Bechara al-Rai alongside the Druze Sheikh Akl, and accompanied by Marwan Hamadeh, a member of PSP (on the left), and Georges Adwan, an MP from the Lebanese Forces, in Baakline, Sept. 8, 2023. (Credit: Mohammad Yassine/L'Orient Today)
BEIRUT — Calling for continued "unity" and "coexistence," Maronite Patriarch Bechara al-Rai met Friday with Druze spiritual leader Sheikh Akl Sami Abi al-Mona, and political figures Walid and Taymour Joumblatt in Chouf. The meeting commemorated the 22nd anniversary of a landmark reconciliation between previously embattled Druze and Christian communities, calling for continued "unity" and "coexistence."
Walid Joumblatt co-led the 2001 reconciliation alongside then-Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir.
The meetings come after Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri called for national dialogue last Thursday, in an effort to end the ongoing presidential vacuum. Berri announced last week his committment to holding "open and successive electoral sessions" in Parliament. to finally choose a new president, on the condition that elections are preceded by a seven-day dialogue initiative between opposing parliamentary blocs.
Walid Jumblaltt (left) with his son Teymour Jumblatt (right). (Credit: Mohammad Yassine/L'Orient Today)
"Lebanon must be a land of dialogue," Rai said in a statement during the Friday meeting. "Today, the country is sick, and we must seek and identify the problem." Sheikh Akl Druze added that the patriarch's visit to the Chouf was "a message of love and coexistence."
The religiously mixed Chouf mountain region witnessed heavy bloodshed during the Lebanese Civil War (1975-1990), including the "Mountain War" in September 1983. The conflict pitted Druze and Christian militias against one another, resulting in hundreds of civilian casualties and the displacement of entire families.
A historic reconciliation in August 2001 established peace between the two communities, leading to the gradual return of many displaced Christians to their home villages.
After his tour, the Patriarch was received in Moukhtara, the Joumblatt family's stronghold.
"This is a historic day. We have come to revive once again the reconciliation you achieved with Patriarch Sfeir, which you wished to include all Lebanese," Rai declared.
Commenting on the political crisis, Rai said that "Lebanon cannot continue in this state, and has become a stranger to itself."
Joumblatt stated that "reconciliation in the Mountain has been consecrated despite certain voices that want to reopen the wounds of the past."
He also praised the Patriarch's "efforts" to resolve the political crisis, and his support for dialogue, as was proposed by Berri.
