Press Release from fourteen Lebanese Diaspora Organizations
and Clubs‎ addressing the painful unfolding events in Lebanon

Toronto – Canada,
July ‎‏17‏‎, ‎‏2006‏
For Immediate Release
 

Iran and Syria Must be Held Fully Responsible for the Situation in Lebanon,
and ‎the Hezbollah Leadership Must be Brought to Justice

We, the undersigned activists in the countries of the Lebanese Diaspora, and on behalf of ‎the organizations and clubs we represent, express our deepest regrets for the mounting ‎human losses among civilians that our homeland Lebanon is suffering as a result of the ‎destructive military confrontations that are ongoing on its soil between Israel and the ‎fundamentalist Hezbollah group. Those confrontations were imposed on the country ‎against the will of all segments of the Lebanese people and without any say or decision ‎by the Lebanese government in the matter, as the Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora ‎has admitted publicly and repeatedly over the past four days.‎

We offer our most sincere condolences to the relatives and families of the innocent ‎victims, and we pray for the prompt recovery of the wounded. We declare our full ‎solidarity with our people who are subjected, as we speak, to imminent danger at this ‎moment of the history of Lebanon. Our homeland has been transformed by terrorist and ‎fundamentalist organizations into a war arena for the execution of plans and designs ‎dictated by their sponsors in Tehran and Damascus.‎

We affirm the necessity for an immediate intervention by the United Nations and the Free ‎World in order to secure a ceasefire on the basis of the full implementation of all clauses ‎of UN resolution ‎‏1559‏‎ and its corollaries, after issuing a binding mechanism for such an ‎implementation by the United Nations Security Council in accordance with applicable ‎international laws.‎

We reject the military and terrorist hegemony that is imposed on the Lebanese people by ‎the Hezbollah group and its sponsors in Iran and Damascus and the full spectrum of ‎regional and international terrorist and fundamentalist organizations. We also ‎categorically reject the shedding of a single drop of Lebanese blood on the altar of ‎regional interests and foreign alliances. We call on the international community and the ‎Arab countries to move quickly to end the acts of violence and to condemn terrorism and ‎its destructive adventurism from the standpoint of the right of Lebanon to sovereignty, ‎independence and free decision-making.‎

We consider the Lebanese Government responsible for legalizing Hizbollah's militia under what is called "resistance" and for granting this militia privileges over other citizens and for conceding parts of the national territory to its terror networks. In addition, we reiterate our condemnation of the Government offering portfolios to representatives of Terror militias.

We demand the resignation of the Ministers representing the Hezbollah group, the ‎suspension of their representative members in the Lebanese Parliament, and their ‎prosecution for the crimes they have committed against Lebanon and its people. ‎

We request the United Nations to issue a resolution condemning Iran and Syria and ‎holding them responsible for the escalation leading to the present situation, and holding ‎them financially liable for the costs of the reconstruction ensuing from the massive ‎damages caused by the military operations and for the compensation of all those who ‎have suffered as a result. ‎

We thank those countries who have expressed their friendship for Lebanon and their ‎support of Lebanon’s independence and sovereignty, led by the United States and other ‎countries of the Free World, and we urge them to support the demands expressed in this ‎statement.‎

Signatories of the release
Elias Bejjani/Canadian Lebanese Human Rights Federation (CLHRF)
Walid Hadad/Lebanese Canadian Coordinating Council (LCCC)
Noel Haddad/Canadian Lebanese Christian Heritage Club (CLCHC)
Khalil Kaekati/Phoenician Club of Mississauga (PCOM)
Colonel Charbel Barakat/World Lebanese Cultural Union (WLCU)-Canadian Chapter
Charbel Constantine/Canadian Phoenician Community Services Club (CPCSC)
Camille Eid/Lebanese Forces Reforming Movement (
LFRM)
Dr. Joseph Hitti/ New England Americans For Lebanon (NEAL)
Atef Harb/World US Maronite Union (WMUSAU)
John Hajjar/National Council for the Cedars’ Revolution (WCRC)
Ghabi Galo/Aramic Democratic Organization (Ardo)
Chebl Zoghbi/Ex Lebanese Forces Veteran Fighter in Diaspora (LFVF)
Roni Doumit/Solidarity organization for Middle Ease Christians (SOMAC)
George Chaya/WCLU Media Chairman for Spanish America

NB: For any needed further information contact:
For more information, please contact us at one of the following e-mail addresses:‎
clhrf@yahoo.com or Phoenicia@hotmail.com
Related Web sites
www.10452lccc.com, www.clhrf.com, www.aramaic-dem.org, www.neal-us.org, www.lfvf.org, www.maroniteunion.org,