His Eminence the Sheikh Akl of the Unitarian Druze community, Sheikh Dr. Sami Abi Al-Muna, emphasized that Lebanon is an eternal homeland, which those alienated from its patriotism have almost brought to the brink of despair and failure through their obsession with conflicting loyalties, seeking foreign guardianships—east and west—and placing obstacles before the implementation of the constitution and the building of institutions, at a time when we are in need of understanding, dialogue, solidarity, and strengthening mutual trust to face the difficult reality that Lebanon is experiencing.
His Eminence's remarks came as he and the Maronite Patriarch, Cardinal Bechara Al-Rahi, patronized the opening of the first Diaspora Conference for Local Development, held at the Carlos Slim Sports and Community Center in Hammana. The event was attended by the Minister of Education and Higher Education, Judge Abbas Halabi; Members of Parliament Hadi Aboul Hosn, Alain Aoun, and Richard Kouyoumjian; and a large number of spiritual, political, social, cultural, and civic figures, alongside a delegation accompanying His Eminence, including sheikhs and members of the Confessional Council.
Sheikh Akl
His Eminence Sheikh Abi Al-Muna delivered a speech on the occasion, saying:
Your Beatitude, Your Excellencies and Reverences, honorable Ministers and Deputies, dear Ladies and Gentlemen, people of Hammana and its dear guests, beloved ones...
Allow me at the beginning to thank the initiators who called for this unifying gathering, commending the speeches that preceded mine, and highlighting the hoped-for partnership between the residents and the diaspora as a model for the partnership we hope to achieve in all our villages and throughout the Mountain and the nation. This is something we take pride in sponsoring, alongside Your Beatitude, based on the partnership we have pledged between us, which solidifies reconciliation and anchors the foundations of coexistence in the Mountain, the pulsating heart of Lebanon, filled with brotherhood, love, and patriotism.
He added: This initiative, which brings together the diaspora and the local community with the aim of development and embracing promising youth with their energy and dreams of establishing productive development projects, comes as a complement to what we began at the level of the community and the Druze-Christian partnership in this Mountain. It also builds upon what we have prepared in this direction months ago, and what we are about to announce soon as a Covenant of Accord, 'between the people of intellect and monotheism, and the people of light and love, starting from the land of reconciliation and coexistence in the Mountain of pride and authenticity; Mount Lebanon, which has always been the focus of attention for emperors, kings, and dignitaries from East and West, seeking in its high peaks towers of rapprochement and foresight, and in its charming valleys, ascetic retreats that emulate the hearts of nature. They draw from both, the suns of truth and the rivers of life, in radiance, splendor, flow, and giving,' as stated in the text of the proposed covenant for our adoption and ratification, in the name of the spiritual families we represent, saturated with faith, brotherhood, national values, and a shared social heritage.
He continued: Lebanon, with the Mountain as its heart, has witnessed glorious stages of praise and glorification, and magnificent peaks of freedom and liberation. Souls were sacrificed on its path, so that the holiness of the land was watered with blood, and its grandeur blossomed with the pride of belonging to a missionary homeland that combines the heavenly religions and the transcendence of man, through civilized dialogue leading to fraternal and religious convergence within the comprehensive framework of humanity.
From this standpoint, and considering the shared history between the two main components of this Mountain—the Islamic Unitarian and the Levantine Christian—we have affirmed and continue to affirm a number of ideas that form foundational starting points for strengthening the partnership of coexistence. These date back to the time of the 'Emirate of the Mountain' and what it established during the Tanukhid and Ma'nid eras in terms of cooperation and bonding between the Christians and the Unitarian 'Druze' of Mount Lebanon, and the development it established of an agricultural, artisanal, and aesthetic nature. With it, the land of Lebanon, opposite the Mediterranean, appeared as fields of abundant goodness, sources of generosity, sufficiency, and giving, regions of inclusive coexistence, and nurseries of development and creativity that benefited East and West alike.
Your Beatitude, dear ones,
As we look at this history with pride and hope, we emphasize our interest in strengthening the economic structure of the Mountain and restoring shared social cohesion by adopting 'the virtue of participation' in consolidating the pillars of social development, achieving stability on the land, and maintaining moral and cultural attachment to the spiritual entity. We aim to preserve the authentic national heritage and curb the living deterioration and migration, both internally and externally, as well as family fragmentation, scattered residency, and the erosion of human dignity due to poverty and need. By contributing to supporting the steadfastness of the residents who hold fast to their historical attachment to the land and honor, encouraging the return of those whom war forced into involuntary departure, and embracing artisanal, agricultural, tourist, and environmental investments, we believe that the individual capacities—which should be the main starting point for rural development and economic and social stability in mountain villages—can be harnessed. We are confident that our youth can together revive that constructive, conscious, and sophisticated cooperative spirit of our blessed ancestors, who were characterized by affection, tolerance, love, brotherhood, and good will.
