ODE TO LEBANON

Henri Zoghaib (*)

for the launching of “Min Ajl Lubnan” - Washington, D.C. – Friday, May 18, 2007

Distinguished guests,

I come to you, to the new world, from the land of the ancient world.

I come to you, to the leader of the new world order, from the country that suffers from its region’s surrounding disorder.

I come to you, to the stable United States of America, from the state of Lebanon which suffers from instability in a dangerous neighborhood.

I come to you from the country that gave birth to Khalil Gibran and Amin Rihani, to the country that gave birth to an opportunity, the chance for the thoughts of Gibran & Rihani to flourish, because their mother country, Lebanon, was suffering from oppressions of all kinds.

It was suffering? Yes. And it still suffers.

Nevertheless, despite all these adversities, Lebanon has always survived, and will always survive: The mystery of Lebanon lies in its uniqueness.

And what is this uniqueness?

Like the cloud is Lebanon: thin, transparent, but filled with filled with the promise of geniuses.

Like the heart is Lebanon: small in volume, but vital to the whole body of the Middle East.

Like the brain is Lebanon: as small as an embryo but capable always of creating innovative people.

Like the lighthouse is Lebanon: scarce on land, but its light reaches the farthest distances of the sea and the land.

That’s what Lebanon is: a little country occupying a few square kilometers, but with its light shining all over the globe.

And that’s why we are always proud to say that Lebanon is the oasis of quality not quantity. It’s neither the how much nor the how many. It’s the HOW in every aspect.

Quality knows not the smaller/bigger equation; it knows not digits and numbers. Rather it knows of the mind and creativity. Such are the qualities of the Lebanese people, in Lebanon and abroad, where they are spread far, so far, till the farthest spot in the Amazon.

They are celebrated all over the world, not understated, but as stars in their communities as well as in any other community they happen to be part of.

As if those Lebanese, since their early dawn in history, were destined to be leaders not followers. This is why and how, in the countries where they settled, they become presidents, governors, senators, ministers, parliamentarians, scientists, artists, poets, writers, thinkers, inventors, scholars, physicians, administrators, and successful in every field of knowledge where you’d find a Lebanese or a Lebanese descendant, shining every where and every now and then, enriching more and more the brain of this lighthouse called Lebanon.

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As old as its cedar trees, its snow and historic mountains, as old as its sea and sun, Lebanon has been, still is, and will always remain this bright brain in the corpus of the Middle East.

Lebanon is the land of brightness not the land of darkness.

Lebanon is the land of freedom and mission not the land of oppression.

Lebanon is the land of creativity and dynamism not fanaticism and fundamentalism.

Lebanon is an oasis of dialogue between cultures and civilizations. The richness of its nature and the diversity of its people give it a plus in richness not a fraction of factions.

The factions have been created by Lebanese politicians who could not remain in power, carried on the shoulders of their followers, unless the Lebanese people remained a bunch of factions fighting among each other and bound with hatred and factionalism.

The Lebanese emigrants did not forsake their beloved Lebanon as a mother-land, but rather fled from its corrupted governors who, for more than half a century, have not built anything but tribes and farms for themselves, for their descendants and their blind followers, and never meant to work for building a strong state with a strong government for the generations to come.

The weakness of Lebanon is not in its creative brain, but in its political body. Its body is inhabited by biased egoistic politicians, but its brain is conducted by geniuses who are themselves its real message to the world. In the words of Pope John Paul II himself during his recent visit to Lebanon, Lebanon is a “message” to the whole world.

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A skeptic might ask: why should we defend Lebanon?

For its geography? Some Lebanese individuals abroad own similar territory in the countries where they live.

For its demography? Its inhabitants are equivalent to the number of people living in a few blocks in Manhattan or Shanghai.

But Lebanon is neither geography nor demography. It’s a ROLE MODEL.

And its role emanates from both its history and heritage:

Lebanon is the land of EL, the Father of all Gods, the first god of love and forgiveness.

Lebanon is the land of Byblos (the oldest inhabited city where its native son Cadmus introduced the alphabet to the world, the city that gave its name to the Bible).

