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.