The Consular Corps of Warsaw has chosen the Consul of Lebanon Mr. Kabalan Frangieh to be the new president of the Consular Corps as of 19 June 2007. Mr. Frangieh is succeeding the Consul of Peru who presided over the Corps for two years.

STATEMENT ISSUED
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS OF LEBANON
H.E. Mr. FUAD SINIORA 28 MAY 2007

– On Sunday, May 20th, Fateh al Islam attacked army positions in Tripoli brutally killing 32 soldiers most of whom were off-duty at the time. According to our investigations and confessions from suspects in custody, Fateh Al Islam was behind the terrorist bus bombings in Ain Alaq on February 13th in which innocent civilians lost their lives. They were also responsible for a number of robberies. The recent clashes have coincided with the three bombings in Beirut and Aley the past week and preliminary investigations point to the same group.

  – This is not a war between Lebanon and the Palestinians. It is a war that was launched against both the Lebanese and the Palestinians. We are fighting a fringe group called Fateh al Islam, composed of a number of terrorists of various nationalities, who have illegally infiltrated into Lebanon and assembled in the Palestinian Nahr Al Bared refugee camp, using it as a base for its operations effectively hijacking it against the will of its residents. In fact, the Palestinian population taken hostage inside the camp has repeatedly requested their departure. Both the Lebanese and the Palestinians are the victims of this group’s malicious acts and ideology whose ends and ambitions are neither connected nor related to Islam or Palestine.

  – The Palestinian Authority has publicly condemned Fateh Al Islam and asserted that it bears no connection to the political organizations in Palestine. Also, the various Palestinian factions have all publicly disassociated themselves from this terrorist group condemning the attack against the Lebanese army from the start. They have also committed to assist the Lebanese government in putting an end to this phenomenon.

  – The Arab League and the UN Security Council also released very strong statements of support for our efforts, concurrently and accurately identifying the group we are facing as terrorists whose ends and ambitions are completely disconnected from and unrelated to Islam or the Palestinian cause.

  – With the help of local Palestinian groups, we have urged Fateh Al Islam to surrender in order to face a fair and judicial legal process as opposed to further confrontation and violence.

  – We remain fully committed to the just Palestinian cause and stand in solidarity with the people of Palestine. Since its inception, this government has made concerted efforts to improve the livelihoods of the Palestinian refugees living in the camps. It has worked hard to rally support for our plan for improved camp conditions from a number of countries in the international community. Unfortunately, Fateh Al Islam is clearly thwarting these efforts by destabilizing and aggravating the dire conditions in the camps.

  – We are also concerned about the humanitarian situation and have taken steps to address the issue in securing a cessation of hostilities to allow civilians to exit the camp. We are being as cautious as possible in the hope of sparing unnecessary loss of life. It should however be noted that Fatah Al Islam are firing from civilians areas, targeting by sniper fire any civilians trying to flee. Their obvious aim is to use the helpless refugee population as a human shield, which is both immoral and illegal under all international human rights and humanitarian law.

  – According to our sources and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), the vast majority of the camp’s residents have in fact left and are being well taken care of at nearby camps and locations. We are also working on sending humanitarian supplies into the camp for those who remain.

  – Now more than ever, the international community has a responsibility toward Palestinian refugees and refugee camps and is called upon to fulfill it. We greatly appreciate all humanitarian support being dispatched, helping to alleviate the humanitarian conditions of the innocent people who have been affected by these troubling events.

  – We are fighting terrorists to protect Lebanon and the safety and security of all the people, Lebanese, Palestinian, and others living here. No country in the world would allow for such attacks against their own soldiers and citizens to occur within their borders, especially at the hands of foreign fighters who entered the country illegally. The Lebanese government and army are doing their utmost to deal with this threat decisively yet cautiously. The alternative would be very dangerous, sending a message to outlaws and terrorists around the world that Lebanon would be easy and fertile ground for their operations. Lebanon rejects and fully condemns terrorism and will not tolerate it under any circumstances.

  – The Lebanese army, fully backed by the entire population, remains the sole entity with the right to legitimately exercise the use of force, as a last resort, in defending its citizens’ security. Lebanon will not be a land of lawlessness and impunity. It has suffered a lot from irresolution, permissiveness and interventions over more than forty years. We will stand firm and insure that our country remains a land of liberty, sovereignty and stability, where citizens are safe and protected by the rule of law. We will continue to be the responsible member of the Arab and international community, respectful of its laws and resolutions. Lebanon has always stood for the noble principles of coexistence, plurality, freedom, democracy, tolerance, openness and moderation. We will live up to our legacy.

