Prominent political and social figures attended the feast such as: Hezbullah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nassrallah and his deputy Sheikh Naim Qassem, former Lebanese Premier Salim Hoss, former Speaker Hussein Husseini, deputy Ali Khalil representing Speaker Nabih Berri, minister Asaad Diab representing the Lebanese President, minister Fouad Seniora representing Premier Rafik Hariri, minister Bshara Mirhij, former Premier Rashid Soloh, head of the People’s Conference Party Kamal Chatila, as well as deputies: Abbas Hashem, Nasser Qandil, Mohammed Raa’d, Pierre Hillo, Dr. Ali Khalil, Mohammed Birjawi, Nazih Mansoor, and Marwan Fares, in addition to Head of the Doctors Syndicate Mahmoud Shqair, and ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Beirut Mohammed Ali Sobhani.
After a recitation of the Holy Koran, read by Sheikh Salman Khalil, Yunis Dahnoon, a blind of Al-Hadi Institute for Hearing and Visual Handicapping, delivered a speech talking about the sufferings of the blinds in Lebanon and their endeavors to achieve high levels of education. He also pointed out to his participation in “Who Will Win the Million” TV program where he won 125,000 Saudi Riyals. while asserting that the blind can make gradual progress in education provided that the society assumes its responsibility towards the blind and the needy.
The director of Al-Mabarat Association Sayyed Mohammed Baqer Fadlallah delivered a speech where he talked about the association as one of the few associations that has worked hard to maintain a balanced development among the various Lebanese territories while asserting that Al-Mabarat is proud of the high academic and educational results especially those achieved by the establishments in the Lebanese peripheries
He also pointed out to the economic war that is besieging the orphans and the other poor social groups, while stressing on the necessity of social integration that aims at removing all the social timed-bombs.
Sayyed M. Baqer Fadlallah talked about the building of orphans’ personalities and the difficulty to deal with them especially those at the age of childhood.
He then dealt with the experience of the Mabarat and its schools and the academic success they are achieving which asserts the success of the advanced educational curriculum they are pursuing.
The director of Al-Mabarat Association concluded that Al-Mabarat is not associated to any political organization, Arab or non-Arab country, or any party whatsoever, and that it has always adhered to its mission. It is from this nation and to it in the path of Allah (the Almighty) in working for the sake of humans and life as a whole.
Sayyed Fadlallah
After the children of Al-Mabarat presented some of their lovely songs that celebrates the occasion and the advent of the blessed month of Ramadan , H.E. Sayyed Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah addressed the audience:
We are living in a world that produces rancor and calls it love; it produces slavery and calls it freedom; it produces primitivism and calls it civilization… It kills the oppressed so as to protect the civilization, destroys the houses of the poor so as to give them freedom, and spreads out all kinds of terror, worry, and pain so as to produce tranquility ...Is this not the logic that we are hearing today?
All of that is under the name of freedom and democracy. You do not have the right to think in a different way. We are the civilization and freedom and the others are the terrorists. There is no mutual understanding “either you are here or there”. The fact that democracy always talks about understandings, and civilization talks about diversity is notwithstanding. This is a talk the arrogant powers will not accept.
The problem in this logic, which has become the logic of the world and attracted the international community, is that what had happened in the U.S. could well be terrorism, but the problem of terrorism there, is not in the legitimacy of the means.
We have rejected what happened because we refuse to use this method in order to confront the U.S. But the problem is that the U.S. does not want to study the underlying motives and grievances . Those who are resorting to such methods are youths who love to live! Is the problem only about a certain group that understands Islam in a backward way, or understands freedom and civilization in a similar way? There has to be something that saddened the hearts of the attackers and threatened their destiny. Perhaps they cannot philosophize things analytically, but they surely feel oppressed and that they have to act.
There is subjugation in this world that intends to bring down the humanity of man. This is not what we say as Muslims or “extremists”, but they said that in Italy and the U.S. adding that globalization wants to subdue the humanity of man. We have seen how subjugation has challenged that and how blood was spilled over in Seattle and other cities. Perhaps subjugation can be represented in another form, but our role is not to crawl towards high doors to carry out all of the arrogant powers’ plans or to be defeated by its threats and intimidations.
