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Joining a People Celebrating
Its First Year of Liberation
by Nadia Leïla Aïssaoui <nadia@echo.org>
The meeting began with a press conference
in a location that carries heavy symbolism: Saida, capital
of South Lebanon, occupied from 1982 to 1985, a city that
suffered numerous bombing raids by the Israeli army and
the public massacre of about 900 people.
At the foot of an old fortress that saw
the arrival of the Crusades, this town proudly houses it
old souk of cool, winding alleyways and, as it did seven
centuries ago, offers us its most famous Eastern caravanserai
in a gesture of hospitality, exchange, regeneration and
brotherhood.
Shared concerns and a diversity of initiatives
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Mr. Habib Sadek, Chairman of the Arts Council
of South Lebanon, welcomed all the participants. Gustavo
Marin then presented the framework for co-operation between
the Alliance for a Responsible and United World and the
Cultural Council of South Lebanon.
Gustavo highlighted two key dimensions
in the Alliance's approach: the intention to relay the various
initiatives taken on the continental level to the meetings
organized by the Allies in different parts of the world
- Quito (Ecuador), Bangalore (India), Dar es Salaam (Tanzania)
and Peles (Romania) - and our shared concerns regarding
humankind's global challenges.
The second dimension lies in the specific,
palpable aspect of the concepts that the Alliance holds
dear; in other words, responsibility and solidarity: being
amongst a people that is celebrating its first year of liberation
of one part of its territory from Israeli occupation after
22 years of resistance, and taking this opportunity to show
our complete solidarity with the Palestinian people, who
continue to fight for their dignity and their land.
This struggle, in the words of Gustavo
Marin, is not just a local armed conflict; in this new millennium
it symbolizes everybody's struggle for dignity and justice.
A culture of peace when surrounded by war
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Our presence in this part of the world
today takes on its full meaning in the dynamics of the Alliance,
because the Alliance will take with it true international
cooperation and solidarity, that will further enrich the
content and quality of the World Assembly in Lille.
We are currently in a Christian Social
Center: Dar el Inaya, a place of intense activity for the
Christian community of Saida. During the civil war, this
center was an important venue for mediation and inter-faith
dialogue.
Instilling a culture of peace when surrounded
by war has been one of the Center's major challenges, through
leisure activities, education and arts for the young people
of the region.
Located on the Saida hills, Dar el Inaya
shall be the venue for our day's work tomorrow and will
cool us with its healthy Mediterranean breeze.
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