Violent attack by Basil on the party!!! We don’t have to stay connected…

The head of the “Free Patriotic Movement,” MP Gebran Bassil, pointed out that “Lebanon’s advantage lies in implementing effective and equal partnership, respecting the constitution, and implementing the laws that we agree upon, which regulate our relationship and our common life.”

He said in a speech during breakfast in Jbeil: “Anyone’s silence about a mistake is a contribution to perpetuating this mistake and has bad and dangerous concepts, as if external dangers are not enough for us to cause internal dangers.” The external dangers are sufficient, the first of which is the presence of Israel lurking over us on our southern borders, forced to reveal its true face by what it is doing in Gaza, and this matter cannot be accepted by any person, regardless of his ideology or affiliation. If Israel is able to do to the Lebanese what it is doing to the Palestinians, it will never hesitate to do so. The resistance is one of the elements of Lebanon’s strength, in addition to the army, the people, and the partnership. When we are able to preserve all of these elements, only then can we confront. We cannot confront Israel if we are divided and dispersed over basic concepts. I do not know how we will win against Israel when the Lebanese state is collapsing, the economic situation is bad, our institutions are decaying, our national unity is threatened, and our partnership is at stake. Whoever believes that he can control citizens and at the same time wants to win over Israel is delusional.”

He considered that “preserving national unity, the state and institutions is a self-evident matter, and that Lebanon must have a president who can be strong for the resistance in the face of any aggression, whether resulting from terrorism or an Israeli aggression.” He said: “In light of the current situation on the border and the war raging there, our priority must be to elect a president of the republic and not wait for the end of the war in Gaza and then the war in the south, after which we can return to thinking about electing a president.” Who benefits from this? What are we waiting for? The coming of the great settlement that imposes on us a president of the republic.”

He added: “There will be no major settlement soon, and there will be no “big” victor in the ongoing war, and any delay that occurs will have a heavy cost to us. What is the link between the election of the president and the end of the war in Gaza? In 5 years, the money of the Lebanese people was “stole,” and no one felt the need to carry out reform in the country, and whoever talks about the issue is accused of corruption, as if there was one party responsible for the country’s sovereignty and protecting Lebanon and the depositors’ money.
He continued: “We should not think that only “with a gun” can we make Lebanon victorious. Diversity in Lebanon helps this country’s victory and creates a model that no one is allowed to break, and no one in the region can surpass us in this matter, and Israel, no matter how much it excels over us militarily, cannot be like us culturally or humanly.”

He stressed that “Byblos is a symbol of diversity, and no matter how different we are in politics, Lebanon unites us with its constitution and its land, and what we have in common is much more than what divides us, and that the Lebanese do not support the war and do not want it to happen. This is in addition to the United States and Iran, and only Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants war.” …Should we offer it to him? Or do we separate Lebanon from Gaza politically and demand a ceasefire in Lebanon? He said: “We do not have to remain connected to the war in Gaza, not knowing when it will end, what its repercussions and consequences will be on Lebanon, or if the number of martyrs will increase. Do we wait to confirm Netanyahu’s “criminality” or do we maintain and strengthen the equation of force and deterrence that Lebanon has established against Israel?

He concluded: “I understand that we are waging war for the benefit of Lebanon, but for us to wage wars that are not for the benefit of Lebanon is something I cannot understand.”