Lebanon is the land of Tyre, the city that gave its daughter Europa to the continent which today carries the name of that beautiful girl of Lebanon,

Lebanon is the land of Sidon, the city of Eshmoun the healing god of health.

Lebanon is the land of Baalbeck the still-everlasting-mystery of an ancient architecture that has yet to divulge its secret, and which remains today the most beautiful Roman temple in the East and the West.

Lebanon is the land of Beirut, the seat of the famous Law school of ancient times, some hundreds of centuries ago.

Lebanon is the land of Cana, where Jesus Christ made his first miracle of transforming water into wine and was revealed as the messiah to his disciples.

This Lebanon of rich ancient civilizations, cultures, legacies and heritage, should never be seen under geographic or demographic criteria, but rather through its rare history; and there lies its role currently and in the future.

The ROLE MODEL! This is Lebanon’s identity in its milieu, the role that the whole world is currently looking for and seeking, the dialogue the world is aching for.

While conflicts between religions, ethnic groups, cultures and civilizations rage, Lebanon stands out as the country of dialogue between religions, ethnic groups, cultures and civilizations.

Lebanon is the womb of (natural) dialogue not (artificial) conflict. While conflict generates wars and troubles, dialogue generates mutual understanding and peace.

This topic is a major one that the United Nations Organization is working on, as a task and an ambition, to bridge through dialogue the different cultures of its 198 members, as well as to create, initiate or simulate a pilot country, a role model, and this country is already there, has been for centuries and centuries, a perfect prototype of the inter-living togetherness between ethnic groups, religions, denominations and civilizations, composed of different roots, and with a rich diversity of groups intertwined together.

This country is Lebanon, where the different cultural, ethnic and religious communities embrace each other, if not politically at least spiritually, away from the political divisions created horizontally by the politicians, while vertically the people of Lebanon are united and stand tall by the strength of their roots.

What is needed to enable this prototype?

It needs to be isolated from the conflicts surrounding it, and to stop being made into the battle field of its close or distant neighbors.

Because Lebanon is the land of freedom, it has become a battlefield, the weakness of its successive governments having made its freedom an alibi for enemies to get refuge in Lebanon and plot against their own governments. This is how freedom in Lebanon has become both its saving grace and the source of its disasters.

Lebanon can no more bear to be an arena for others to fight their wars on its territory, using the arms of Lebanese factions, and a handful of corrupted Lebanese political leaders who allow themselves to be their outsider masters’ agents, voices and arms as well.

Therefore, Lebanon needs to be given officially, by the UN, the role it was destined to play: a moderator and an ideal platform for dialogue. Lebanon then will become truly not idealistically, the University of the Middle East, the Hospital of the Middle East, the Hotel of the Middle East, the Oasis of the Middle East, the Bank of the Middle East, and the Media Center of the Middle East.

Once we get there, when Lebanon is spared from the surrounding region’s conflicts, its quality will strengthen, and our beloved country will show the whole world what and how it is meant to be: the country of quality not quantity, the country known for its creativity, not its geography nor its demography.

Getting there, I believe that this is what “Min Ajl Lubnan task force” has been created for, since, from its very first event launched today, this task force has committed itself with a mission statement under the auspices of Ameen Rihani who said: “I am my country’s chosen voice” and of Gibran who said: “Only death can dim the lamp of knowledge that is within you”.

Let this newly born Lebanese task force be our new Lebanon’s “chosen voice” and the new “lamp of knowledge” to pass the torch of knowing Lebanon to the new generations to come.

Distinguished guests,

Congratulations to all of you for the birth of this new task force for Lebanon, Men Ajl Lenbaan.

Congratulations to Lebanon for having such Lebanese messengers like May Rihani, Suheil Bushrui, and all the other task force members collaborating together to serve our beloved Lebanon.

It is in this sacred womb that the new Lebanon will be conceived, the new Lebanon which will be (let’s hope that it will be) the salvation of our new generations.

Long live our newly born “Men Ajl Lubnan”.

Long live our adored and adorable Lebanon.

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*) Director of the “Center for Lebanese Heritage” - Lebanese American University - Beirut