On 19 May 2007, “Collegium Civitas” and “Ibn Khaldun Institute” organized a Conference on Forced Migration in the Middle East after World War II in which many officials and scholars participated. The Embassy of Lebanon was represented by the Charge d’Affaires Mr. Kabalan Frangieh who gave a speech about the Lebanese experience in this field. The Conference was organized to shed the light on issues of migration in the Middle East and namely the migration of Polish people to the Middle East during and after World War II. Below is the text of the speech given by Mr. Frangieh on this occasion.

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Conference on Forced Migration in the Middle East after WW II

Speech by Chargé d’Affaires a.i. of Lebanon Kabalan Frangieh
in “Collegium Civitas”
19 May 2007

Distinguished President of Collegium Civitas,
Distinguished Director of Ibn Khaldoun Istitute,
Distinguished Professors and Students of the Collegium,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a great pleasure for me to have been invited today by Ibn Khaldoun Institute and Collegium Civitas to speak about the migration in the Middle East and Lebanon in particular. Allow me first to thank Professor Zagórski and his entire staff for organizing this conference which will shed the light on the problems of migration in the Middle East.

Raising the consciousness on problems has always been part of the solution. I will first speak on the Migration from Lebanon and the different waves of emigrants from it and then of the migration to Lebanon, namely the polish immigrants who came to Lebanon during and after World War II.

Lebanon’s image in the world, especially in the aftermath of the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in February 2005 has not been a bright one.

This tragedy and the resulting political upheaval are indicative of Lebanon’s continued transition after a prolonged civil war. The current political events overshadow a naturally open, beautiful, hospitable and historic country, the small size of which is not at all related to the accomplishments it has achieved over time.

Lebanon has made significant contributions to world civilization.

Our forefathers the Phoenicians are very well known for developing navigational skills more than four thousand years ago that allowed them at the time to reach areas far away from their bases.

Throughout history, Lebanese people were known to have migrated extensively both under the form of voluntary migration and involuntary migration. Indeed that explains why the population of Lebanon is now about 3.750.000 while there are more than 12.000.000 people of Lebanese origin living abroad.

IT IS SAFE TO SAY THAT THE LEBANESE EMIGRATION IS A PHENOMENON IN ITSELF.

In fact, Lebanon has witnessed four main waves of emigration:

1_ The first one was in the late 1800s, during the rule of the Ottoman Empire which occupied Lebanon and the whole Middle East from the 16th century until the end of World War I in the 20th century, when many thousands of Lebanese Christians began their emigration from the Middle East to the Americas and to West Africa and Australia in order to escape the persecution and oppression.

2_The second wave was due to the hard economic conditions imposed on the region before and during World War I which prompted Lebanese from all religions to emigrate. And then The new favorable conditions of life encountered by the emigrants encouraged more to emigrate to the new world.

3_The third one was after the end of World War II, when a new wave of emigration took place because of economic hardships and especially because of the creation of Israel in 1948 and the wars launched by Israel and the political instability throughout the region. It is estimated that in the first half of the 20th century, almost one third of the population of Lebanon left. And Lebanese people now constitute an integral component of the populations of Latin America, the United States, Canada and Australia.

4_ The fourth wave was due to the civil war that occurred in Lebanon between 1975 and 1990 which caused a new flow of Lebanese emigration which included people from all religious affiliations. The Arab Gulf and Saudi Arabia in particular were the favorite destination for tens of thousands of Lebanese emigrants.

Thanks to their remittances, the balance of payements of Lebanon was always positive throughout the civil war and the Lebanese economy was and still is able to overcome a lot of its hardships.

Today, every country in the world has Lebanese or people of Lebanese origin living on its soil, be it in Europe, Africa, America or the most remote island. And as I speak there are a lot of young Lebanese men and women thinking or planning to emigrate to one of the corners of this world.

Of course there are a few hundred Lebanese community members who live now in Poland. Most of those are graduates of Polish universities and are married to Polish women. They are well integrated in the Polish society and they also are an important pillar in the relations between our two nations.

On the other hand, Lebanon has also received immigrants throughout history who have settled down and formed communities that constitute now the diverse social and religious tissue of Lebanon which is considered for some the country of minorities living together side by side.

In the last century most immigrants to Lebanon came from countries in the Middle East such as Palestine and Syria and from more far away countries such as Armenia and Poland.

