Lebanon’s Newly Elected Pro-Hezbollah President Vows to ‘Liberate Our Lands From Israeli Occupation’
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by JNS.org
Lebanese President Michel Aoun. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.
JNS.org – Lebanon’s newly elected president, an ally of the Hezbollah terrorist organization, vowed in his inaugural address to “liberate what is left of our lands from the Israeli occupation.”
Michael Aoun, 81, a retired general who fought in the Lebanese Civil War, was apparently referring to the disputed Shebaa Farms along the border, known by Israel as Mount Dov. Israel occupied southern Lebanon after the First Lebanon War in 1982 — during which the IDF fought the Palestinian Liberation Organization, headed by Yasser Arafat. When Israel withdrew from southern Lebanon in 2000, Hezbollah terrorists moved in and took over. In 2006, the terror group, backed by Iran, fired rocket barrages into Israel, which led to the Second War in Lebanon.
As The Algemeiner reported on Sunday, Aoun’s election, which was anticipated, will benefit Iran, according to an analysis published by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI). According to the analysis, by choosing Aoun, the parliament will “definitely serve future pro-Iran interests in Lebanon at the expense of Sunni interests in Lebanon, and also at the expense of Saudi Arabia.”
According to the Algemeiner report, Aoun served as prime minister and acting president of Lebanon from September 1988 to October 1990 — the end of the 15-year-long Lebanese Civil War, at which point he was forced into exile in France. In 2005, he returned to Lebanon and founded the Free Patriotic Movement, which is now the second-largest party in the Lebanese Parliament and part of the March 8 Alliance that includes Hezbollah.
Though the role of the president in Lebanon — always a Maronite Christian by convention — is mainly symbolic, according to the constitution, he serves as commander-in-chief of the military and security forces; may appoint and dismiss the prime minister and cabinet; may veto bills and dissolve the parliament.
