Berri: To protect Lebanon from sedition and stop dancing on blood

On the occasion of Liberation Day, the following statement was issued by Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri: "The anniversary of the twenty-fifth of May falls this year, while the land, the people, the wills, the nation, and all those titles that made this bright milestone in the history of our nation are subjected to an ongoing Israeli aggression for 3 years, and since last February until today it has taken the form of a war of genocide and destruction of all aspects of life in southern Lebanon, the Bekaa, and the southern suburb of Beirut, in an attempt we warned against in the early days of achieving liberation in May of the year 2000: that the act of liberating the land and the people is the lesser jihad for which the noblest and purest sacrifices were made, martyrs, wounded, and prisoners, and preserving this achievement and safeguarding it is the greater jihad, and that Israel, which was defeated on our land, will not hesitate at any moment to take revenge on Lebanon, which gave in the battle of liberation a lesson in dignity, unity, and sacrifice that cannot be comprehended by an entity that only masters the art of killing, destruction, forced displacement, the killing of childhood, and aggression against everything human and sacred."

He added: "Liberation this year comes on the eve of the blessed Eid al-Adha, where the nation unites with its races, colors, hearts, and voices in obedience to God and unification of the word. This national occasion also coincides with the announcement of the holiness of Pope Leo XIV to proceed with the name of Patriarch Elias al-Huwayyik on the path of beatification and holiness, not only in his spiritual capacity, but as one of the makers of the identity of one united Lebanon and one of the fathers who opened monasteries and churches to the displaced and the hungry, dignified and generous during the First World War."

He continued: "Because liberation, pilgrimage, and holiness are titles of a test in national belonging and bearing responsibility, and an examination of the humanity of man that is targeted at every moment and at all times, especially childhood, ambulance crews, hospitals, messengers of word and image, places of worship, Islamic and Christian sanctities, and villages, towns, and cities are erased from existence before the eyes of the world at the hands of the Israeli occupation soldiers and its killing machine, we are all called upon to make this national occasion and the two blessed occasions coinciding with it a station for emulating the spirit and the lessons and morals it contains in meeting and unity, and to liberate from the discourse of hatred, stop dancing on blood, and not reopen wounds, and before anything else, prepare for sacrifice and steadfastness in defense of the land, soil, and borders without any diminution of the sovereignty and freedom of the nation in the face of any covetous person and occupier under any circumstances whatever the sacrifices, it is an invitation to integrate roles and bear responsibilities to fortify civil peace, reject sectarianism and confessionalism, and protect Lebanon, the final homeland for all its children, from the clutches of sedition and the burial of projects of division, fragmentation, and settlement."

Berri concluded: "On the anniversary of liberation, a salute of pride and appreciation to those who made liberation and to the defenders of the land, honor, and sovereignty, the resistors, all the resistors, the martyrs among them and those who are waiting and have not changed, and the salute is extended to the military institution, commander, officers, non-commissioned officers, and soldiers, a permanent symbol of honor, sacrifice, and loyalty, and to all the Lebanese security forces, and to all Lebanese in various governorates and regions and in the capital Beirut for their support and participation with their displaced brothers in their pains and hopes, hosting and sheltering. Together we achieved liberation, and together we are capable of liberating Lebanon and rebuilding it. Long live you and long live Lebanon."