Lebanon has been known to Polish travelers and pilgrims on their way to the Holy Land since the Middle Ages. Among them were Polish Princes and Poets the likes of the famous poet Juliusz Słowacki .They all wrote on how they were well received by the people in Lebanon.

Lebanon has also well received Polish immigrants.

In 1939 at the start of the Second World War when Poland was occupied, the Soviet army deported millions of Polish people to Siberia. The survivors of these deportation camps, who were released when the Soviet Union joined the Allies, were led by the Free Polish Army to many countries including Lebanon.

The most enduring and significant influx of Poles to Lebanon occurred between 1942-1952.

First to arrive were Polish students who attended various academic institutions and later in 1945-46, at the end of World War 2, polish families coming from Iran arrived in Lebanon. All in all, about 5000 Polish nationals took refuge in Lebanon. They were soon integrated into the Lebanese society. The Polish community comprised scientists, professors, artists and musicians who enriched Lebanese cultural life. Many of them achieved prominent posts in the Lebanese administration. Today there is an active and integrated Polish community in Lebanon and it constitutes an excellent bridge between our two countries.

To give you an idea on how well polish immigrants were received in Lebanon,

I will read you an extract from Irena Juchniewicz memoir: a polish student who migrated to Lebanon

“There is no greater tragedy for a child than to loose its home, its country, all the things safe and familiar and to be uprooted and taken across the wilderness, taigas and steps to barren and hostile lands. I lost both my parents and sister there. The whole world of a child came about to an end.

And then, as if by a miracle, I found myself in an oasis, in paradise, where people were kind, hospitable and friendly; the sea was blue and warm; the orchads full of familiar and exotic fruit. Peace and harmony everywhere. It was almost unreal especially because I knew that in my own country and right across Europe, in contrast to Lebanon, the war was raging and there was devastation and ruins everywhere.

Lebanon gave us, the orphans of war, a much needed solid foundation of a civilized family life and believe in human kindness and generosity of heart”.

From the eyes of this little girl I want you to see the hospitable and warm Lebanon that I know, this is one example on how Lebanon has made significant contributions to humanity.

I wish to conclude by reiterating my sincere congratulations to the organizers of this conference and by stating that, with the long list of important participants in this event, the Conference will no doubt constitute a significant contribution to the discussions about the problems emmigrants are facing with the hope that no migration in the world be a forced migration.

Thank you for your attention.

On 25 April 2007, the Ambassador of Lebanon, Mr. Massoud Maalouf, hosted a dinner in his residence in honor of the Polish-Lebanese Parliamentary Group. The guest list included the President of the Group, Deputy Janusz Kołodziej, Senator Piotr Andrzejewski and Deputy Tadeusz Wita.

  Also present were the former Director of the Department of Africa and the Middle East in the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Krzysztof Płominski, the former Ambassador of Poland to Lebanon, Mr. Waldemar Markiewicz, Ambassador Tomasz Niegodzisz from the Development Department in the MFA, and the President of the Polish-Arab Friendship Association Mr. Bogusław Zagórski.

  Journalists in attendance included the well-known Polsat journalist, Mr. Bogusław Chrabota and the journalists who accompanied the Polish Official Delegation to Lebanon in early March 2007. This delegation donated 55 prefabricated houses for the refugees of the July 2006 Israeli attacks on Lebanon.

  We were also honored to have the Vice President of the Polish Press Club for Foreign Affairs, the well-known veteran journalist Zygmunt Broniarek and Mr. Stanisław Błaszczyk, members of the Lebanese Community in Warsaw, the General Manager of Hotel “Le Regina”, Mr. Stefan Rädström, and the First Secretary of the Embassy Mr. Kabalan Frangieh.

  Ambassador Maalouf announced the status of the embassy’s initiative to establish a sister-city liaison between Zabrze, Poland and Zahle, Lebanon. The President of Zabrze, Ms. Małgorzata Mańka-Szulik, will be visiting Lebanon on 28 April to meet with her counterpart in Zahle. She will be accompanied during this visit by two of her assistants including Mr. Marcin Lesiak who attended the embassy dinner.

  In early May, Deputy Tadeusz Wita, a member of the Polish-Lebanese Parliamentary Friendship Group will also visit Lebanon accompanied by his Chief of Staff, Mr. Marcin Kornas. Meetings are planned with the President of the Lebanese-Polish Parliamentary Group, Mr. Antoine Andraos, the President of the Parliamentary Commission for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Abdellatif Zein, and other political leaders in Lebanon.

