TRIPOLI: Several representatives of different Lebanese sects in Lebanon called for strengthening dialogue and openness between each other by “listening to [each] other’s opinion,” Sunday, saying it is the only way to confront the current challenges facing the country.

“Diverse opinions and disagreements are rights that do not impede the principles of coexistence and affiliation to the city of Tripoli,” said Future Movement Tripoli coordinator Moustafa Alloush during a conference organized by the association of Academic Awareness and Vocational Guidance.

Alloush also called on various sides of the city to exert cultural, economic and political efforts to revamp Tripoli as a “city for everyone,” and questioned whether Lebanon is still a country for all Lebanese amid the latest attempts to change its unique structure.

“What is happening today is the continuation of trials to kill the Lebanese entity and Lebanese should be aware and careful at this stage,” he added.

Tripoli Mayor Nader Ghazal said that Lebanese cannot accept the opinions of others if they do not first acknowledge their own positive and negative features.

“What makes Lebanon special … is its plurality and diverse sects living together,” said Ghazal. “If we lose this democratic diversity, we lose the meaning of our country.”

Recent political developments and instability in the region have led some to fear a demographic shuffle they feel could endanger the survival of minorities in the country.

“Tripoli and its suburbs were never populated by one single sect or religion, but it has always been a mixture of all sects,” said former Mina municipality member Jean Touma. “The purchase of lands by Christians away from their strongholds in the city is a further proof that they do not live in isolation.”