Audeh on Tueni Assassination Anniversary: Lebanese Haven't Learned that Division Will Lead to Destruction
Greek Orthodox Archbishop of Beirut Elias Audeh lamented on Thursday the divisions among the Lebanese people, saying that politics has corrupted them and Lebanese society.
He said: “The Lebanese people have not learned that their divisions will only lead to the destruction of all sides.”
He made his remarks during a mass commemorating the eighth anniversary of the assassination of MP Gebran Tueni held at St. Georges Church in downtown Beirut.
“We miss your honest stances that had Lebanon at heart,” he said.
“You resisted oppression and spite and rebelled so that you became a role model for youths who dream of justice and freedom away from sectarianism,” he stated.
“You dreamed of a great Lebanon whose sons would not be divided by petty politics,” he continued.
Divisions have however taken hold of the people and “we are witnessing a decline in society,” added Audeh.
“The political disputes have even been transferred to universities, which should remain places of earning an eduction and not a place for political divisions,” he stressed.
“The people's right to freedom of expression and a dignified living has been transformed into empty statements in a country whose sons are languishing under threats of takfiris and death,” he continued.
Tueni, the former editor and publisher of An Nahar newspaper, was assassinated in a car bomb blast in Mkalles on December 12, 2005.
He was among a series of anti-Syrian officials who were assassinated or escaped murder in the aftermath of the February 2005 killing of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
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