Lebanese will work together to build a better society, says Maronite priest

Intermountain Catholic

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Father Gebran Bou-Mehri of the Maronite Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon stands in front of St. Jude Church in Murray. Pastor of St. Jude Maronite Parish since 1988, the Lebanese native maintains a close spiritual and familiar relationship with Lebanon, although he has been unable to contact most of his family since fighting broke out in Lebanon in July. IC photo by Christopher Gray

MURRAY — Although only a few hundred feet away from State Street in Murray, the people of St. Jude Maronite Church keep their eyes on Lebanon even when the eyes of the rest of the world return back to their normal views.

For more than a month fighting in Lebanon has surprised, confused, and annoyed the world as newspapers, television stations, and the Internet have been abuzz with stories of Katyusha rockets and other ordinance in Hezbollah’s secret arsenal and Israeli air strikes. Now, as it appears a peaceful moment is returning to Lebanon, the pastor of St. Jude Maronite Parish is beginning to make contact again with his family in his native Lebanon.

Father Gebran Bou-Mehri was born in the town of Damour approximately 15 miles south of Beirut. Site of a particularly brutal instance of violence against Christians in the Lebanese Civil War, Fr. Bou-Mehri’s family returned to Demour 10 years ago.

"A month ago they left. This is the second time they have become refugees," said Fr. Bou-Mehri in an Aug. 17 interview with the Intermountain Catholic.

According to Fr. Bou-Mehri, the presence of Hezbollah in Lebanon is antithetical to the premise of a democratically elected independent Lebanese government. "The Lebanese government as of yesterday started sending troops to the South of Lebanon, South of the Litani river, and Israel is already withdrawing. The Lebanese people are crying out for anyone except the military to be barred from carrying weapons.

"The arguments saying Lebanon is not strong and is not going to exercise power are not true. However, the Lebanese army needs the support of the international community. Democracy will survive and eventually I’m convinced Hezbollah will be disarmed because they need to join the people. If they keep carrying weapons, it would seem not all Lebanese are treated equally under the law."

The political game in Lebanon has captured the attention of the world if only because of its intricate pattern of subversive foreign intervention. Says Fr. Bou-Mehri: "We need to put more pressure on Syria and Iran not to get involved in Lebanon. A significant source of conflict is Iran’s want to have a nuclear weapon. One of the important items at the G8 summit this summer in Russia was precisely to discuss the Iranian nuclear program; suddenly Hezbollah kidnapped the Israeli soldiers and took away the focus. Now, attention has once more fallen on the Iranian nuclear question.

"I think the majority of the Lebanese people are not happy with Hezbollah. By having and using weapons they are building their own state within the state of Lebanon. As well, in Beirut, most of the land was historically owned by the Maronites, but when they left in previous conflicts, they took with them the deeds to the land. Hezbollah simply occupied the property 20 years ago and built built their own buildings. They don’t pay taxes, they don’t pay for water, they don’t pay for their phones. They are getting a free ride, and the people of Lebanon are bearing the weight of their operation."

Fr. Bou-Mehri notes the situation in Lebanon has not always existed. "From bibilical times to 1970, the border between Lebanon and Israel was always calm. And don’t forget the Lebanese helped the Jewish people build the temple of Solomon. The Jewish people got the wood to build the temple from Lebanon. And the ancestors of the Lebanese always did business with the Israelites. From biblical times, the king of Israel and the king of Lebanon never fought with each other. Lebanon was always an inviting place of peace.

"The conflict as it exists in modern times is purely invented. Syria wanted to control Lebanon, perhaps to annex Lebanon. It’s not in their interest to see democracy next door, flourishing in an arab nation like in the West. Lebanon is a small country, a population of only 4 million people. Lebanon will survive only with the support of the international community, especially the U.S., so the Lebanese government will finally disarm Hezbollah."

Fr. Bou-Mehri’s exhortations for the protection of the Lebanese Republic and the disarmament of Hezbollah echo a recent statement by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops issued soon after fighting started. Noting the "grave responsibilities" Syria and Iran have in the control of Hamas and Hezbollah, the statement goes on to say, "As steadfast friends of the Lebanese people, we believe that Lebanon, as the late Pope John Paul II said, should be ‘a model’ for people of different faiths living together in peace. The current conflict puts at risk the progress that has been made to free Lebanon from outside domination and from being used as a pawn in a larger struggle. Our Conference is deeply disturbed by the provocative acts of Hezbollah against Israel that precipitated the current crisis and provoked the disproportionate Israeli military responses. Both the initial act and the resulting reactions endanger the Lebanese people and their vulnerable democracy. As our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, recently said: ‘Neither terrorist acts nor reprisals, especially when they entail tragic consequences for the civilian population, can be justified.’

"Our Conference calls upon the United States to exert greater leadership with all parties to the conflicts and to work more intensively and multilaterally to end the provocations and violence, to secure a ceasefire, to restrain Israel, to move toward negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians to bring about security for Israel and a viable state for the Palestinians, and to ensure the independence of Lebanon."

Fr. Bou-Mehri is confident, however, of a solution. "Within a year, I’m positive the situation will calm down. The Lebanese will work together to build a better society. I’m hopeful peace will reign someday in the whole Middle East.

"Most importantly we need to resolve the Palestinian problem, which drives much of the most extreme violence in the Middle East," he said.

During the fighting, communication with his family members was absolutely impossible. Of the few details he was able to piece together, Fr. Bou-Mehri learned two nephews, ages 19 and 20, escaped Beirut to Damascus, Syria, and have found safety in the Kingdom of Jordan.

The Maronite Church is one of the 22 non-Roman Catholic rites which considers the Pope as head of the Church. Named after the monastic followers of the fifth century hermit St. Maron, the Maronite Church is today one of the principal religions in Lebanon, and its members account for the largest religious group in the country’s parliament. The Maronite Church is lead by Cardinal Nasrallah Sfeir, Maronite Patriarch of Antioch.