by Rmeich
«We want to tell the whole world that Rmeich is a village of peace, which welcomes people who want to live in serenity. This is why we don’t allow anyone to launch missiles from us, and we ask that others don’t bomb us either.” Milad Al alammayor of the village located along the blue line that demarcates the border between Israel and Lebanon, welcomes “here where people resist with the sweat of their brow, rejecting war and trying to live in peace”. Of the just over 11,000 inhabitants who lived in the only entirely Christian municipality that remained intact in the clashes between Hebollah and Israel, around 6,500 remained. “Many had fled to Beirut immediately after the Hamas massacre and the resumption of missile launches, but after a few months most of them returned.” Even if there is destruction and insecurity all around, “if many have lost their jobs, schools are still closed and we need humanitarian aid”. But, adds the mayor, we are used to living in adversity. «It’s a situation we’ve known about since 1914. From the First World War onwards we had to deal with wave-based invasions by Israel. The last one, in 2006, when we welcomed civilians who needed it into our village.” They make no distinctions between faith and culture. «Our red cross, as well as Caritas, take care of those in need, whoever they are. The only thing we don’t tolerate is violence.”. For this reason, when last March after «armed groups, I couldn’t say exactly who», he explains Father Toni Elias, they had launched a missile near the village and were preparing to launch another, the population, led by the priest, ran to chase them away. At the ringing of the bells and the mobilization of the population «they had to leave. We were afraid of the Israeli response which hits the places from which the attacks originate”, he adds.
In the church there is a wooden via crucis donated by a benefactor. Said, Felice in Italian, «lives here, but has a wood business in Ukraine. He wanted to restore our parish in 2018. He experiences the double fear of war there and of missiles here, but he continues to have faith.” Father Toni Elias, parish priest of the Transfiguration in Rmeich, shows the “treasures” of his church. Which are made up above all of “the thousands of people who attend mass and cling to the faith, especially in this difficult moment”.
People of farmers and especially tobacco growers, public employees and in the armed forces, thank «the Italian contingent of Unifil who is in this sector. It gives us a hand to bow to,” says the mayor. “They help us find serenity at a time when, having emerged from Covid, and with a very harsh economic crisis we also have to face this situation.”
They grit their teeth, continuing to repeat that «we have nothing to argue about with others. We accept all cultures and religions, we don’t hate anyone, but we ask for peace. And not just for us, for the whole of Lebanon. “We desire a serene and lasting peace, we hope that a President of the Republic will be elected who has an eye on the entire Lebanese territory and on all the populations”, he concludes referring to the stalemate situation that has blocked the election of the head of state for now two years. «A president who can protect the 10,452 square kilometers of our Lebanese territory. We can’t do it anymore. Ours is a cry to the whole world: peace. And even though I’m sure I won’t see her, I hope that one day my three children will be able to live peacefully instead.”