  During the dinner, Ambassador Maalouf, speaking in Polish, highlighted the activities of the Polish Parliamentary Group and expressed his appreciation for their efforts to intensify bilateral relations between Poland and Lebanon.

Full text of Ambassador Maalouf’s speech.

Przemówienie Ambasadora Massouda Maaloufa dn.25.04.2007

  Pragnę wyrazić wobec wszystkich moje ogromne zadowolenie, że są dzisiaj z nami. Jest to wielki zaszczyt dla Ambasady Libanu, że zbieramy się tego wieczora, aby uhonorować Polsko-Libańską Grupę Parlamentarną pod przewodnictwem Pana Posła Janusza Kołodzieja.

  Proszę mi pozwolić, że powitam szczególnie serdecznie Pana Senatora Piotra Andrzejewskiego, a także Pana Posła Tadeusza Witę, również sekretarza Grupy, aktywnego przyjaciela, Pana Michała Madaja.

  Cieszę się niezmiernie, że jest wśród nas były dyrektor Departamentu Afryki i Bliskiego Wschodu w polskim Ministerstwie Spraw Zagranicznych Ambasador Krzysztof Płomiński i były ambasador Polski w Libanie Pan Waldemar Markiewicz, jak również Jego Ekscelencja Pan Tomasz Niegodzisz – jeśli Bóg zechce – przyszły ambasador w Libanie, a też prezes Towarzystwa Przyjaźni Polsko-Arabskiej profesor Bogusław Zagórski i nasz drogi przyjaciel z Telewizji POLSAT Pan Bogusław Chrabota, przyjaciele Pan Zygmunt Broniarek i Pan Stanisław Błaszczyk i nasz wielki przyjaciel, Dyrektor Generalny wspaniałego Hotelu “Le Regina”, Pan Stefan Radstrom i wszyscy przyjaciele z szacownej libańskiej społeczności w Polsce, i oczywiście, mój kolega, pierwszy sekretarz w Ambasadzie, aktywny dyplomata, Kabalan Frangieh.

  Szanowni Państwo!

  Niektórzy niesłusznie uważają, że parlamentarne dwustronne grupy przyjaźni to tylko listy nazwisk posłów z obydwu zainteresowanych krajów, że podobne grupy faktycznie nie prowadzą żadnej działalności, aby zaktywizować i umocnić dwustronne stosunki. Być może to przekonanie bierze się stąd, że parlamentarne grupy nie są częścią władzy wykonawczej albo stąd, że niektóre z nich nie są ani aktywne ani skuteczne. Mówię otwarcie, że nie podzielam tego poglądu, a co więcej, że nasze doświadczenie z Polsko-Libańską Grupą Parlamentarną można uznać za bardzo udane.

  Od czasu powstania Polsko-Libańskiej Grupy Parlamentarnej siódmego czerwca (2006) dwa tysiące szóstego roku, jej przewodniczący i członkowie prowadzą działalność, która stała się jeszcze bardziej widoczna, kiedy w niedługim czasie od jej powstania, Izrael dokonał barbarzyńskiej agresji na Liban, a grupa z przewodniczącym na czele, mając za sobą bardzo mocne wsparcie senatora Piotra Andrzejewskiego i senatora Ryszarda Bendera zaczęła starać się o ochronę Libanu, jego narodu i jego infrastruktury. Senator Andrzejewski opracował w tej sprawie wniosek do przedłożenia w Senacie, popierający Liban. A potem polskie władze podjęły decyzje o udzieleniu Libanowi pomocy humanitarnej oraz przeznaczeniu na odbudowę naszego kraju sumy miliona euro podczas konferencji w Sztokholmie, w której osobiście wzięła udział pani minister spraw zagranicznych – korzystam z tej okazji, aby jej przekazać pozdrowienia i podziękowania. Polska postanowiła również zwiększyć swój udział w Doraźnych Siłach Zbrojnych Narodów Zjednoczonych UNIFIL stacjonujących na południu Libanu. Także Jego Ekscelencja Zastępca Minister Spraw Zagranicznych Witold Waszczykowski złożył oficjalną wizytę w Libanie, aby wyrazić poparcie Polskiego Rządu dla naszego kraju w owych ciężkich okolicznościach.