His Eminence continued: We are concerned and interested in preserving the legacy of love that characterizes Mount Lebanon, and in dedicating the historical partnership, economically and socially, so that this high and authentic Mountain may be a superior model for all of Lebanon, to which the near and far world makes pilgrimage, for its natural beauty, creativity, and the richness of its authenticity and diversity. The Covenant of Accord we look forward to, and the accompanying cooperation agreements focusing on investing in the endowment properties of our spiritual families, are but a spiritual path to support this developmental partnership and contribute to consolidating and strengthening coexistence. We hope that the ideas and projects proposed will gain the trust of society, the support of the state, and the contribution of capable and competent Lebanese, both residents and those in the diaspora, and that they will be an incentive for those in power in our country to take responsibility, address the people's issues, invest in the energies of its sons spread here and there, and seek to restore the trust of people and the world in Lebanon before it is too late.
His Eminence said: From Hammana, from the Matn, and from the Mountain, we confirm, together with sincere political leaders, with one voice, an overwhelming desire, and a unified will, the importance of clinging to the land and history. We emphasize the integration between our children established here and those spread here and there, in order to preserve the homeland of our fathers and grandfathers, and to cherish the uniqueness of the diverse Lebanese society with its religions, energies, and cultures, especially the society of the Mountain. We cooperate in spreading the culture of integration in difference and strength in unity, looking forward to working together on establishing development projects in more than one field, and to finding mechanisms for coordination and cooperation based on economic and environmental feasibility studies, with the intention of documenting the spirit of brotherhood and cooperation between us and spreading it in our society and among our Unitarian and Christian youth, and urging other components of society to adopt them and act accordingly.
As we bless your conference, we see it as an advanced step added to the foundational steps we have already taken, and which we hope to follow together in the project of national partnership and economic reconciliation. We aim for this journey of building a pioneering Lebanese society to begin from the land of the Mountain and its unique reality, to then launch towards a national space with wider horizons and reach, a future more tolerant and open, and work that is deeper in participation and rootedness in the land and the homeland.
Finally, we see in such initiatives that will be a subject of discussion in your conference, and in such ideas and covenants that we seek to achieve, a glimmer of light and hope in an eternal homeland, which those alienated from their patriotism have almost brought to the brink of despair and failure through their obsession with conflicting loyalties, seeking foreign guardianships—east and west—and placing obstacles before the implementation of the constitution and the building of institutions, at a time when we are in need of understanding, dialogue, solidarity, and strengthening mutual trust to face the difficult reality that Lebanon is experiencing, in light of the presence of an aggressive, usurping Zionist entity, a persistent criminal spirit that places no weight on humanitarian principles or international resolutions, and in light of the multiple greed for our country's resources, the growth of recurring crises in the neighborhood, and the aggravation of displacement and refuge crises and the violation of state sovereignty and its capabilities. This places a heavy burden on the entire Lebanese society and calls us to be alert and to rise from the reality of neglect, friction, verbal bravado, and mutual provocations to the realism of a future vision fortified by hope, work, and the will to live.
His Eminence concluded: O people of the Matn, O people of the Mountain, O Lebanese, O youth, trust that your Lebanon will not die as long as you believe in it, and that you are capable of saving it once you dedicate your energies to its development and revival. Trust that together, Muslims and Christians, residents and expatriates, you form a developmental, national, and economic lifting force through your unity. So be its sound mind and pulsating heart, and do not retreat. May God grant you success and bless your efforts for the good of the people and the good of the homeland, and let us remain together repeating from this Mountain:
O my brother, all of us, in God, are united
By the secret of life, and what concerns you, concerns me
If your face differs in faith
Then the intellect, truly, in what it counsels you, counsels me
Together we live, together we build for ourselves a homeland,
Protected by my love for you, and love from you protects me.
Speeches
Speeches were also delivered on the occasion by: Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Bechara Al-Rahi, Minister Abbas Halabi, Bishops Antoine Abu Najm and Silwan Moussa, Dr. Philip Salem, and Michel Saad.
Before the occasion, His Eminence the Sheikh Akl and the accompanying delegation visited Lawyer-Colonel Kamel Mezher at his home in Hammana, in the presence of Democratic Gathering member MP Hadi Aboul Hosn, former Chief of Staff Major General Shawki Al-Masri (Head of the Communication Committee at the Confessional Council), Sheikh Imad Faraj (Head of the Cultural Committee), retired Brigadier General Bassam Aboul Hosn (Head of the Administrative Committee), Mukhtar Nadim Bou Shahin, Hammana sheikhs, and relatives and friends. Lawyer Mezher delivered an expressive welcoming speech.
To listen to the speech of the Sheikh Akl, click here
