Lebanese Ruling Party Expresses Rare Angst over Christian Flight
ICC Note:
Parliament Member Ghazi Yousef said it is important to safeguard the Christian minority and preserve diversity in the country.
By David E. Miller
07/27/2010 Lebanon (themedialine) – Secretary General of the Lebanese Future Movement called on Arabs in the region to protect and nurture Christian minorities.
Lebanon’s ruling party has issued a rare call to save the Christian communities of the Middle East, amidst a steady exodus of Christians from the region.
Ahmad Al-Hariri, Secretary General of the Lebanese Future Movement, said he was “extremely worried about the repercussions of the Christian emigration from some Middle East countries.”
Speaking at a press conference marking the closure of the Future Movement’s founding congress in Beirut, the key political figure added that “nurturing the Christian presence [in the region] was an Arab and Islamic responsibility as much as it is a Christian one.”
The rare comments by a Muslim leader on the Levant’s Christian community came amid concerns over the growing Shi’a influence in Lebanon.
Since parliamentary elections in June 2009, the Future Movement, led by Prime Minister Sa’ad Al-Hariri, has held the majority in the Lebanese parliament and rules under the coalition led by the pro-Western March 14 Alliance.
