The
Guardians of the Cedars.
Abu Arz
believes in the Lebanon that rests upon knowledge, strength, ambition and
vigor, and also in the Lebanese nation that occupies at least the whole of
the 10,452 km2 not excluding an inch, and on all the Lebanese people not excluding
a person.
He also
believes in a Lebanese Lebanon, and the Lebanese nationality free of any alien
attribute that adulterates this nationality. He even said in one of the slogans
he launched: The curse of history will fall upon whoever will dare to falsify
the Lebanese identity. He fiercely fought every attempt at drowning Lebanon
in the quagmire of the so-called Arab World. On the contrary he called for,
and still does, to withdraw Lebanon from the Arab League that has brought
it nothing but calamities and disaster since its foundation.
He also
believes in rejecting any alliance schemes with Syria in consideration of
the historical danger it represents to Lebanon... On the contrary, he called
for opening up relations with the nations of the Mediterranean zone leading
to a political and cultural alliance with them, because this constitutes a
natural and historical field for Lebanon. He officially appealed for such
an alliance in the Sixth Annual Conference of the Party, calling it MEDITERRANEAN
PEOPLE'S ALLIANCE.
On the
military level, the Party joined every coalition aimed at fighting the Syrian
and Palestinian enemies and their stooges. He instilled in it noble behavior
and the rejection of all the villainous activities that were common at the
time, such as looting, physical liquidation, sectarian assassination, drug
addiction, etc. The Party remained exemplary in its behavior and the dignity
of the weapons it carried... This was due to Abu Arz's constant instructions
to the combatants and the close surveillance of their activity, employing
the principle of reward and punishment which he instilled.
Nevertheless,
Abu Arz adamantly refused to be implicated in internal strife, either on the
Maronite-Maronite or on the sectarian levels.
In February
1990, the Lebanese Forces, then under the command of Samir Geagea occupied
the Headquarters of the Guardians of the Cedars and placed Abu Arz under house
arrest for several weeks, after which he left the Eastern Zone to go to Cyprus,
and thence to Israel and settle finally in the Border Zone, more precisely
in the Jezzine region, in order to pursue his military and political struggle
against Syrian occupation and that of its allies - the fanatical and terrorist
organizations.
Abu Arz
could have emigrated at that time to France or elsewhere as did the other
banished leaders, but he preferred to remain on Lebanese soil, close to his
fellow combatants and carry on his campaign to the end.
Abu Arz resided in the South for about ten years, where he was effective in preventing the Jezzine region and the Border zone from falling under the occupation of Syria and its stooges.
However,
fate and circumstances beyond his power forced him to leave in May 2000 and
go to Israel...
Thus,
Abu Arz, the first to carry arms in 1975, was the last to lay them down in
2000 in contrast with the other leaders who participated in this long war.