Change and Reform Warns of Elimination of Christians in East, ISIL-Like Policies in Lebanon
The Change and Reform bloc condemned on Wednesday the “elimination” of Christians in the East, “stretching from Iraq and leading to the presidential palace in Baabda.”
A statement, read by Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil after the bloc's weekly meeting, said: “We demand a halt to the ISIL-like policies against Christians in Lebanon.”
He made the reference to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and its persecution of Christians in the Iraq.
He added that the rights of Christians in Lebanon are being violated on the presidential, parliamentary, and administrative levels.
The statement therefore called for “a resistance against ISIL in Lebanon and the Arab world.”
“We consider that the persecution of Christians in Iraq and Syria harms us as well,” it continued.
“The persecution is aimed at eliminating our message whereby the Christian presence is being eliminated in Palestine by Israel, by takfiris in Syria, and ISIL in Iraq,” stressed the Change and Reform bloc statement.
Furthermore, it warned the Muslim world that “it faces a greater threat in the future than the one Christians are being subject to at the moment.”
Commenting on the situation in Lebanon, the statement said: “Terrorism in Lebanon is hiding behind Syrian refugees.”
It also indirectly cited the recent clashes between the army and Islamist gunmen in the northeastern border town of Arsal as another form of injustice against Christians.
“Further injustice can be witnessed in the parliamentary electoral law whereby laws that ensure equality are being disregarded,” noted the statement.
Such practices eliminate the role of parliament and the constitutional council and pave the way for extending their terms thereby creating flaws in the situation in Lebanon, it added.
The injustice also carries on to the presidency where the president's privileges are being eroded and where individuals with limited representation are being considered for the position of head of state, it said.
M.T.
S.D.B.
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