The Guardians of the Cedars Party issued the following weekly communiqué:
It’s been 33 years since our party was founded, yet we remain in the midst of the tragedy, our country struggling against death and beleaguered by security, political and livelihood strife and our young people emigrating in throngs. Our comrades are enduring all manner of oppression, torture and marginalization, and we, in our forced exile, are enduring the bitterness of expatriation and the anguish of yearning for home and country.
It was destiny’s will that our party was born with the start of the war and for us to witness the events that have taken Lebanon by storm, the conspiracies that have been plotted against it from every far corner of this earth, and how friend and foe turned against it and enemies, both domestic and foreign, took turns at stabbing it. Yet, an elite group among the country’s honorable sons and daughters rose and defeated those enemies in more than one place and front, despite the disadvantage in their numbers and equipment. They were on the verge of decisively winning the battle, were it not for the malicious imbecility that infected the minds of those in charge of the Lebanese Resistance, leading to the great chasm and the deadly infighting in its ranks, which destroyed everything and eliminated all the achievements and sacrifices, and brought the crisis back to square one.
However, and in spite of all this, we took it upon ourselves to persist in shouldering the mission, bearing the torch and continuing the march forward, without weariness or fatigue or deviation from the beliefs and the principles, especially since after 33 years, everything we said, predicted and called for has come to pass and everything others have, predicted and called for turned out to be fake, false or an act of betrayal.
We continue to lift the banner of Lebanese nationalism and to keep our national identity free from all foreign attributes. We continue to believe in the unity of Lebanon’s people, land, existence, state and institutions. We continue to demand the implementation of UN resolutions on the ground, particularly with respect to the elimination of the armed parasitic groups that are outside the authority of the state and in violation of the law. We continue to confront the arrogance of Syria and its expansionist plans and to demand that it be forced to delineate the borders, exchange embassies, and shut down the crossing points for the smuggling of weapons and gunmen. We continue to work assiduously to prevent the permanent settlement of the Palestinian refugees and for their redistribution to host resettlement countries. We demand the rehabilitation of the highest office in the country through a return to the 1926 constitution and the abrogation of the foreigners land possession and naturalization laws. We continue to call for filling the presidential vacuum with an extraordinary man who combines in himself the qualities of a hero, a savant and a saint.
Some may consider the principles we have been advocating, and continue to advocate, for 33 years are exaggerated or mere unachievable dreams. They fail to see that a dream is the reality of the future, and great nations are made by great dreams. Politics is, according to its scientific definition, the art of the impossible and not the art of the possible.
I call upon all our comrades on this cherished occasion to remain true to their pledge, hold on to their beliefs, hang on tenaciously to their faith, continue in their struggle, and not let despair invade their hearts. They are, after all, the custodians of the cause and the keepers of the promise.
Lebanon, at your service
Abu Arz