  Realizując decyzję podjętą na Konferencji w Sztokholmie, delegacja polskiego Ministerstwa Spraw Zagranicznych wraz z grupą dziennikarzy udała się do Libanu, gdzie przekazała wioskom na południu kraju kontenery mieszkalne przeznaczone dla uchodźców z domów zburzonych przez izraelskie naloty.

  Pragnę powitać tutaj dziennikarzy z tej delegacji, którzy są dzisiaj z nami, Panów: Macieja Worocha, Jarosława Olechowskiego i Jacka Czarneckiego. Dziękuję im wszystkim za pracę wnoszącą coraz większy wkład w umacnianie stosunków między naszymi krajami.

  W ramach swojej działalności Polsko-Libańska Grupa Parlamentarna podjęła godne uznania kroki, kiedy Polskie Linie Lotnicze LOT postanowiły zawiesić rejsy do Bejrutu. Władze libańskie poleciły mi śledzić sprawę, więc poruszyłem ten temat z Dyrektorem Departamentu Afryki i Bliskiego Wschodu w Ministerstwie Spraw Zagranicznych Panem Michałem Murkocińskim, który wnet udzielił pomocy i wsparcia, a następnie skontaktowałem się z naszą drogą Grupą Parlamentarną; przyjął mnie wtedy Pan Poseł Kołodziej i podjął wszelkie możliwe wysiłki. Także Senator Andrzejewski przyjął mnie niejednokrotnie i rozpoczął pośpieszne działania. Zachowam w pamięci mocne słowa, jakie wygłosił w Senacie na ten temat. I mimo że ta sprawa nie została jeszcze dotychczas załatwiona, jestem całkowicie pewien, iż nasi przyjaciele zrobią wszystko, co można zrobić, by skutecznie rozwiązać problem.

  Specjalne pozdrowienia kieruję do posła i nowego członka Grupy Parlamentarnej Pana Tadeusza Wity, który zaprosił mnie do Zabrza. Z pomocą dyrektora jego biura Pana Marcina Kornasa, obecnego tutaj z nami, przygotowano dla mnie w tym znanym mieście udaną wizytę, podczas której spotkałem się też z Prezydent Zabrza Panią Małgorzatą Mańką-Szulik i zwiedziłem kilka przedsiębiorstw przemysłowych oraz słynny na świecie Instytut Kardiologii. W rezultacie tej wizyty podjęliśmy kroki na rzecz podpisania umowy o miastach bliźniaczych między polskim Zabrzem a libańskim miastem Zahle a także na rzecz zwiększenia wymiany gospodarczej między Śląskiem a regionem Bekaa w Libanie. Dwudziestego siódmego kwietnia – za dwa dni – Prezydent Zabrza z dwoma współpracownikami udaje się do Libanu, aby omówić sprawę miast bliźniaczych. Towarzyszyć jej będzie delegacja gospodarcza, która – według przygotowanego przez nas programu – spotka się w Federacji Izb Przemysłu, Handlu i Rolnictwa w Bejrucie z libańskimi przedsiębiorcami. Wizyta ta przyczyni się też zapewne do rozwoju turystyki w obu kierunkach. Pierwszego maja Pan Poseł Tadeusz Wita, wraz z dyrektorem swojego biura, uda się do Bejrutu, gdzie odbędzie spotkania z przewodniczącym i członkami Libańsko-Polskiej Grupy Parlamentarnej oraz z libańskimi działaczami państwowymi w celu umocnienia stosunków politycznych między naszymi krajami. Przy tej okazji pragnę podziękować libańskiemu obywatelowi, który od trzydziestu dziewięciu lat mieszka w Polsce, Panu Johnowi Quyumjianowi, za wysiłki, jakich nie szczędził, uzgodniając techniczne szczegóły wyjazdu polskiej delegacji do Libanu.

  Cała ta działalność miała miejsce w ciągu kilku miesięcy od czasu powstania Polsko-Libańskiej Grupy Parlamentarnej, tak więc można tylko pochwalić polskich parlamentarzystów za aktywność. Jeżeli ktoś wątpi w efektywność działania podobnych grup parlamentarnych, niech się do mnie zwróci i porozmawia na ten temat.

  Jeszcze raz witam wszystkich gości na kolacji wydanej na cześć naszej drogiej grupy parlamentarnej.

  Bardzo serdecznie wszystkim dziękuję.

