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Father Farraj, Father Jones, Your Excellencies, Dear friends,

We are gathered today as one family deeply wounded and still bleeding.

I would like this afternoon to invite you to follow Ghassan Tueni’s statement when he landed at Beirut Airport the day Gebran was assassinated on December 12^th , 2005. Ghassan Tueni stood tall and ordered in a strong voice:  “It is forbidden to cry”.

On December 14^th, Standing in front of Gebran’s coffin, Ghassan Tueni and Nayla, Gebran’s daughter gave us a chilling lesson of strength and courage.

There is no way we can stop crying if we remain in a mourning state of mind. I cried myself several times in the past few days and everyone I spoke with told me that he or she also cried and sobbed.

If we want to have Ghassan Tueni and Gebrane’s daughter’strenght we need to celebrate Gebran’s life. We need to focus on what Gebran brought to our life and how Gebran continues to be a charismatic Lebanese Leader.

Gebran was born to a family of freedom fighters, of freedom writers, of people who believed in non violence, in dialogue and in democracy. He was born to a family whose only religious community that mattered is the Lebanese community, whose only political party that mattered is what Gebran called on March 14: “The Lebanese Party”.

For Gebran, he always looked at Lebanon as one big family where the differences between the Lebanese communities were a source of diversity and strength.

Gebran always spoke his mind. Gebran never accepted less than the full truth. Gebran never compromised on his principles of respect, of Independence and of Freedom. Gebran always welcomed an honest and courageous confrontation. He addressed his enemies with dignity and respect. He never allowed himself to insult anyone or degrade him. He looked at his enemies and reached out for their humanity. He looked at his enemies and offered them to work as a team by the rules of respect and equality.

After President Hariri’s assassination, It was only natural to see Gebran emerging as one, if not the most important leader of the Cedar Revolution. During the past several years, when all the Lebanese were living in fear and were terrorized, when even the most courageous newspapers and TV stations used a system of self-censorship by fear of retaliation, Gebran continued to be the voice of the truth. Through his powerful editorials, he addressed everyone with the same straight language and challenged everyone to work for a better Lebanon , for a better relationship with Syria and for a better Middle East.

Gebran always saw the big picture for Lebanon . He never allowed himself to slip into the partisan politics where our leaders frequently exchange their personal interest against the sacred cause of Lebanon .

On March 14, in a statement that is now known as “Gebran’s oath”, he addressed a million Lebanese and asked them to swear in front of God Almighty, to remain united for ever.

Gebran was threatened on a daily basis for several years. When he emerged as the hero and master of the Cedar Revolution, the death threats intensified even more to a point where, for the sake of his family and the sake of Lebanon , he flew to Paris with other threatened Lebanese leaders.

From Paris, he never stopped writing and sending messages of freedom and Unity to his people. Gebran knew he was going to be a martyr one day. I bet that Gebran had nights when he did not sleep because of the fear of being killed. However Gebran never allowed his fear to dictate what his pen was going to write and what his tongue was going to say. While acknowledging his fear, he never allowed it to paralyze him. That is what courage is about. Courage is not the absence of fear. Courage is a decision not to allow fear to paralyze us. Gebran, must have said every morning: “today, I am going to be courageous, and he went on with another day of struggle for freedom.”

On December 11^th, Gebran could no longer stay away from his beloved land. He took the plane and courageously walked toward his fate. In one of his editorial of October 2005, the title: ““First Comes Death Then Resurrection”.

Gebran, you have been the light that enlightened our long night of terror.

Gebran, you have been the voice that we were afraid to raise,

Gebran, you have been the pen that wrote with his own blood Lebanon ’s history.

We promise to continue the journey for freedom on your path. We promise Christians, Moslems and Druze to stay united as one family for ever.

You showed us the path of Love for your country by giving your life away as the most sacred gift on the Temple of freedom.

We are indebted to you for ever!

Gabriel A. Sara, M.D.