Forgiveness is strength
“THE weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong,” wrote one of the 20th century’s wisest men, Mahatma Gandhi. The British ruled his country with an iron hand and stripped it of resources for almost 90 years, but he eschewed revenge for reconciliation – as did Nelson Mandela who guided a divided people towards a peaceful tomorrow. I believe the Arab World should take a leaf out their book.
During a troubled era when our enemies are so numerous it is hard to keep track of them, we should work to shore up our defences, rather than be wrapped-up in exacting revenge on the disgraced former mighty who have fallen, such as Muammar Gaddafi’s surviving sons. We should be better than that. There is nothing purer than mercy. Kicking someone when they are down stains our Arab dignity.
Whereas I always thought Gaddafi was slightly unhinged, I thought his end was shameful in its sheer bestiality. He made many grave mistakes but he kept Libya united, terrorist-free and his people never went without. His family is now scattered. They have lost everything. They can harm no one and should be left alone to live their lives in anonymity.
As though the Lebanese have nothing to worry about, they have gone after Gaddafi’s 40-year-old son Hannibal. They are being attacked by DAESH. Hezbollah is fighting alongside the regime in Syria. They cannot manage to produce a president after eighteenmonths of negotiations. Their economy is in freefall.
Yet they prioritised the abduction of Hannibal Gaddafi from Syria to be arrested in connection with the disappearance of the Lebanese Shiite cleric Musa al-Sadr, who failed to return from Libya in 1978 when Hannibal was just two-years old! Did he slaughter him with his teddy bear I wonder! This is a case of the sins of the father being the sins of the son. Musa al-Sadr, born in 1928 in Iran, is long gone. What do they hope to achieve with this, other than revenge on someone who had nothing to do with his disappearance?
According to Lebanese television channel MTV, Hannibal Gaddafi, who was anxious to reunite with his Lebanese wife, was tricked into meeting with people he was told could help him. Instead, he was kidnapped, interrogated and beaten by gunmen believed to be members of the Amal Movement allied to Hezbollah and headed by the Parliamentary Speaker Nabi Berri.
If anyone knows what happened to al-Sadr, it is Berri himself. And if he is so interested in ‘justice’ why does he not hand over the four members of Hezbollah indicted by Hariri Tribunal for their involvement in the assassination of one of Lebanon’s greatest sons, Rafiq Hariri?
If the government cares anything about its own credibility, it should