“Lebanon Debate”
The issue of preventing about 300 Muslim students from performing prayers on the campus of the Lebanese American University (LAU) in Balat – Jbeil emerged from the university’s walls, turning into a public debate that carried a direct warning from the Imam of the city of Jbeil, Sheikh Ahmed Al-Laqis, and a striking response from former MP Fares Saeed.
During the Friday sermon, Al-Laqis called on the university administration to address the issue and provide a designated place for Muslim students to perform prayers, warning that the continuation of the situation as it was may prompt other options.
He said: “If the university administration will not resolve this issue, people will resort to another solution,” in a position that raised the ceiling of confrontation and placed the LAU administration under increasing public pressure.
The head of the “Our Lady of the Mountain Meeting,” former MP Fares Saeed, did not hesitate to enter into the debate. He acknowledged that the students’ demand was “right,” but he strongly objected to the way it was presented and the warning language that accompanied it.
Saeed addressed Al-Lakkis by saying: “When advice is made public, it becomes a scandal, and sometimes a provocation,” calling on him to address the issue directly with the university administration, calmly and “to remain silent.”
He concluded with a clear message: “Ask your father and your family, Jbeil is the land of peace.”
Between Al-Laqis’s warning and Saeed’s response, the university administration now needs to address the issue quickly, before the issue of a place for prayer turns into a confrontation that goes beyond the university campus and takes on religious and political dimensions that no one needs.
