The entrance to the Kfar Habou church vandalized on the morning of April 17, 2024. (Photo supplied by our correspondent Michel Hallak)
"The investigation is ongoing, as we haven't arrested anyone." A week after the vandalization of the church in Kfar Habou, a predominantly Christian village in the Minieh-Dinnieh district in North Lebanon, the Internal Security Forces (ISF) denied having arrested "two young men belonging to the Lebanese Forces (LF)," as widely reported on social networks in recent days. "We don't know where this rumor, which has been circulating for several days, came from, but I can tell you that no suspects have yet been identified," said the security source.
This is slander," said the village priest, Father Georges Chaghouri, contacted by L'Orient-Le Jour. "One party is spreading lies about the other for political reasons," he added, without specifying which party would have an interest in discrediting the Lebanese Forces. "I can confirm that the two people allegedly arrested were not present in the village that day. What's more, these two young people were organizing a donation campaign for Orthodox Passover, so they had nothing to do with this story," he added.
The LF office in the village issued a statement in which it also claimed that no arrests had been made "contrary to what has been published on suspicious sites, which work to create dissension." The statement also called on the police to find the culprits quickly. Condemning the incident, the LF said it was "committed to living together."
On his daily way to church in the early hours of Wednesday, April 17, the parish priest was unpleasantly surprised to discover tags on the front door, written in red paint and including a phrase from the "Shahada," the Muslim profession of faith "There is no God but God," on one side, and the word "Syria" on the other.
"Some people want to sow discord among us"
Since the start of the Pascal Sleiman affair, the LF official killed in the Jbeil region under unclear circumstances, the issue of the presence of Syrian refugees has once again come to the fore in Lebanon. A tense climate that gave rise to numerous scenes of hostility towards exiles from the neighboring country in many parts of the country.
Despite the upheaval caused by this affair, the Kfar Habou incident has not marred the cohabitation that prevails in the heart of this region of Northern Lebanon.
"We have families from Syria who have been living with us for some fifteen years. Over time, we've become fraternal and they've integrated perfectly," says Father Chaghouri with satisfaction, while affirming that the atmosphere remains "calm" in the run-up to Orthodox Easter next week. "I still hope that the security forces will find those responsible and that those who want to sow discord in the village will be arrested," concludes the priest.
This article originally appeared in French in L'Orient-Le Jour.