On 19 April 2007, “Collegium Civitas” invited the Ambassador of Saudi Arabia H.E. Dr. Nasser Al-Braik and the Ambassador of Lebanon H.E. Mr. Massoud Maalouf to participate in a panel within the framework of lectures on the Islamic Civilization. Professor Boguslaw Zagorski, the organizer of the panel, asked the Ambassador of Saudi Arabia to speak about Islam as a religion and as a culture and about the contribution of Islam to the world civilization. The Lebanese Ambassador was asked to make a presentation about “Christian Arabs in the Middle East”.
Attached is the complete text of the conference that Ambassador Maalouf presented on this occasion. Professors and students from the “Collegium Civitas” as well as scholars attended the event. Former Ambassador of Poland to Lebanon H.E. Mr. Tadeusz Strulac was also present.

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CHRISTIAN ARABS IN THE MIDDLE EAST
CONFERENCE IN “COLLEGIUM CIVITAS”
BY
AMBASSADOR MASSOUD MAALOUF
19 APRIL 2007

Mr. President of Collegium Civitas,
Excellency, Ambassador of Saudi Arabia,
Professor Boguslaw Zagorski,
Distinguished Professors and Students of the Collegium,

When Professor Zagorski invited me to participate in this panel together with the Ambassador of Saudi Arabia, in the framework of lectures about Islamic Civilization, and to make a presentation about the Christian Arabs, I felt very honored to have the chance to speak about the Christians in our region, not because I personally am an Arab Catholic from Lebanon, but more importantly to clarify some misconceptions and misunderstandings about the very existence of Christian Arabs.

However, when I started to focus on the topic, I came to realize the challenges as some important questions came to mind:
– Does it not sound awkward to speak about the Christians in the Arab World when we are conducting a series of lectures on the Islamic Civilization?
– Is the topic of Christian Arabs subject to misinterpretation when the purpose of this panel is to showcase the great contributions of Islam to the world?
– Would the audience even be interested in listening to a presentation about Christian Arabs when the main focus of this event is about Islam?

With strong encouragement from Professor Zagorski, the host of this panel, and despite these reservations, I will accept the challenge in an effort to give you an objective picture of the Christian Arabs in the Middle East. The essence of this presentation is not to try to counterbalance the important and the extensive contributions of the Islamic civilization to the world by speaking about the Christian Arabs, but to focus on the existence of ethnic Arab Christians throughout the Middle East.

First of all, let me clarify some definitions and set some parameters for this presentation:
– This conference is about Christian Arabs, meaning the ethnic Arabs who follow the Christian faith; it is not about the Christians from different nationalities and countries who happen to live in the Arab world such as the Italians or the French who reside in Tunisia or Egypt, for example.
– Although there is a slight nuance between Christian Arabs and Arab Christians, I will use these two terms interchangeably.
– This is not a presentation in religious terms where I discuss the difference between the Christian and Moslem faiths, or between the different Christian Arab denominations such as the Orthodox, Catholic or Melkite etc. I only intend to provide background on the existence and cultural traditions of Christian Arabs in the various Arab countries.
– Finally, I want to make clear from the outset that the Christian Arabs do not constitute a united community or a society dispersed in different Arab countries. There is not a specific entity called Christian Arabs, but there are the Egyptian Christians, the Lebanese Christians, the Syrian Christians, etc…and taken altogether, they constitute what I refer to as the Christian Arabs.

Having set these parameters let me begin with a brief historic overview.

Many people in the West are not aware that there are Christians who are ethnically Arabs. To them, the words Arab and Moslem are synonymous. In fact, not all Arabs are Moslems and not all Moslems are Arabs. Although the great majority of Arabs follow the Islamic faith, there are some Arab countries the populations of which are comprised of a sizeable proportion of Arab Christians.

By the same token, there are many non-Arab countries, where the majority of the population practice the Islamic faith such as Iran, Afghanistan, Indonesia and Malaysia.

As we know, the Holy Koran descended on the Prophet Mohammed in the year 622 A.D., and the conversion of the Arab tribes to the new Islamic faith began then. At that time, the Arabs were either Christian, pagan or Jew. We should remember here that Jesus Christ was born and lived in Palestine and that Christianity began in what came to be known as the Arab world. Many Arab tribes had adhered to Christianity since the first century including the Nabateans and the Ghassanids. A significant number of the Arabs on the eve of the arrival of the Islamic faith were Christian. With the Islamic conquests and the establishment of Islam in the Arab lands, a sizeable proportion of the Christians converted over time to Islam while others decided to maintain their pre-existing beliefs. So the Arab Christians are first and foremost Arabs who did not convert to Islam, but who continued to practice their Christian religion with relatively few conditions alongside their Moslem Arab brothers. They were known as the “people of the book”.

