Kataeb leader Samy Gemayel denounced the events which took place in August 7, 2001, noting that Lebanon needs the spirit of those students’ resistance.

“August 7 has become a symbol of a defiant phase known as the students’ resistance against the Syrian occupation, repression and the police regime which suppressed both political and public freedoms,” Gemayel wrote on Twitter for this occasion.

“This regime assumed the role of repudiation, arrest and murder; it was challenged by proud stances from the youth of sovereign factions voicing out ‘freedom, sovereignty, independence,’” he added.

“I’ve experienced this phase in details with Kataeb comrades and activists from other sovereign political parties, in which my convictions were molded and I’ve grown firmly attached to Lebanon,” Gemayel stated in another tweet.

“For the sake of this struggle and in honor of all the sacrifices made by hundreds of activists, I pledged an ongoing resistance with the same spirit and firmness, because oppression is still the same with different faces and methods and Lebanon is unwell. Lebanon needs the spirit of August 7 activists,” he pointed out.