The way your handling this issue is totally wrong . You should begin by a small positive step by taking out the label official from your website .

This official thing is creating confusions among LFers . For example, by chance, I have discovered an LFer freind from Nigeria whose still thinking that your website is the official website of LF.

As LFers we should focus on things much more important . You should help LF to be more organized and I know how much you respect Hakim.

This is the first time I am commenting or posting a reply on this website. This is simply because I am a supporter of the LF but I don’t consider myself an activist. I just want to comment on the latest thread, which I read on this website regarding the fight over the “official” and “non official” designation to the LF website.

First I must condemn the filthy act of hacking a website of many that speaks freely the thoughts and ideas of a group of previous and current LF activist. Second I must express my gratitude to the owners and administrators of all LF designated website for carrying the torch and keeping the flame alive in our harts and minds.

As a reader and observer I have the following objective comments to add to this discussion:

1- I am not appointing myself as Samir Geagea advocate and don’t have the intentions or rights to do so. However for me to be convinced with the hacking accusations I must be presented with a proof. This is a technical issue that can be easily proved. The proof can be presented in the form of IP addresses traced back to the alleged hacker or could be more technically sophisticated. Without a proof you don’t have a real case with a known culprit.
2- The “official” designation to a website is not an indication of the effort being put to create a website or an indication of the seniority of the website or the circumstances under which the website had operated or the amount of loyalty or dedication or sacrifices put to create the websites. The “official” designation is a designation of legal and political implications. I live in the USA and know for fact that no website can hold the official designation of a party or even a company or a trademark. Such a website is immediately sued shutdown by the authorities. In fact a political party can sue anyone that show its registered logo and slogans on their website without permission because it gives the wrong impression to the site’s visitors that anything posted on the website is official party literature, which is of course far from the truth.
3- The LF is in the process of rebuilding and shaping up to become a new party/movement that may or may not be similar to the old organization that you are all accustomed to. To my knowledge the LF is a party that is registered and licensed to work in Lebanon under the Lebanese laws. The LF has a leader that is recognized by law, locally and on the international seen weather you approve to it or not. The official website of the LF must reflect the image, the directions and the politics of the current leadership because the current leadership is accountable legally for its content. The official designation holds the party accountable for what is being presented on the website. The party has legal obligations against what is being presented on the website. For example any person can sue the party for the content of the website if this person feels the content is damaging to his or her reputation.
4- The official website of a party is used to publish the party’s ideas. It is also used for other reasons for example to motivate the public to join and to rally after the party. It is also used to expose the political adversaries, etc. For example, we all remember that the FPM website recently posted an article titled Bachir is a war criminal and Assad is an Arab leader. The website was simply posting a testimony of an X Lebanese fighter who fought the Lebanese Civil war. However the true story or the message that the website was passing thru to the site’s visitors hiding behind the fighter’s testimony was told in bold letters on the front page: “Bachir is a criminal and Assad is an Arab leader”.
5- Technically all other websites that claim the representation of the LF officially and non officially should have the blessing of the party to exist and function otherwise they can continue to exist under different names, using different logos and slogans as the freedom of speech is protected by the Lebanese laws. Again I am not a lawyer and I do not represent or speak for the LF, but I am trying to bring some sense to this topic. This is how it is done all over the civilized world.
6- Considering all of the above, this is my advise to the fellow LFers who are maintaining and operating pro LF websites:
a. Please remove the official designation from on your website because everyone knows that your site is not really official unless you are officially appointed by the party to run the website. By continuing to claim the official designation you make in the long run a mockery of your website and you loose your credibility and effectiveness.
b. If you still believe that you would want to be a part of the LF then be a part of it and work to make the change that you wish from the inside. This is where you could make slow but real and positive change for the best otherwise you will be wasting your efforts only to add yet more unproductive negativity to the situation if any.
c. If you don’t believe in the party anymore, please consider joining some other party where you feel more represented, accomplished and admired or better yet start your own party with a new name and make your site the official website of the new party.
d. If you wish to continue to accuse fellow LFers for hacking your website, have the proof ready.

I just have to end it with another observation that broke the back of the Christian society in Lebanon once. I present this observation to learn from it: I think we all agree that most of the FPM supporters and followers are those who hated the LF and never wanted to contribute or be part of the civil war that was lead by this party between 1975 and 1989. Everyone had a different reason for hating the LF from his or her own perspective. No one wanted to make an effort to join the LF and make a change from the inside. For example most of FPMers claim that the LF are bad people and them being the good people. However if all those claim to be “good people” had joined the LF they would have made the party a good party by making the change from the inside. Instead they elected to follow blindly another “man” starting a new party that split and weakened the Christian society and brought it to its knees. What good ever had come from this approach? Just imagine if the opposite had happened. We would have a party that is twice as strong and an unbeatable society. This is what the Shiaa and Sunni did to some extent.

I have been wanting to join both sites and forums and invite people from the other site to write here for months and even years … i have witnessed the LF being divided since the start and tried on several occasions limiting the damage and keeping at least my university cell united … and i ve kept faith i will be able to make a change even after being labeled as a traitor, intelligence officer, pakradoni’s kataeb , fouad malek’s ouwet and all the labels you can think of …

I kept faith one day Hakim will change it all and established contact with some few good people who like you believe we can change from within ..

I wrote memos with friends, letters to Hakim and sent them all through high level people .. Imagine that few intellectuals and myself wrote a memo almost 2 years ago and sent it to Hakim explaining all the problems related to the LF, websites mainly, Media etc etc …. and how to resolve them ..

Yet nothing …
No one is rejecting Hakim’s leadership … there is a rejection of the way the new LF is being founded .. because federalism was abolished and our principles are being abolished … and until this new LF with this new manifesto are born, i will keep considering myself an LFer and Hakim as my leader …

But if this is the new party being founded, then i will refuse to join it in the first place and i wont bother critisize at all ..

Dont think i enjoy critisizng geagea or the LF .. it pains me everytime to post their mistakes .. their huge mistakes …but since no one listens privately, maybe in public someone will care ..

It is a shame to see SO SO many good elements outside of the LF … and its a shae to see SO many bad elements in charge ..

Anyway this blog is a living proof of how Lfers should be discussing and arguing .. as is the Lf.org forum .. a very healthy forum to debate LF issues ..

The only difference is that “official” tag that is apparently bothering them too much .. let them go and sit and talk to cedars properly … and not insult him and impose on him conditions and talk shit to him …

Dont think he wants that “official” tag so badly … he wouldnt care less .. but to give it away as a traitor who sided from the LF, hayde facharit 3a ra2betoun .. and u should understand that as an LFer ..

What differentiates us from others is our dignity and commitment and respect ..

I hope i ll keep seeing you posting here .. and i hope you ll let me know about this good being done because i aint seeing anything to be honest ..

God bless you again rafee2.

Very well said.

Lets stop all this .. there is One LF, One leader and One official Site. Dont follow him blindly, you can critisize him, but there are limites between change and reform and dividing.

Allah Ouwet

“For we walk by faith, not by sight.”

Don t forget guys Samir Geagea is the head of the LF he is not the LF, so by fighting among ourself s we are hurting our cause & the memory of our martyrs .