As I said earlier, the majority of the Christian Arabs are concentrated in the countries of the Middle East. The thousands of Christian Arabs who live in the Gulf countries and those who reside in North Africa are not nationals of these countries, but, rather are immigrants or temporary residents coming from Middle Eastern countries. So when we talk about Arab Christians, we are referring to those who are an integral part of the populations of Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Jordan and Iraq.

It is difficult to have an exact number of those Christian Arabs because of the lack of statistics and because the estimates are not always objective. However, according to most specialists, it has been estimated that Christian Arabs make up around 10% of the total population of Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Palestine and Iraq.

Egypt contains the largest number of Arab Christians. According to the official estimates, over 4 million Egyptians follow the Christian faith. Their church is called the Coptic church and they are known as Copts. The great majority of the Copts are Orthodox Christians, while a smaller number of them are Catholic and Protestant. Although we hear about occasional conflicts in remote Egyptian villages between Christians and Moslems, the Copts do coexist with their Moslem brethren without any kind of segregation or separation. Many have attained very high political levels, the most prominent of them being Boutros Boutros Ghali, who was the Minister of State in charge of Foreign Affairs in Egypt, and later became the Secretary General of the United Nations, and subsequently the Secretary General of the Francophone Organization.

In Syria, the last census was conducted in 1960 and it revealed that the Christians represented fewer than 15% of the total Syrian population. There have been no other censuses after that date, and the current estimates put the proportion of Christians at around 10% which is about 2 million citizens. In Syria, the Christians enjoy the same legal and social status as their Moslem brethren and many of them occupy ministerial posts. It is worth noting that the Greek Orthodox and the Greek Catholic Patriarchates of the whole Middle East have their official headquarters in Damascus.

In Jordan, it is estimated that Christians number around 400,000, which is about 7% of the population, most of them being Orthodox with a small minority of Catholics and Protestants. They are well represented in the Parliament, in the government, and in the military. They also enjoy a high level of freedom and a respected economic and social level.

In Palestine, it is said that Christians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank now make up less than 2% of the total population although this proportion in the past was much higher. There are four times more Christian Palestinians in the Diaspora (outside Palestine) than in Palestine as a result of the long-standing conflict with Israel. Many Christian Palestinians have played a prominent role in the Palestinian national movement, including George Habash, Nayef Hawatmeh and the eloquent and famous scholar and political activist Mrs. Hanan Ashrawi.

In Iraq the number of Christians has decreased over the last decades with many of them having immigrated to North American and Scandinavian countries. The prevailing situation in Iraq in the last few years has significantly increased that exodus. The current numbers are estimated at around a few thousand. Most of them are Assyrians and Chaldeans of the Orthodox and Catholic affiliation.

Having given you a general overview of the Arab Christian population in the Middle East countries, I will speak now in more detail about the Christian Arabs in my country, Lebanon. Of course it is impossible to relate the two thousand year history of Christian presence in Lebanon in just a few minutes. I will focus on the most important aspects of this topic.

In Lebanon, the last actual census was conducted in 1932, which means that today, there are no accurate statistics relating to the Lebanese population. The current estimates are that Christians represent between 30% and 40% of the total Lebanese population which puts the number of Lebanese Christians at between 1,100,000 and 1,300,000. The 1989 Taef Accords which put an end to the civil war insured an equal power-sharing between Christians and Moslems. The seats in the Cabinet and in the Parliament as well as the high posts of the civil service are divided fifty-fifty between Moslems and Christians. According to an unwritten pact adopted on the eve of our independence in 1943, the President of the Republic must be a Maronite Christian, the Speaker of the Parliament must be a Shiite Moslem and the Prime Minister must be a Sunni Moslem.

The majority of the Christians in Lebanon belong to the Maronite Church. There also exists a significant proportion of Greek Orthodox and Greek Catholic and a minority of Syriac Orthodox, Syriac Catholic and Protestant Lebanese.

The Armenians who live in Lebanon and who constitute 6% of the total population of Lebanon cannot be considered ethnic Arabs. They migrated from Armenia to Lebanon in the wake of the tragedy they suffered at the hands of the Turks in 1915 and although they are well integrated in the Lebanese society and well represented in the Parliament and the Cabinet they are not Arabs from a pure ethnic point of view. However, they are considered as an important Christian component of the Lebanese society. Those of you who would like additional information about the Armenians in Lebanon can read about the conference I presented on this subject in 2006 by visiting our embassy’s website at www.lebanon.com.pl .

