The Mufti of Mount Lebanon Sheikh Mohammed Ali al-Jouzou said he approved of the position of Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun with regard to broadening the culture of resistance among the Lebanese population, especially among Christian factions. “The word resistance has been fully rejected in the past, and it symbolized infidelity or treachery in the Christian milieu,” Jouzou explained.

Jouzou said in a statement issued on Sunday that having Muslims and Christians carrying weapons to resist Israel, in cooperation with the army, would be “the most honorable battle” and a “great achievement and historical event.”

Jouzou said he was ready to even go further and ask for the immediate implementation of Aoun’s “great” defense strategy, starting with the training of all youth in the use of weapons and establish mixed Christian-Muslim military bases. He also encouraged spreading weapons among all citizens so that they could integrate themselves with army brigades in order to become a parallel army.

“That is why I call for distributing weapons to all youth trainees, and giving licenses so that weapon carriers are not attacked, as is currently happening. No citizen of the North, Beirut, or Bekaa would be arrested for carrying weapons, in the same way as citizens of the South, Dahiyeh, and Ramil al-Ali are allowed to carry weapons and roam with them everywhere without any objection,” he said.

“General Aoun’s request is fair, because we all become one [equal] before the army and security forces. Our youth will not be imprisoned if weapons are found on them, whether they carry a license or not, while others roam with their weapons freely because they are weapons of the Resistance,” he said.

Jouzou said that justice in the country was seen from only one perspective, because all those accused of terrorism were Sunni. He called on March 14 to approve Aoun’s defense strategy proposal which “transforms the Lebanese population into a resisting population; accordingly, our weapons become resistance weapons like Hezbollah’s weapons.” 

-NOW Staff