Bechara Rai on tour in south Lebanon: 'We pray for you every day'

BEIRUT — As he promised on Saturday, on the eve of Easter, Maronite Patriarch Bechara Rai began a tour in south Lebanon on Wednesday to meet the residents of three villages still inhabited in the border zone, where fighting continues between the Israeli army and Hezbollah. The visit — considered highly symbolic — focused on the South’s remaining populated villages which have been cut off by clashes and Israeli strikes, and whose residents refuse to leave their land.

The patriarch’s heavily secured convoy left Bkerke shortly after 7 a.m., according to our correspondent Lyana Alameddine. He arrived around 10:30 a.m. in Kawkaba and was scheduled to continue to Marjayoun and Qleileh for a mass.

In Kawkaba, Rai was welcomed by about a hundred residents, including Christian and Druze dignitaries, while army forces were deployed outside. “We are with you. We pray for you every day,” he said. “We have come to tell you that you — and we—remain on our land. This is our land, our identity. A person without land becomes orphaned. We hope this war will end and we can live in peace ... Dark days have been imposed on us. Neither Christians nor Druze are part [of this war]. Unfortunately, you are the ones paying the price.”

Residents remain 'attached to the State'

“Your visit to the South brings us back to the resurrection of Christ and strengthens our faith in the resurrection despite difficulties,” said Father Youssef Semaan from the village of Kfour, holding back tears. He also denounced the sieges experienced by various villages such as Rmeish and Ain Ibl, and mentioned the priest killed in March in Qleileh.

The president of the Hasbaya union of municipalities said residents remain “attached to the State.” “The Lebanese people deserve to live in dignity. Your visit renews our hope. Welcome to Hasbaya,” he said, addressing the patriarch. “It was overdue. He should have come earlier. At last, we feel that someone is checking on us,” added Adnan Saad, a 78-year-old farmer from Kawkaba.

The original itinerary included stops in Rmeish and Ain Ibl, but security concerns forced changes, as these villages lie near Bint Jbeil, where clashes have intensified. A humanitarian convoy to Dibil had to turn back the previous day due to fighting. Several bishops and the Apostolic Nuncio, Paolo Borgia, along with representatives of Caritas and Œuvre d’Orient, joined Rai for his first visit to the region since the war began on March 2.

“This is a very important day, with this first trip by Msgr. Rai to the South since the conflict,” Vincent Gelot, director of Oeuvre d’Orient in Lebanon, told L'Orient Today. “The very existence of these villages is at stake, and the residents have chosen to stay. The visit shows that we stand with them and bring them aid.”