American Chronicle, CA

Saturday, September 16, 2006

Rights & Concerns of the Lebanese Armenian Community
MustBbe Honored

Elias Bejjani

September 15, 2006

The LCCC (Lebanese Canadian Coordinating Council) strongly denounces
the Lebanese Government’s unjust refusal to call off the Turkish
Army’s participation in the UN Peacekeeping forces (UNIFIL) mandated
by the UN Security Council to deploy in South Lebanon in the aftermath
of the devastating 34-day long Israeli-Hezbollah war. The denied
request was made officially by Lebanon’s Armenian community in all its
denominational, political and social sectors and representatives. The
same appeal was made to the UN General Secretary, Mr. Kofi Annan.

The government’s refusal of the request is not merely a harsh response
of indifference and an act of condescendence in dealing with one of
Lebanon’s basic eighteen communities that make up the multicultural
and multiethnic Lebanese society, but it is in fact a blatant
infringement on a central article of the Lebanese constitution that
states: "No authority violating the common co-existence character
shall be legitimate".

Alienating the Armenian community, ignoring its genuine concerns and
keeping a blind eye on its painful history hinders Lebanon’s national
unity, indicates plainly and sadly that the Saniora government is
ruling with the same oppressive strategies of marginalization and
discrimination inflicted by the Baathist Syrian regime on numerous
Lebanese communities during Syria’s 29-year long horrible occupation
that came to an end 16 months ago.

The Lebanese Armenian’s community cry for justice is well understood
and well supported by the majority of the Lebanese people. This
well-respected community does not believe that the Turks should be
allowed under any given circumstances to be a part in any peacekeeping
mission before their state admits publicly the genocidal massacres the
Turkish Ottoman rulers committed in 1915 against the Armenian people.
1.5 million Armenians were brutally murdered in cold blood by the
Ottoman Turkish Army in 1915 and many territories of their country
were confiscated and still are.

This is besides the fact that the Turkish Army is not qualified to
play a neutral role between the parties involved in the current
conflict unfolding on the Lebanese soil. The Turkish Parliament has
made the participation of its troops in UNFIL conditional on not
taking part in any assignment aiming to disarm Hezbollah.

Meanwhile the Lebanese people did not yet forget the hardships,
oppression, starvation, displacement, torture and humiliation
committed by the Ottomans during their 400 years of bloody and
criminal occupation of Lebanon and neighboring countries that ended
with World War I.

The LCCC appeals to both the Lebanese Government and the United
Nations to call off immediately the participation of the Turkish Army
in the peacekeeping mission of UNIFIL in Lebanon, and to block any
other UN similar task involving the Turks before the Turkish
Government publicly and officially admits the Genocide Massacres the
Ottomans committed in 1915 against the Armenian people and accepts all
ethical, moral and legal responsibilities.

The LCCC affirms the fact that any marginalization of any of Lebanon’s
eighteen distinct cultural, ethnic and religious communities is in
effect a flagrant infringement on the Lebanese constitution, the
principle of shared living, consensual democracy, national unity and
the UN Human Rights Charter .

We salute the Lebanese Armenian community in its longing for justice
and fully support its legitimate request submitted for both the
Lebanese government and the UN.

*Elias Bejjani

Chairman for the Canadian Lebanese Coordinating Council (LCCC)

Human Rights activist, journalist & political commentator.

Spokesman for the Canadian Lebanese Human Rights Federation (CLHRF)

E.Mail phoenicia@hotmail.com

LCCC Web Site

CLHRF Website

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*Th e lccc is a Federal umbrella for the following nonprofit municipal,
provincial and federal Canadian registered groups:

Canadian Lebanese Human Rights Federation, (CLHRF), Canadian Lebanese
Free Patriotic Movement (FPM-Canada), Phoenician Club of Mississauga
(PCOM),/Canadian Phoenician Community Services Club (CPCSC),Canadian
Lebanese Christian Heritage Club (CLCHC),World Lebanese Cultural Union
(WLCU)-Canadian Chapter.