Former Lebanese president Bashir Gemayel. (Credit: L'Orient-Le Jour photo archives)
BEIRUT — For the 43rd anniversary of the assassination of former President Bachir Gemayel, politicians, including Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, honored him and denounced his killing on Sunday.
Gemayel, founder of the LF, was killed in a car bomb attack that also claimed the lives of 32 others in the Achrafieh district of Beirut, three weeks after being elected president. In 2017, the Court of Justice sentenced to death two former Syrian Social Nationalist Party members, Nabil Alam and Habib Chartouni, who were tried in absentia for the assassination.
"More than four decades have passed since the assassination of ... Gemayel … yet his slogan remains: Lebanon, 10,452 square kilometers," Salam wrote on X. "Political assassinations are the antithesis of the freedom and democracy we aspire to. Lebanon can only be saved from its wounded past through truth and reconciliation, which would end the era of denial and political violence," he added. Nadim Gemayel, Kataeb MP and Bachir's son, retweeted the message.
Kataeb leader Sami Gemayel, who is also Bachir's nephew, posted Bachir's picture on X and wrote: "43 years after his martyrdom in the Kataeb headquarters… Bachir triumphed… along with a free, sovereign and independent Lebanon." Moreover, the LF wrote: “He dared so that Lebanon may endure.”
In addition, Information Minister Paul Morcos posted on X: “On the anniversary of the assassination of ... Gemayel, we see Lebanon, in this era, not only pausing at the memory, but for the first time since then taking clear steps toward what the martyred president sought — namely, rebuilding the state and extending its authority.”
Justice Minister Adel Nassar also paid tribute to Gemayel on Sunday: "Gemayel embodied a refusal to compromise at the expense of Lebanon, paying with his life for his stance. He was assassinated standing, yet the dream remained. The cowards fell, embodying criminality," he said in a post on social media.
Meanwhile, Tripoli MP Ashraf Rifi, a strong opponent of Hezbollah, said: "We remember a man who believed in a free and independent Lebanon, and who courageously confronted the tyranny of the Assad regime in defense of sovereignty." "His assassination temporarily halted the project of reclaiming the State, which he had revived in just 20 days after his election. Today, it is being restored, inspired by the struggle of all the free people," he added.
In addition, Energy Minister Joe Saddi said for the occasion: "[Bachir's] dream of a sovereign, free, and independent Lebanon has never left us. We work to achieve it from whatever position we hold.”
Meanwhile, MP Neemat Frem, posted: "With the martyrdom of Bashir, the hope of building a state of institutions collapsed, but it was not buried. Rather, it remained rooted in the Lebanese conscience, alive in the national spirit, and a cause that cannot be erased. Today, that dream returns to the forefront once again, in light of a rare and historic opportunity available to Lebanon, and a strong desire among the Lebanese to reclaim the project of the state, despite all the challenges and storms."
At the request of the Lebanese government, the Lebanese Army has prepared a plan to disarm all militias in Lebanon who possess arms outside the authority of the state, including Hezbollah, and presented it to the Cabinet on Sept. 5.
Moreover, the Free Patriotic Movement, the LF's political Christian rival, released a statement honoring the LF's former leader: "Forty-three years after the martyrdom of ... Gemayel, the dream he embodied, of a strong state, safeguarding the independence of the nation, and fighting corruption, remains deeply rooted in the Lebanese conscience. This painful anniversary, especially after justice was served with the issuance of the verdict in the assassination case in 2017 during the tenure of [former] President Michel Aoun, must serve as a moment to strengthen common ground and foster national unity in honoring the martyrs and their symbolism, regardless of differences."
On Saturday, President Joseph Aoun paid tribute to Gemayel on the anniversary, saying: “The principles for which he sacrificed himself have become national constants for all Lebanese, notably a Lebanon that is free, independent and strong thanks to the unity of its people and the solidarity of its components." The President's comments launched a wave of reactions on X, with many criticizing his statement for excessively honoring the LF's former leader.
For his supporters, Bachir Gemayel symbolizes resistance to the Palestinian presence and to the Syrian army, which entered Lebanon in 1976 to support the war effort against the Palestinians before becoming an occupying force. His opponents criticize his alliance with Israel, which launched a large-scale military intervention in Lebanon in 1982 to expel Palestinian leaders. He was recognized as an interlocutor by the United States and worked to promote dialogue with Arab countries to end the civil war that began in 1975.
