MY FINAL REPLY TO THIS ISSUE at The Ouwet Front: A Lebanese Forces Blog

MY FINAL REPLY TO THIS ISSUE

Posted by Lebanonjon

Dear N,

Please accept my words as a fellow supporter of the LF.

The LF is a cause and not a man. The LF is a movement and not a website or a party. The LF is in my opinion what being Lebanese is all about. Many people don’t understand this about the LF. I believe you do.

Today in the USA, George Bush is the least popular president in modern history ( by reputable polls). His term will end in November with an election.

To this day the LF never had elections nor was ever a party that functioned with practical democratic rules that could remove a leader from power like the example I gave of the USA presidential election.

I am sure that you and I are hoping for the day that we will be able to be a part of a democratic party that can enable dissenters and different opinions and even allow change of the leadership based on performance.

I agree that there are many differences between the Hakim of old and the Hakim today. There are differences between the LF positions of old and the positions today.

Lebanon , the country has changed too in these 13 years that have passed since he went to Jail.

What you are saying with this issue of the sites is that you do not accept the Hakims leadership at all. Not you or Boulos or Cedars or any of the Admins.

To tell you the truth I accept your resistance and your position in principle.

I dont respect the way you are doing it at all.

Today Samir Geagea has the respect and acceptance as a the Leader for the overwhelming majority of LF members and supporters. If there was an election he would win by easily 80% if not 90% of members. The reason for this is because there are no other candidates who are more inspiring and if you have met him, you would agree that he is an amazing human with a big heart and alot of honesty. He is also highly educated and intelligent. I have no doubt that he has many faults and many bad people around him. I have no doubts that he is behind the times with technology and the internet in general. THERE WAS NO INTERNET WHEN HE WENT TO JAIL. At least not how it is today.

I have no doubts that he is now becoming a politician as opposed to a leader of a militia and a cause where you can say anything you want any time you feel like it.

I urge you to live up to your respect of laws and rules and push to change the LF by making your own group and own unofficial website and trying to change as many minds as possible.

You don’t know much about what I do with the LF in an official manner thats because I never speak about it but believe me I have been fighting the system from within and from outside and in every way I know possible. I am trying to make a difference and make this LF into something democratic and something forward thinking and a party that others will look at and be amazed by.

I know all of your complaints and I urge you to understand that taking a confrontational position will not bring you more supporters even though your thoughts might be right.

Part of democracy is not behaving the way the other parties do. If they hacked your site after many requests, then you should understand that and be bigger than that. It should have never gone this far.

Dr. Geagea is the worldwide recognized head of the LF by its supporters, by its members and by many many governmental representatives around the world.

Please respect this image of us and work to change it by being more intelligent , more honorable and more popular than what exists.

Don’t try and do it by this sad example of exercising a tiny little bit of power through a site that is registered in one persons name (cedars). I have tracked the sites through alexa.com and the new site gets far more traffic than this site even if the forum on the old one is popular.

The truth is both the the sites look like shit but at least one is up to date and growing and staffed. We should band together and offer whatever help we can. Design a new site and offer it free of charge to them. There are a million ways to make a difference.

This way is sad. I am ashamed to even continue writing about it. They say in life you have to pick your battles wisely. This is as unwise as I have ever seen.

God bless you Rafi2

I hope you understand where I am coming from.

You see how much I write here and how much I support your site even when I used to have my own blog. You see me on your blog but you never see me on cedars site and that is for a reason of respect to the party and the Leadership. I may not agree with all of what is being done in the LF’s name but there is more good being done than bad. Believe me. I know first hand.

Sincerely

LEBANONJON

Filed under: Other
Posted by Lebanonjon on 05.02.08 @ 11:02 pm |

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9 Comments. Add your own...

1. BOULOS_1 | May 2nd, 2008 at 11:11 pm

We are only defending ourselves…we extended our hand more than a dozen times, including high level meetings and this is the answer we get in return. Everything has limits, and they are beyond those limits. Whatever the ramifications are, is no longer our concern. they opened Pandora’s box and know they must deal with it.
2. hamilkar | May 3rd, 2008 at 12:32 am

Very good post Lebanonjon

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 .
3. esper | May 3rd, 2008 at 2:44 am

very well said Lebanonjohn
4. Lebanese | May 3rd, 2008 at 5:32 am

in my opinion every single party has changed in lebanon with the way it deals with things. not bcoz they want to but bcoz every leader is being controlled with money from outside countries to say things, do things and change everything.
yes SG is a very smart individual but i think the people around him r greedy and trying to take things in their own hands. times have changed, the country had changed and the people have changed and we’re still gonna be seeing a lot more changes in the future weather changes that are with us or not with us.
but in the end my main point here is that we should not come to a point where we use rhetoric and harsh words against each other. we must not split up and have disputes with each other over simple little issues.
we must always stand together united. we all have different opinions, but in the end we are all lebanese and we must be united.

“For we walk by faith, not by sight.”
5. Samir | May 3rd, 2008 at 6:58 am

Kbir Lebanonjon
Heik men l assess, 7ott l no2at 3al 7ourrouf

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
6. N10452 | May 3rd, 2008 at 8:56 am

Lebanonjon,
Thank you for this post and god bless you too ..

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.
7. Leb voice | May 3rd, 2008 at 8:32 pm

frankly I don’t see what the argument is about. Both of you are right. I will read the posts one more time to be sure of what i’m saying, as its been a reaaally long day and my brain isn’t working at 100% efficiency.
8. Bachir | May 3rd, 2008 at 10:37 pm

Dear LFers,

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.
9. Shadow | May 4th, 2008 at 10:08 am

N10452,

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.