The birth of the Guardians of the Cedars - Movement of Lebanese Nationalism
"His Excellency Mr. Charles Helou, The President of Lebanon,
... I come forward with this letter to ask if you are fully aware of what your army commander Gen. Emile Boustani is doing here in Cairo, and if you agree to the major concessions he is giving in favor of the Palestinian armed struggle on Lebanese territory ... It is important for me to inform your excellency that I, Jamal Abd Al-Nasser, do not dare to give such concessions in favor of the Palestinians on Egyptian territory..."
This passage is from a letter that was sent by Jamal Abd Al-Nasser, the President of Egypt at that time, to one of the political dwarfs who successively came to power in Lebanon. A thorough look at this letter tells us the great treason that this regime committed on the hands of army commander Emile Boustani, the consent of the so-called President of the republic, a cowardly House of Parliament that signed an agreement without reading it and a Prime Minister, Rashid Karami, who resigned in protest because the Lebanese army stood firmly against the Palestinian transgressions, he also refused to form a new government in order to exert more pressure in favor of the Palestinian interests.
November 3, 1969, Gen. Emile Boustani signed the Cairo accord with the refugee Yasser Arafat. This accord gave the PLO the right to use parts of the Lebanese territory (Arqoub area in south Lebanon) to wage guerilla wars against Israel. It is noteworthy to say that the Israel-Lebanon border did not witness any hostilities since 1948.
A traitor Prime Minister who is motivated with Arab instincts against the best interest of his country. An army commander who surrenders the sovereignty of his country in his bid for presidency. A weak and coward President who instead of putting out the fire, used his constitutional right to defer the troubles to his sequel. Through all these the sovereignty of Lebanon was given up. The door was open for a confrontation between the PLO and the Israelis on one side and between the PLO and the free Lebanese on the other side.
The series of concessions started to unfold when the PLO managed to attract most of the politicians and the authorities, some buying them off, others through intimidation and threats. The PLO continued its aggravation to the Lebanese military establishment, which constituted the foremost defense line of sovereignty, to make it look as if it is weak and helpless in defending its land and people. The aim of the PLO was to establish a substitute land for the Palestinians in Lebanon (Abu Iyyad declared that the road to Palestine goes through Jounieh and Uyyun Al-Siman).
Amid this tension, several clashes broke out between the Palestinians and the Lebanese army. It is comprehensible to have a military confrontation between two armies present on the same land, but what was incomprehensible is that the President of the republic (Sleiman Franjieh) would give orders to the Lebanese army to halt its plans to attack the Palestinian military camps in submission to Arab pressure. The Arabs moved quickly in support of the Palestinians while Syria (the sisterly neighbor) closed the border with Lebanon on May 2, 1973, and forced a three-month siege to exert pressure on the government, the officials and the army.
Between the support of the Arabs and the cowardice of Lebanese officials another humiliating accord was signed on May 17, 1973, between the Lebanese government and the PLO. It was known as the Melkart accord. The countdown for the explosion began. The Palestinians armed with money, weapons, the press in addition to Lebanese deceivers fueled the explosion and the fierce confrontations which started on Sunday morning, April 13, 1975.
The situation divided and classified the Lebanese into two categories:
The first category, is nothing but political trash that is present in all of the different communities of Lebanon. Known as the National Movement, this category had the support of the Arab nations and its role was to cover-up the Palestinian violations and to insinuate that the war was a civil war between the Lebanese themselves.
The second category, united men from all communities and sects. Men who believed in Lebanon as the land of civilizations and values, men who believed in God, came together to form an army to defend Lebanon - the geography, the history and the great heritage.
In the heart of danger, the Guardians of the Cedars was founded. Since 1969, a group of men has been meeting to form a political gathering with the task of standing up against the new invasion of Lebanon. The group included the present leader of the party, Mr. Etienne Sakr, and the great poet and philosopher Said Akl who draw the ideological framework of the gathering. Although the gathering was licensed under the name Lebanese Renovation Party, it could not come out publicly, due to reasons difficult to explain now, nevertheless, the leader of the party continued his way and started to assemble the young Lebanese to defend Lebanon and train them on how to use arms. They formed a genuine resistance nucleus to start with the defense. The streets of Beirut witnessed for the first time graffiti on the walls that stated "no for the Arabs", "no for the Syrians" and "no Palestinians will remain on the Lebanese territory". These carried the signature GoCF, Guardians of the Cedars Front.
The ideological framework was based on three principles:
- The nature of the Lebanese war and that it is a war between strangers and the Lebanese.
- Identifying the true enemies of Lebanon. They are the Syrians, the Palestinians and the rest of the Arab regimes.
- The essence of the Lebanese cause, which the fighters are fighting for.
The motto of the Guardians of the Cedars came to light: The Word was married to the Gun and it gave birth to the Guardians of the Cedars.