?  Another son, a brother, a father traverses today the borders of Life to join the priceless splendor permitted only to the exceptional men, those who had paid with their own lives the high price of proclaiming our rights to freedom, sovereignty and peace.

Lebanon, in its continuous struggle, lifts again one of its children to the magnificence of martyrdom as our History engraves in golden letters the name of Sheikh Pierre Gemayel on the rock of dignity and valor.

The dark powers that had meant his downfall in the oblivion of death had misconstrued what a nation, faithful to the sacrifice and reverent to the martyrdom, could undertake to honor the imparted youth. Millions of all faith hit the streets of Beirut again, streaming from hundreds of villages and towns to proclaim the honor Pierre has bestowed upon them with his ultimate sacrifice. His funeral turned to a commemoration worth a young patriot that had striven for freedom and progress. Hands clap in praise, voices cheer in homage, and tears shed in grief at the passage of this young hero who had upheld, loud and clear, what his family always spoke out: Lebanon is for the Lebanese to keep, for freedom to crown, for sovereignty to pride on… whatever the pressures, the crimes, the duplicities and the conflicts.

As millions in our land today, I share the angst of a courageous family and give tribute to the wisdom and patriotism of a father who has lifted his wounded heart above his immeasurable sorrow to impede a fiery reaction that could have been catastrophic. By it, he has overturned the mischievous plan of the wicked assassins. It took but few words from him, yet, we fathom the huge effort of a father who has just lost a beloved son.

Today, while presenting my condolences, I read the pain in the faces of his family and, as tears grabbed my throat, I couldn’t but uphold the valor of their hearts as I remembered, all too well, the forced departures of their family members who preceded Pierre. In my mind, I recalled the history of our first independency, won with the sacrifices of a group of courageous men, similar to those who have been recently crossing to the other side of life, one by one.

Did he know, Sheikh Pierre Gemayel, the grand-father, when he had stormed the streets of Beirut with his friends in 1943 that one day his own family will honor his name with five martyrs to the same cause he fought for? Did he know, back then, that his bold steps will be followed, with more glory and sacrifices, by his own seeds, regardless of their ages, regardless of their times, regardless of their ways?

Today, Sheikh Pierre, the grand-son, lifts higher his family name, carrying the torch passed on to him by baby Maya, Bashir, Manuel and Amin, a fateful legacy that has become a noble tradition. Yet, the pain of a father, the sorrow of a mother, the grief of a widow, the sadness of a brother and the emptiness in the life of the orphans could never be effortlessly absorbed. The pain that repeats itself finds no remedy in the habits and the déjà-vécu. It is too painful to accept, too harsh to understand, too unfair to endorse.

'Let’s forgive but not forget,' Sheik Pierre used to say.

And how are we to forget your robbed youth, your murdered dynamism, and your crashed promise of a better future?

To the father, the brother, the sons, the mother and the wife, we present with tearful hearts our sincere condolences and, with fierce determination, our oath to never forget their beloved, their sacrifices and their losses for all the honors bestowed on us by their forced departures.

Thank you Pierre for the gift of your life to the nation of the survivors, for from it, surges a renewed hope that we can still prevail as long as our nation breeds outstanding men like you.

God bless your soul.

God bless Lebanon.

Published on the Lebanese Monthly Magazine, USA

By Claudys de Kantara (M.Sc. Psychology) Writer & Editor

www.neat-edu.com

If our eternal cedars could speak, they would relate the noble story of a nation venerated by the spirit of faith, the blood of survival, the sweat of struggles and the determination to prevail in a land blessed by God in His unfailing love. 

Although cruelty had severed some of their majesty, their roots persist in expanding, miles and miles under the ground, to hold onto our soil. Henceforth, they witness still that Lebanon remains as fierce in surviving as ever, despite its small size, limited resources and the rage that keeps storming upon its beauty. Therefore, if we are to forename Lebanon, then courage would certainly do the honor.

Through a repeated history of afflictions yet adamant courage, Lebanon today struggles again to prevail. Since peace and war are notable linked through our recorded times, the world has stopped astonishing at the Lebanese capability to rebuild, with the same boldness and the same fortitude. Lebanon, the wounded nation, is rising up again, not in glorious victory, but with the determination to overcome the damages of one of its fiercest war ever. Amid the misery of devastation, the stench of burnt flesh, the taste of acrimony and the horror of death, the eternal Phoenix gets slowly to its feet and flutters its wings with dignity and courage.

From my window overlooking Beirut, I give tribute to my nation, struggling, not with anger or violence, neither with hate nor aggression, but with a tremendous devotion to the motherland which nobility stands above all violations.

This is Lebanon; the sacred land that the holy books have recorded in their sanctified pages… Lebanon, the nation blessed with a tremendous willpower to constantly rebuild in order to maintain its fascinating culture and promote its ethnic tolerance…. Lebanon, the proud people that refuse to yield whatever destructive the raging fire…

In fact, the Lebanese did not wait for the ceasefire to patch up their streets, dispose of the wreckages, reinstall their doors and repair their electricity wires. They have forgotten all about lingering in wait. For them, living and surviving have become synonyms. Be it thirty-three days or thirty years, war could never destroy the soul of a nation shaped by centuries of struggles and challenges.

