This week, the opposition Liberal, NDP and Bloc Quebecois parties called for the convening of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development in order to challenge the federal government's Middle East policy and the evacuation of Canadians from Lebanon. Several Lebanese-Canadians, groups and NGOs applied to be witnesses and were accepted by the Clerk of the Committee. These witnesses travelled to Ottawa from across the country on short notice and at considerable personal expense. However, opposition MPs, led by Alexa McDonough of the NDP, used procedural rules to conclude committee business before hearing from selected witnesses who did not hew to the Opposition's anti-government line. Among these witnesses was Elias Bejjani, Chairman of the Canadian Lebanese Coordinating Council, an umbrella organization for six non-profit Lebanese-Canadian groups. What follows are excerpts from Mr. Bejjani's prepared testimony, which Ms. McDonough and other opposition MPs did not permit Canadians to hear.

The primary objective for any evacuation operation from a theatre of war is to ensure the safety of those being evacuated. This fundamental objective was successfully achieved through the Canadian evacuation operation from Lebanon, whereby thousands of Lebanese Canadians were transferred to safety in a relatively short period of time, from a hostile environment and under dangerous and complex circumstances. I take this opportunity to declare before your Honourable Committee, loudly and in good conscience, with enormous gratitude, and on behalf of the Canadian Lebanese Human Rights Federation, the organizations represented in the Canadian Lebanese Coordinating Council, and all other members of the Lebanese Canadian community whose opinions, fears, and aspirations we express: Thank you to the government of Stephen Harper. And thank you to all Canadian officials and security personnel who contributed to the success in the largest operation of its kind in Canadian history.

Those who don't know Lebanon and have no on-the-ground understanding of the situation there at the present time, and who have no knowledge of the diversity of groups involved with security on the ground in Lebanon, may see in the operation a number of mistakes. Their observations may be factual if their standards of judgement were drawn from Canadian standards. But their criticisms are unfair when the operation is measured against a Lebanese and Middle Eastern background.

We understand the psychological context and the deteriorating situation in terms of security and basic living conditions that the evacuated Lebanese Canadians faced. We also understand the spontaneous expressions of criticism that some of them directed at the Canadian authorities upon their return to Canada. But what we reject is the blatant attempt by certain organized groups in Canada to exploit the Lebanese tragedy and portray the Lebanese Canadian community as supportive of Hezbollah and other similar organizations listed on the terrorism list of the Canadian government.

On March 14, 2005, 1.5 million Lebanese citizens from all walks of life marched peacefully in the streets of Beirut against the Syrian occupation and Hezbollah, in what became known as the Cedar Revolution. The vast majority of the Lebanese people want a Lebanon that is free, sovereign, independent, democratic, and free of militias and terrorist organizations. The Lebanese have demanded, and continue to demand today, respect for international law and the implementation of all provisions of UN resolution 1559 stipulating the disarming of all Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias, the deployment of the Lebanese Army along the border with Israel, the revival of the 1949 Armistice Agreement between Israel and Lebanon, and the spreading of the authority of the Lebanese state over its entire territory. In addition to the above provisions, we call for the deployment of international deterrent forces on the Lebanese-Syrian borders to put an end, once and forever, to the cross-border smuggling of arms.

The Lebanese people are a peace-loving people. Our community in Canada, which has received help and respect, can be a pillar of freedom, peace, security and stability for Lebanon. Long live Canada and long live Lebanon.

- For more information, visit www.10452lccc.com