Charbel, Protestors Exchange Accusations on Violent History Book Rally
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
Interior Minister Marwan Charbel and the Phalange and National Liberal parties exchanged accusations on Sunday on the side that triggered a clash between student demonstrators and the security forces during a protest against a new history curriculum.
Charbel, who is currently in Tunisia at the head of a delegation representing Lebanon at the meeting of Arab interior ministers, told An Nahar daily that the clash broke out on Saturday when some demonstrators sought to allow a vehicle with a loudspeaker to go beyond the area specified for the protest.
“It seems that two people are behind” the incident, he said.
“When one of the officers tried to interfere to calm the tension, he was beaten,” Charbel told the newspaper, saying “this stirred a counter reaction by some members equipped with sticks and batons.”
So the security forces intervened to end the confrontation between some security personnel and demonstrators, he added.
Charbel also stressed that the dispute on the history book wasn’t worth the clash that left more than 10 people injured, including three policemen.
“I got upset from what happened,” he said, calling for calm to reach the expected results.
The minister told An Nahar that he contacted Phalange MP Sami Gemayel, who on Saturday condemned “the brutality” of the security forces.
Despite Charbel’s claims, the Phalange party laid the blame squarely on the policemen.
A party statement said its student interest branch had organized the peaceful protest with youth from the National Liberal Party. It accused the Internal Security Forces of narrowing the area of the gathering point outside the Grand Serail, by allowing no more than 100 students.
The statement also said that security forces began beating the students after their numbers reached some 1,000.
The head of the National Liberal Party’s student branch Simon Dargham also laid blame on the security forces, telling An Nahar that around 40 percent of demonstrators were left out of the area of the gathering point.
“Suddenly there was an undemocratic behavior (by policemen who) attacked the university youth,” he said. “We tried to calm down (the situation) but they behaved in a barbaric way.”
“We are asking for a historic book for all the Lebanese and not a curriculum that fosters hatred,” Dargham stressed.
He accused some security forces of deliberately hitting the protesters on their faces and noses and not their feet in an “inhumane” way.
The head of the National Liberal Party, Dory Shamoun, also told VDL (100.5) that the security forces that “brutally” attacked student protestors should be held accountable.
The protestors and other Christian parties have rejected the history curriculum, saying it omits key events in the country’s past, including several incidents that took place during the 1975-1990 civil war and the Cedar Revolution of 2005 that drove Syrian forces out of Lebanon after the assassination of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri.
11 March 2012, 08:34
19
No matter how hard they try, they cannot hide the truth. We will never forget the true struggle of our people even if it is not in a textbook. We will never forget the blood we lost, all of the blood, Christian and Muslim, fighting for independence, from Israel and Syria! Libnan w bas !!
11 March 2012, 09:11
02
Syri is bombing it cities th way it bombed ashrafeh. We I'll never forget
11 March 2012, 09:56
63
I think, every religion in Lebanon, should have its own history book. Maybe, they should have separate M8 and M14 history books and schools.
11 March 2012, 10:07
17
I wish we could have national consensus, and that together we can put aside our differences and build a strong Lebanon together!
11 March 2012, 14:28
01
All the facts should exist in the history book, what is not acceptable is for a loud speaker or 100people to become 1000 to cause this mess. Hitting on head or noise as well as hitting security forces is not acceptable, coordination of this event was intentionally missed to make it fail and create this chaos, If I were the students then I would rally again and again in a peaceful manner and the security job is to ensure people's safety or for no one to attack them because they are not carrying weapons and it is called a peaceful demonstration.
11 March 2012, 14:46
34
Lebanon is built on co-existence! this is what makes us so special, because we have significant numbers of Christians and Muslims and we live together in peace! This is lebanon!!
11 March 2012, 16:23
15
@FT: Who are your friends? Iran Ayatollahs, Russian alcoholics, Chinese dictators or maybe Syria's blood loving vampires?
Look in the mirror.
11 March 2012, 14:50
24
Sorry James History taught us Lebanon is a failed dysfunctional non existent state, so the next best thing is we have our own country and our own destiny.
11 March 2012, 14:53
15
think about the future... the young Lebanese... they don't care anymore about the differences anymore, not like the older generations. Lebanon has hope! we can only pray one day we will have a strong state, and we will forever be the Paris of the Middle East ya aris!
11 March 2012, 15:28
15
the only way to keep the mid east christians at homw is to make them a strong homeland...I do not wish to live with hassouni and co...i do not wish to pay for his electricity bills...let him live alone and leave me in peace
11 March 2012, 16:02
14
The govenrment wouldn't dare treat Hizballa, Amal etc...the same way...History should be based on facts and only facts. Hizb and Co. are dictating their version of history on us and that should be rejected...more power to Sheikh Sami and the true Lebanese.
11 March 2012, 16:27
13
They can try to write to history book without mentioning the events that took place between 1975 and 1990 and beyond but the truth is, these events will always eat at them and darken their hearts more they already are. It will be a constant reminder to where in history they belong and where in the future they will be. To hell with co-existing and the BS that comes with it... Lebanon was a special country until these rats came out of the sewers.
11 March 2012, 16:50
11
These thugs' parents and grandparents, liars and collaborators with every enemy of Lebanon, sold and destroyed Lebanon and with it ended whatever authority the Christians had left in this country. Now, these thugs want to repeat history. HELL NO AND NEVER AGAIN.
11 March 2012, 17:06
20
what is the difference between saad el hariri and sheikh sami?
one of them is coward! and 10452 w'ness.
11 March 2012, 17:30
13
Well According to Hate Thrower the students do threaten the national security but not jaafar ,shames and the rest of hizbolla s thugs.
Well done the lebanese police.Abadayet walla.
So who killed Samer Hanna?
11 March 2012, 18:17
12
2 Different set of books can be easily printed and each district pick the curriculum that suit them, voila.
11 March 2012, 18:36
12
The Lebanese history books have always been based on " 6 w 6 mkarrar" which means generic and neutral story telling without mentions of dissent or oppression suffered by the Christians at the hands of the Arab occupiers and then under the ottoman empire except what happened at the early 1900s when muslims and christians united against the ottomans.
Unless we have a clear vision of the future of lebanon and an agreement on its identity we wil never be able to teach its true history.
11 March 2012, 18:58
11
having the kids reading Salibi would be a good starting point. Can we agree on this? LF friends, have you actually read Christian author Salibi?
11 March 2012, 20:45
00
History or "his story" is always written by the victor. In a democracy, it is the version of the majority that it is written in (in the USA the criminal white man still celebrates Columbus).
As far as a Maronite state...there are very few areas left in lebanon where it is mostly Maronite, and who should rule it...FPM, LF, Marada (what a joke)
11 March 2012, 21:52
00
Hehehehe well, I guess we should start by liquidating all of our political parties, and putting all current leaders in a remote island, somewhere in the north pole, and let them debate and write their own history books (and keep them for themselves). We should cut off communication, internet access and all possible communication between them and the outside world. Maybe we should also give them some weapons to let them fight each others, that would be so funny... maybe we could do a reality show on that, with live hidden cameras. Heik the real truth will be revealed to everyone, especially the followers of such foolish stupid political / religious parties.
The only guy who should stand is Sami Gemayel in my opinion. and to increase his credibility, I think he should shutdown the Kataeb party and launch a fresh new base.
The rest kelo zbele. KELLO!
