Published Thursday, May 29, 2014
In the village of Kfar Nahum on the shores of Lake Tiberias, overlooking the southern Lebanese borders, Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rai met yesterday evening with former members of the South Lebanon Army (SLA)- Antoine Lahad’s militia that collaborated with Israel during its occupation of South Lebanon.
Assisted by the Maronite archbishop in the Holy Land, Moussa al-Hajj, and the parish’s priest, Maroun Abi Nader, Rai celebrated mass in Saint Peter’s Church at the town described in the Bible as “ Jesus’ city in the Holy Land,” with former SLA collaborators and their families who had fled to occupied Palestine following the Israeli army’s defeat in southern Lebanon 14 years ago.
People recited prayers and raised banners greeting the patriarch while SLA collaborators waved Lebanese flags as they welcomed Rai.
A report by Agence France Presse (AFP) shed light on the collaborators’ impressions about the visit. Kiryat Shmona resident, Sleiman Nakhle, did not expect much of Rai’s initiative, a position he shared with his friend Boulos Nohra from Karmiel who said Rai “won’t offer us anything.”
Julie Abu Araj, who works for an organization involved with the Lebanese community in Israel, in Naharya, said her father was “a martyr killed by Hezbollah,” adding “we were wronged; we were the victims of history and geography. We lost our identity so we need a moral compensation before a materialistic one.”
Meanwhile, Victor Nader, a former commander in one of the SLA’s special units, praised the visit, saying “it gave us some respect and boosted our morale.” However, he stressed that he doesn’t want to return to Lebanon and that he is very happy here and that his son serves in the Israeli army.
Collaborators had been hailing Rai’s visit since it was first announced about a month ago. The ‘Lebanese in Israel’ official website invited about 2,500 SLA members and their relatives to participate in the mass and the dinner banquet held yesterday in honor of Rai in a restaurant in Upper Nazareth. It posted the phone numbers of coordinators in Naharaya, Ma’a lot, Kiryat Shmona, Safed, Karmiel and Haifa, selling tickets for the event which proceeds will go to support “the [Lebanese] community.”
SLA collaborators did not wait for their turn on Rai’s schedule. Since arriving in Bethlehem on Sunday, they attended all the masses he celebrated in Yafa, Gethsemane, Jerusalem (on Monday), Beit Sahour (on Tuesday) and Kufr Birim whose residents were uprooted in 1948 (on Wednesday).
They are also expected to join his upcoming stops in regions neighboring the southern borders today and tomorrow, in Akka (Acre), Nazareth, Isfiya and Haifa.
The website posted the wishes of Lebanese in Israel and their requests from Rai, including an open letter signed by “a Lebanese citizen in Israel” discussing the situation of collaborators’ children who came to Israel with their parents and the children born in the occupied territories.
“The children are being tried with us although they committed no crime. They are stripped (of their identity) and Lebanese official departments refuse to acknowledge them,” the Lebanese citizen said.
He pleaded for Rai to reconsider the decision taken by his predecessor, Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir “who prevented us from leaving to other countries so we would stay near Lebanon and return home.”
“Since the official attitude is still against us, take the decision and contact foreign countries to allow our children to live in Europe, America and Australia, and acquire new passports that would grant them an honorable return to Lebanon,” he added.
The website also posted an “official statement by the community,” praising Rai’s visit, saying “it answered our prayers in paving the way for our return to a country that we defended with our souls and bodies.”
Rai’s meeting with SLA collaborators was already on the schedule for his seven day visit to occupied Palestine. Prior to leaving Lebanon, Archbishop al-Hajj announced Rai’s program in a press conference at the Maronite Patriarchate headquarters in Haifa.
“The church is adopting a new approach with Rai’s visit. He is going to meet with Lebanese exiled in Israel since 2000, because Levantine Christians need patriarchs’ encouragement after all the wars and catastrophes that hit them, along with economic crises and closed doors that the new generations face” al-Hajj said.
Rai addressed former SLA collaborators, saying “you are paying the price of an international and regional game and we are following up on your issues with the Lebanese authorities.”
Rai had already celebrated mass in the ruins of Kufr Birim (a village four kilometers away from the Lebanese-Palestinian borders) whose Maronite residents were uprooted [by Israeli troops] in 1948 with only the church remaining intact.
Addressing the decedents of the village’s original residents, Rai said “preserve your existence and your lands, your right shall not fade if you keep pursuing it. We will work for your return through resolution and determination, not through violence.”
This article is an edited translation from the Arabic Edition.
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!
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