TYRE, Lebanon: Activists, unions, civil society groups and politicians gathered Friday at the Tyre restaurant that was bombed earlier this week to condemn the attack.

At the Tyros restaurant gathering, Nasser Farram, deputy head of Tyre’s Cultural Forum, read a statement in the name of those present in which he condemned the “criminal explosion that aimed [both] at terrorizing the owners of tourist institutions and restaurants and at forcing them through repression – and not guidance – to follow the conceptions of criminals and those behind them of what is allowed and what is banned.”

No casualties have been reported from the Wednesday explosion at the Tyros, which is meters from the Queen Elissa Hotel, which along with a wholesale liquor store, was the target of a similar attack last month that appeared to be related to the sale of alcohol. Tyros’ owner Zuheir Aranaout, who was the only representative of Tyre’s tourism sector at the Wednesday meeting, has repaired the damage to his restaurant and told The Daily Star that it will host a planned New Year’s Eve Party.

No suspect has been arrested in any of the three bombings, and Farram’s statement denounced this. The statement also called on those not present “not to get confused between the understandable and legitimate religious convictions of some and the process of enforcing these convictions through terror.”

Speaking to The Daily Star, Farram attacked Hezbollah without explicitly naming the party, saying that “two years ago a traditional Brazilian band was banned from performing a dance show in Tyre, despite the municipality’s original approval, because of heavy pressure put on the former municipal council.”

“Today it starts with alcohol, tomorrow [forcing women to wear] veils, and later banning music and going to the beach,” Farram said. “We defend freedom and we do not need anyone to give us morality lessons. The duty of the religious man is to convince the drinker that alcohol harms him, but no one can ban another from drinking.”

Ghassan Farran, head of Tyre’s Literature and Thought Forum said that “what is taking place here sends a wrong message to society ... We reject this manner of expression. It is barbaric and targets social, economic and cultural structures by violating human rights.”

Among the political figures in attendance were Mohammad Safieddine of the Syrian National Socialist Party and Ali Jamal of the Lebanese Communist Party. Safeiddine called for an increased number of security forces and patrols, and Jamal said “we reject a method that completely contradicts the freedoms protected by Lebanese law.”