We, as people of the Third World, even in Latin America, and even inside the U.S. and Europe, have to talk in a humanitarian way. We have to feel that we are capable of planning and not to be part of others’ plans. Religions have taught us to love all people and to love those who bestow good upon us. Even those who challenge us with evil, we learned, not to bow to them, but to strive to make them understand that hatred cost them much if not now, may be in the future. To like them, is to prevent them from confiscating man’s freedom. To like them, is to do more than one surgery to extract the cancer of occupation and arrogance. We want the whole world to live in love, but love is not a heartbeat or a shiver of sentiment, it is a method. Therefore, we do not hate our enemies but we are working to extract the cancer of enmity from them.
The war on Afghanistan was a psychological war that aims at venting all the congestion that the American people lived. Because when we study this war in the American slogans we do not find any civilized logic that justifies this war, not even 1 percent. We differ with the Taliban that presents Islam in an unrealistic way. But the problem is that they say that the Taliban provide refuge to those accused of being criminals. Here, I ask: there are countries in Europe and in the U.S. where criminals, accused in their home countries of being terrorists, have refuge there, so why not wage a war against these countries?
How did the U.S. convince Europe that there is a foreign aggression, and we all know that a foreign aggression is an aggression of a state against another state and it is not an aggression of an organization against a country like the U.S? The problem is that when the U.S. afflicts harm then the whole world should act, but if the whole third world afflicts harm then there is no problem.
Yesterday we heard U.S. secretary of state, Colin Powell, talking about the Intifada that it is “terrorism” and about Israel that it has the right to establish a Jewish state. So, according to Powell the Intifada is terrorism; it is as simple as a stroke of a pencil. According to American logic any stance or action against Israel is considered terrorism, and so the resistance in Lebanon is terrorism. The game is still going on and they have whispered, through special envoys and others, that the whole issue is not to exert any pressure on Israel through Lebanon. Thus, the issue is not terrorism, just desist from annoying Israel and you will have honey. Some of us adopt this position and whispers about it to others. But we are the kind of people – not only in Lebanon – who talk behind the scenes something, and for popular consumption we talk a different thing. This political hypocrisy that Arab and many other Islamic countries had lived had been booby-trapped by the big countries, when they say: “we understand one another and you are a people that words anesthetize and topple it.
Since president Bush talked about a Palestinian state, how much ink have been used in all the analysis and comments. Even all these slaughtered birds started to sing despite the deep pain just because Bush and his Secretary of State talked about a Palestinian state.
There is a plan now to change the world order and to create a situation represented by an economic war that takes the form of a legal and security war. And America’s anger is immense.
We do not want to underestimate the power of the big countries nor do we want to speculate , but in the ground of reality there are many things that we can transform into power. Why do we always talk about our weak points? For tens of years in Lebanon we kept saying: the strength of Lebanon is in its weakness. Because they present to us an image that if you were strong, the strong will eat you. They also said: how can an eye resist an awl? And indeed the eye did resist the awl, and they applauded to the withdrawal. And when they were told that there are few miles in the Shebaa Farms, many have become enthusiastic to write that Shebaa is not Lebanese because they do not want to tire out themselves with the resistance extending to that area. And they are still talking about negotiations since the Madrid Conference. What did the Palestinians win from the negotiations?
I’m afraid that we are a nation that fears to catch itself thinking of creating strength. Every person in this nation fears to think freely. We have lost the meaning of the nation, and we have reduced the nation to certain individuals and we have grown to value paganism. A person can be genius, but his genius is part of the genius of the nation.
How many falsified values that need to be corrected do we have? How much do we confuse our nation, even in crisis situations, with words of nonsense that we consume?
While the home front is bleeding and falling down (collapsing), are not we in a greater need for a word of truth, a stance of truth, and for a word of strength that plans so that the future is strong despite living a state of weakness.
My brothers and sisters; let us live love in a world of hatred. Let us regenerate our hearts that we have canned. Let us open our hearts to one another. When the word becomes truthful then it will turn into a society that integrates with truthfulness. The present may reveal some weak points, but the future may open up the horizons for love. Why do we have to be always sectarian digging up history looking for what can topple our unity? Let us raise that civilized cultural kid of ours. This future that has grown as a kid among us, let us give it vigor from our youth because the nation that tries to inspire itself with senility will fall before the arrogant powers let it fall. Be the futurists, we may be an extension of the past, but by Allah do not feed your children a bite of ignominy! Let us cooperate so that these hearts grow up and give it what is left of our strength and vigor.