Amongst the rage, frustration and pain, Lebanon authentic heritage was recently exposed by its people’s compassion and desire for unity, beyond politics, greed and sectarian dissection. Helpful hands have extended in peace to rally in a chain of unyielding empathy; all adamant to preserve the dignity of the wounded and the homeless. While bombs blasted relentlessly, citizens of divergent slogans stormed out of their homes to embrace the mass escaping the blitz. They did indeed, stirred by the urgent call of human compassion and national unity. They rescued the families from the humiliation of the streets’ life, cuddled the orphans with affection, comforted the weeping mothers and opened their homes and schools to shelter them, feed them and heal their wounds.

These citizens, born in the war of their fathers and raised in the harsh segregation of sectarian quarrels, have refused to carry on the legacy of conflicts. As such, we have witnessed a unique example of valor and willpower in the deeds and souls of a people that have rarely seen peace and security during its whole history. We have beheld, indeed, an intrepid reaction that prides our ancestors and lifts up our dignity high above the destruction, the pain, the ashes and the misery.

That is the reason why Lebanon could never die. Its soul shall persist in exalting its Divine Creator, its heart beating with passion, and its mind planning for a tomorrow that may not be the same. Lebanon does not fall into despair and stops being what it has always been; a country of incredible uniqueness. Whoever still holds misgivings about such certainty, should ask the nation, see its courage, witness its boldness and test its determination to prevail, yet never dare ask these wounded, yet brave, hearts if they, at any moment, have sought to kneel down and give up. Lebanon, the soul that refuses to die when the storm rants and raves, is the Lebanon of yesterday, of today and of tomorrow… That is the promise that our brave nation vows to the international community and to you all Lebanese in the Diaspora: Lebanon shall prevail!

Let us never assume again that our small country is doomed to destruction, but let us instead venerate the strong will of its people to survive the storms whatever fierce, and to rebuild with determination, faith and dignity.

Yes! The bells of our churches and the muezzins of our mosques will keep on summoning the faithful to their payers, side by side, in a land that has seen more hate and love than any other country. And our streets will continue hosting the friendly walks of our unique social and religious mosaic, while the voice of late Zaki Nassif will go on singing for us, again and again: Reja’eh yet’aamar loubnan… Lebanon will be rebuilt.

The difficult task of rebuilding the homeland could only start with the healing of its society and the reinstatement of its authentic culture. Undeniably, its salvation lays in its capacity to forgive, accept and respect above the differences of all our ideologies.

Tomorrow is another difficult day, another struggle against destruction, another determination to rebuild despite uncertainty.

Yet history claims high and loud that Lebanon… always prevails!

I admire you. Not for your politics, but for your free-minded opinions. Not for your looks but for the skill of your pen. Not for the words you spoke but for the love and passion I always perceived behind them. Not for what they told me about you but for what I thought you were: a free, open-minded, patriotic, charismatic, passionate, successful journalist. But now that you’re gone, I have more reasons to admire you. You came back to your country even though you knew you were a potential target for a bomb attack. You never turned your back on your country, your people, and your admirers. You fought for Lebanon. But now you’re gone. and wrote endlessly about and for ,stood up for, spoke for.You weren’t one to take no for an answer. You kept fighting until you got what you wanted, or rather what the people wanted. You thought about others before yourself: your family, your loved ones, your co-workers… But now you’re gone!

You were probably the only Member of Parliament that I actually liked. I didn’t like your becoming a politician; the politicians here always seem to rot to the bone before they spend a full year in their cushioned seats. That doesn’t mean I stopped liking you: you were a journalist, a writer, a wielder of the pen.You were what Idreamed of becoming. But now you’re gone!

Calm, swift, cool and deadly, you stroke at whoever harmed Lebanon with the sheer power of ink. Brandishing a quill you thrust, parried and struck down. Holding a pen, you slashed, poked and vanquished our enemies with your words. But now you’re gone!

Who’s going to defend us, if not you? Who’s going to fight for us, if not you? Who’s going to wield the Lebanese pen, if not you? Who’s going to deafeat our enemies with the power of written words, if not you? Who am I going to admire, if not you?

Gebrane Tuéni, you have joined the list of all the martyrs our country has watched die these many years. And, just like them, you did not deserve to die that way, you did not deserve to lose your life to a cowardly enemy that stays in the dark. This enemy keeps hoping that the shadows that loom around him will obscure him from our view. We all know who that enemy is, that yellow-livered chicken that would hang the entire human race rather than revealing its ugly face, distorted by anger and hatred.

One can only hope that Justice will find a way and that these criminals, that have no value whatsoever of human life, pay the price of their hateful, unjustified actions. No one ever said life was fair, but we were never warned that it could be so unfair. Gebrane Tuéni, you were snatched, first and foremost, from your family and loved ones: your loving wife, your adorable daughters, your weary father… You were taken away from the Lebanese political scene that needed you now more than ever in these trying times. And last but not least, you were stolen from us, the people, the admirers, the followers and the hopeful. Hopeful that one day, this country might live up to your expectations and to our dreams. Gebrane Tuéni, may God have mercy of your soul and may He soothe your loved ones’ pain.