Love and unity for the martyrs

 Vahe H Apelian

I owe this blog mostly to Krikor Kradjian who, in an email to friends, said that it has been his experience when returning to Lebanon after visiting his son in England or in Switzerland, he finds the Lebanese passengers, irrespective of their denomination, very friendly, talking to each other, asking each other’s ancestry, and at times finding relations and promise to keep in touch with each other after arriving to Lebanon. But he concludes saying that, as soon as the airplane hits the Lebanese airport grounds, and after applauding the captain for safely flighting the aircraft, each take off never to see the other or inquire about each other again. Each goes to its own community cocoon in the social and political sectarian make up of Lebanon.

Krikor Kradjian then pointed out to the following passage from Robert Fisk’s book “The Age of the Worrior” (page  252).

Robert Fisk wrote: “And of course I was moved to find out how little Lebanon- the child of France – treated her hounored dead, the Muslims and Christians hanged by the Turks in 1915 and 1916 for demanding independence from the Ottoman Empire. They went to the gallows in what is now called Martyrs’ Square less than a mile from where my home stands, shouting their defiance against Turkish occupation as the hangman set about his work. The Turks threw their corpses into a common grave on the Beirut beach. Surely, they should be given an horoured reburial. Ah yes, but it turned out that the Christian Church would not let the Muslim Martyrs lie in their cemeteries. And the Muslim clergy would not contemplate allowing Christian martyrs to be interred in their cemeteries. So, the mythical Druze allowed them to find their resting place on land they owned in central Beirut.

And that’s where I found them last week, beside a ravine of traffic, locked away behind an iron gate, their graves covered with tree branches and surrounded by nettles, a cockerel croaking away between them. The Mahmessani brothers lie together in one concrete tomb, the others- there are nineteen in all – have graves on which their names and places of birth can just be identified. Omar Mustafa Hamad, born Beirut 1802, Price Said al-Chalabi, born Hasbaya 1889……..The cemetery of the Lebanese Martyrs’, it says on a plaque beside the rusting gate, was renovated under the auspices of Prime Minister Rafiq Harriri, March 6, 1994. But since 14 February last year, the murdered Harriri has been a Lebanese martyr.”

"Al-Amine mosque, which, with its four high minarets, dominates over the center of Beirut. It is often referred to as the “Hariri Mosque”

As an added note let me say that May 6 is the Lebanese Martyrs Day. It used to be commemorated with much solemnity at the Martyrs’ Square. All the parliamentarians would attend it dressed in white, which was the official attire for the season.  But Lebanon has ceased to commemorate the Martyrs’ Day. A friend of mine from Lebanon told me that May 6 now is designated as Martyred Reporters’ Day. There is no official commemoration at the Martyrs’ Square. The statue signaling breaking of the chains still stands. It is obvious as to why Lebanon does not commemorate their honored martyrs,  “the Muslims and Christians hanged by the Turks in 1915 and 1916 for demanding independence from the Ottoman Empire.” The martyrs have found the common bond the living Lebanese, irrespective of their denomination seek when on a plane, but not on the ground. Love and unity among the long entered Christian and Muslim martyrs prevail, out of this world.

 On February 14th, 2005, Rafiq Hariri, the Prime Minister of Lebanon, was murdred. His remains were buried in the grounds of the huge Al-Amine mosque, which, with its four high minarets, dominates over the center of Beirut. It is often referred to as the “Hariri Mosque”, which was constructed of Lebanese stones and was financed by the ex-Prime Minister himself. The mosque is considered a marvel of Islamic architecture.