During a visit to North Lebanon College-Zgharta on the occasion of St. Antonius Feast Day, Marada Movement leader MP Sleiman Frangieh stressed that the Maronite Church is here to stay and that Zgharta and its region are in the core of the church while he declared that even if "the Maronite Church does not support our party's political purpose, we would remain under its patronage."

He also said that even if he does not agree with the politics of the church, his faith in it would remain unwavering.

He called on the Maronite Church to "enhance the conditions of the Christians so Christian Lebanese expatriates would return home and not feel threatened anymore."

"We should work together to restore Christian confidence and belief in their land and nation because this would remove the feeling of being persecuted and help encourage expatriates to return to their homeland," Frangieh added.

The Marada leader was accompanied on his visit by State Minister Youssef Saadeh, MP Estephane Douaihy, Zgharta Mayor Joseph Marawi, Marada official Chadi Saad, Fr Estephane Frangieh and a number of community members.

Fr Superior General of the Maronite Order, Elias Khalifeh and Fr Bakhous Tanous, head of the college, welcomed MP Sleiman Frangieh and hailed the policies of the late President Sleiman Frangieh and his successor MP Sleiman Frangieh.

The Marada leader said that the most important thing is for Christian institutions and individuals to restore the fact that "Lebanon is our nation and we possess the right and the major contribution in its establishment and therefore we must not feel threatened at all but rather commit to building a much better future."

"We must not surrender to fears while we ought to work to boost Christian morals and steadfastness," Frangieh concluded.

17/1/2010

During a ceremony to launch the El Marada School of Student Leadership, Marada Movement Leader MP Sleiman Frangieh stressed that the Marada Movement will spread across Lebanon as an independent party while he asserted that "no one can undermine the alliance between Marada Movement and the Free Patriotic Movement."

Attending the ceremony in addition to Frangieh, were State Minister Youssef Saadeh, MP Estephane Douaihy and a number of Marada officials.

The Marada leader said that the policy line of the late President Sleiman Frangieh proved the best for Lebanon and the Christians, vowing that he is maintaining his commitment to that line of thought because "history and geography demand it."

Frangieh stressed that Hezbollah's weapons "will not persist forever," calling on "those keen on Lebanon, who are frightening the Christians against those weapons to realize the Western scheme aiming to permanently settle the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon."

"Hezbollah's arms stand in the face of this scheme and in the face of Israeli threats against Lebanon," added Frangieh.

"We do not support Hezbollah's arms remaining forever. Hezbollah's arsenal will not remain forever," Frangieh said.

"If the parties rejecting Hezbollah's arms were truly patriotic, they should have swapped the weapons for European or international stances that pressure Israel," he said. "Those who hate Hezbollah and do not want the existence of its arms -- if they were truly patriotic -- would have exchanged those weapons for European or international stances pressuring Israel."

Frangieh stressed that no one can undermine the alliance between Marada Movement and the Free Patriotic Movement "because they are constant in following the same political path and beliefs."

With regard to talks suggesting that the Marada is working to inherit the FPM popularity, the Marada stalwart explained that his movement has its own identity and ideas and is eager to spread on its own merit.

Frangieh said that March 14 forces are repeating the same mistakes and scenarios of the year 1994 and the beginning of the 80's of last decade by ignoring the ongoing local and regional settlements. He reiterated that the March 14 alliance failed to learn from history and added that they are "hitting a brick wall" while settlements are on-going.

"March 14 general-secretariat works like astronomers who dig holes in search of treasures, they had excavated the hole of Qurnet Shehwan, and then that of March 14, and they are excavating the hole of Christians' loss today."

"They seek to frighten the Christians from each other in order to take advantage of the reactions. This is a political framework, but it won't last for long," added Frangieh.

12/1/2010