BEIRUT: A gathering of Lebanese politicians and activists opposed to Hezbollah has received an apology from a Beirut hotel that refuses to host its conference on Oct. 7 under the theme “Lifting the Guardianship, Defending the Constitution and Protecting Collective Living.”
The Lady of the Mountain congress said in a statement that the apology of the hotel “proves the right choice of the theme of the conference and confirms the repression of freedoms and that the guardianship of Iran is the one that gives orders in Lebanon.”
The apology of the hotel for not being able to host the annual conference of the Lady of the Mountain congress is not the first of its kind.
Sanaa Al-Jack, a member of the congress, mentioned previous cases of prevention of political activities centered on the rejection of the Syrian presence, the weapons of Hezbollah and the hegemony on political decisions.
Prevention started in 2004 before the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon, when a number of political activists tried to hold a conference at Gefinor Rotana Hotel in Beirut to launch the “Beirut Declaration,” which rejected Syrian control of the Lebanese decision. The hotel apologized for not hosting the event after it had originally approved it. In 2011, activists of the Lady of the Mountain congress who were working under the banner of the March 14 Forces tried to hold a conference at the Bristol Hotel in Beirut to support the Syrian revolution. The hotel apologized and refused to hold the event despite its earlier acceptance, and the March 14 Forces held their meeting in Sin El Fil in Mount Lebanon.
In 2012, the group tried to hold a meeting at the Hotel Gabriel in the Achrafieh district in Beirut to protest the overthrow of Prime Minister Saad Hariri while he was in the US. The hotel also refused to host the meeting despite its initial approval, so the group went down to the street and formed their congress there.
In 2017, a group of political activists tried to launch the “National Initiative” in the face of Hezbollah’s policy in Lebanon and the region by holding a conference at the Hotel Monroe in Beirut, but the hotel apologized and declined to host the activity. The current event was scheduled at the Bristol Hotel, which gave its approval twice for hosting the conference, only to apologize later citing “reasons beyond our control.”
The Lady of the Mountain congress said in a statement that “our battle today is to challenge what we see as an Iranian guardianship on the country’s decision. It is a simultaneous battle with the right of freedom of expression. It seems that the freedom of political action in Lebanon has become conditioned and restricted by what we want to say. In addition to this reality, another trend, which is just as serious, is reflected by the silence and favoritism of the authorities by those who are not satisfied, or supposed not to be satisfied, with this path and to the current situation.”
“Lebanon is at a very dangerous stage because there are conditions imposed on all Lebanese to correct all their actions,” said Fares Souaid, a member of the Lady of the Mountain congress. “There are conditions for any political action that considers Hezbollah’s weapons illegal. The Lebanese state ... is in the hands of Hezbollah and at the service of its weapons because the regional Iranian influence is threatened and it wants to defend itself by controlling Lebanon and other areas in the Arab world.”
Souaid stressed that the Lady of the Mountain congress “is a political association licensed by the Ministry of the Interior and is working on preparing a political report that is being drafted by a group of academics and politicians. If we are forbidden to meet and discuss this report, what is permitted? Is it permissible through insults on television and the social media that insult people and their dignity just because someone has criticized a position of this or that leader?”
The management of the Bristol Hotel, which was supposed to host the conference, said in a statement that it “respects all political forces and is ready to host all the conferences that seek to support the national dialogue ... We regret the misunderstanding with the Lady of the Mountain congress, which has led to the cancelation of the convening of its meeting, for reasons beyond our control.”
“In the era of the Syrian guardianship, the intelligence services challenged freedoms, shut down TV stations, banned newspaper publications, prevented political meetings and carried out assassinations. Today, the apparatuses prevent a meeting for the Lady of the Mountain congress,” former minister Boutros Harb said in his account of Twitter. “Have we returned to a new guardianship and a state of apparatuses and the suppression of freedoms? Beware of touching freedoms in Lebanon!”
The National Liberal Party denounced the ban, describing such practices as “bringing us back to an obsolete era behind us, but the clock cannot be turned back.”