Let Us Not Allow the Spirit of Freedom to Weaken Within Us! Edmond El-Chidiac/February 15/2025
Us and the Hyena’s Tale Edmond El-Chidiac/February 15/2025
No matter how much we rally behind the army, debate the power of elections, or convince ourselves that our voices matter, Hezbollah ensures that every national, humanitarian, and hopeful moment is reduced to just another chapter in their story. Especially now. The moment we dare to believe in change, they move—swiftly, methodically—occupying every space, suffocating any glimmer of optimism. Out of the kindness of their hearts, of course . They wouldn’t want us to be too disappointed later. So considerate and thoughtful of them.
One day, we will wake up. Hopefully soon. Where we will realize that honor codes, faith in democracy, and belief in diplomacy mean nothing unless Lebanon is, first and foremost, free. No illusion of civility, no elections, no government that includes Hezbollah can ever bring real reform. Civil disobedience, rejection of their treachery, and resistance—real resistance—are the only paths forward.
A free Lebanon is a clean Lebanon. Only then will this country function as it should, where all citizens stand as equals, where Lebanon belongs to its people—all its people. But until we wake up, until we accept that force must be met with force, we will remain prey to the same beast.
When a hyena attacks, you don’t offer it coffee and goodwill and expect it to change. Its nature is to devour. And that what it will do.
Good night, Lebanon. May we wake up to a homeland.
Let Us Not Allow the Spirit of Freedom to Weaken Within Us! Edmond El-Chidiac/February 15/2025
These words were spoken by Father Salim Abou, President of Saint Joseph University – Beirut, on the occasion of the university’s annual celebration on March 19, 2003, at the Science and Technology Campus (Mar Roukoz).
Let us not allow the spirit of freedom to weaken within us!
We are called to reject the status quo.
The positive counterpart to this rejection is, as former Czech President Václav Havel reminds us, “the ability to tirelessly repeat what we desire.” He says:
*”We can all openly declare our ideals and strive earnestly to uphold them. We can all also sacrifice a significant portion of our personal happiness for these ideals if we truly believe (…) that there are things worth suffering for (…).
In short, we can understand that each one of us is capable of changing the world, even if they are of no particular significance or hold no authority. This principle is mysterious and remarkable because it carries the astonishing idea that any one of us, in some way, can shake the world. And it is a logical principle because if neither I nor you nor he nor we all decide to take this path, then the world we live in, which we contribute to shaping and for which we are responsible, will never change.”*
He concludes with this phrase:
“Let us strive to be mad and demand, with the utmost seriousness, that what appears unchangeable must indeed change.”
In reality, our fiercest enemy lies within us—it is the temptation to surrender to the status quo. In our current situation, if there is any stance we must resist, it is submission to the status quo.
Let us not allow the taste of freedom to spoil within us!
Opposition must grow stronger, expand, and remain steadfast in its central goal: demanding Lebanon’s independence and sovereignty. The silent majority, who share this ideal, must dare to challenge prohibitions and express their opinions.
Let us embrace the act of faith proclaimed by the great sociologist Raymond Aron, who said:
“We accept the risks of freedom and democracy, and we wager that ongoing debate will not, despite everything, prevent civil peace from prevailing, and that the clash of individual interests will allow decisions to emerge that serve the nation’s interest. We prefer the disorder and noise of free societies to the superficial tranquility of regimes where those in power claim to possess the truth and impose a way of thinking, speaking, and acting on their citizens—or rather, their subjects. We choose societies where opposition is considered a public service, not a crime.”
Let us not allow the flame of freedom to tremble within us!
