By
Mohammed Zaatari
TYRE,
Lebanon: Activists, unions, civil society groups and politicians gathered
Friday at the Tyre restaurant that was bombed earlier this week to condemn the
attack.
At
the Tyros restaurant gathering, Nasser Farram, deputy head of Tyre’s Cultural
Forum, read a statement in the name of those present in which he condemned the
“criminal explosion that aimed [both] at terrorizing the owners of tourist
institutions and restaurants and at forcing them through repression – and not
guidance – to follow the conceptions of criminals and those behind them of what
is allowed and what is banned.”
No
casualties have been reported from the Wednesday explosion at the Tyros, which
is meters from the Queen Elissa Hotel, which along with a wholesale liquor
store, was the target of a similar attack last month that appeared to be
related to the sale of alcohol. Tyros’ owner Zuheir Aranaout, who was the only
representative of Tyre’s tourism sector at the Wednesday meeting, has repaired
the damage to his restaurant and told The Daily Star that it will host a
planned New Year’s Eve Party.
No
suspect has been arrested in any of the three bombings, and Farram’s statement
denounced this. The statement also called on those not present “not to get
confused between the understandable and legitimate religious convictions of
some and the process of enforcing these convictions through terror.”
Speaking
to The Daily Star, Farram attacked Hezbollah without explicitly naming the
party, saying that “two years ago a traditional Brazilian band was banned from
performing a dance show in Tyre, despite the municipality’s original approval,
because of heavy pressure put on the former municipal council.”
“Today
it starts with alcohol, tomorrow [forcing women to wear] veils, and later
banning music and going to the beach,” Farram said. “We defend freedom and we
do not need anyone to give us morality lessons. The duty of the religious man
is to convince the drinker that alcohol harms him, but no one can ban another
from drinking.”
Ghassan
Farran, head of Tyre’s Literature and Thought Forum said that “what is taking place
here sends a wrong message to society ... We reject this manner of expression.
It is barbaric and targets social, economic and cultural structures by
violating human rights.”
Among the political figures
in attendance were Mohammad Safieddine of the Syrian National Socialist Party
and Ali Jamal of the Lebanese Communist Party. Safeiddine called for an
increased number of security forces and patrols, and Jamal said “we reject a
method that completely contradicts the freedoms protected by Lebanese law.”
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Local-News/2011/Dec-31/158443-activists-hold-solidarity-gathering-condemn-attack-on-tyre-restaurant.ashx#axzz1kkzRRrWi
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