In general, Christians have been present in Lebanon since the beginning of Christianity. Many of them are descendants of the Ghassanid tribe who migrated over the centuries from Yemen to Syria and then to Lebanon. Beautiful convents are found throughout Lebanon, especially on strategic hills where Christians took refuge to escape persecution during the Middle Ages and when Lebanon was occupied by the Ottoman Empire from the 16th until the 20th century.

Speaking of convents, I would like to mention here that the famous Polish poet, Juliusz Slowacki, visited Lebanon in 1837 and lived in a convent in a village called Ghazir. From there he wrote many letters to his mother in Poland telling her that he was residing in “this convent above the clouds” and also describing the beauty of Lebanon. In 2002, a Juliusz Slowacki museum was inaugurated inside this convent. Other connections between Poland and the Christians of Lebanon also exist. On three occasions in the 19th century a Polish Jesuit Father named Maksymillan Ryllo was sent by the Vatican to Lebanon. He established the “Collegium Asiaticum”in 1841. This collegium was to become in later years the French University Saint Joseph of which I am proud to be a graduate. Also, the Polish Cardinal Rubin, a close friend of Pope John Paul II, spent the last two years of his life in Lebanon.

Religious affiliation in Lebanon is the basis for many civil procedures including birth, marriage, divorce and death, and as such, the church plays an important role for the Christians. Indeed, all acts of civil status, like birth, marriage, divorce or death have to be registered first and foremost in the records of the religious authority to which the citizen belongs. More and above, Lebanon does not have a system of civil marriage. When Lebanese citizens get married, they must do so either in their church or through an Islamic religious authority if they are Moslem. It is worth noting that each religious denomination has its own rules and conditions for celebrating a marriage. Once the marriage has been celebrated religiously, the married couple will process the official registration in the civil status department of the government. The same procedure applies for other matters of civil status.

Public schools in Lebanon are open to all citizens, irrespective of their religious affiliation. However, the different religious denominations also have their own private schools to which their followers can send their children if they chose to do so. This includes Catholic, Orthodox, Sunni, Shiite and Druze private schools that follow their respective religious doctrine in addition to the official curriculum.

In spite of the Lebanese civil war that lasted from 1975 until 1990 and which was often incorrectly portrayed as a religious war, Christians and Moslems in Lebanon live in harmony. The vast majority of neighborhoods in Beirut reflect a mix of religious affiliations. There are of course some exceptions where people of the same religious affiliation are preponderant in one area while others are the majority in another area.

The dialogue between Christians and Moslems in the world which was so strongly promoted and encouraged by Pope John Paul II has a completely different implication in Lebanon. In fact, we do not need institutions and structures for a multi-religious dialogue in Lebanon because we live together and we interact with each other very well. It is worthy of note that some of the best scholars on Islam in Lebanon are Christian, including priests and monks who devote their time to studying the Islamic religion in addition to Christian theology. When a Surat of the Holy Koran is mentioned, all Lebanese Christians know immediately what it is about. Christians and Moslems in Lebanon are well versed in the religious obligations and traditions of each other’s religion. The holy month of Ramadan and the Christian Lent are key examples. In many Lebanese villages where Christians and Moslems live together, it is not exceptional to see Moslems helping their Christian brethren ring the church bells on special occasions.

On a different level, although there are some political parties whose members in their great majority belong to one single confession because the goals and aims of that party are to promote the followers of that specific confession, a great number of the political parties in Lebanon are multi-confessional and they include members of all religions. Even the political alliances in Lebanon are not formed according to religious affiliation, but rather on the basis of political interest. In the current political standoff in Lebanon, we can see a number of Christians allied with some Moslems while other Christians are allied with Moslems from the opposite side of the political spectrum.

I have spoken in detail about this tolerance and conviviality between Christians and Moslems in Lebanon in an effort to dissipate any preconceived notion that the Lebanese civil war was a religious war and also in order to not leave you with the impression that the Christian Lebanese constitute a separate entity that lives in our society separate from another Moslem entity. Christians and Moslems in Lebanon do not live on the side of each other but they rather live with each other. They do not coexist, but they live together.

Before concluding this overview of Christian Arabs in the Middle East, I will say a few words about Christian Arabs in the Diaspora. As I mentioned earlier, the Ottoman Empire occupied and ruled Lebanon and the whole Middle East from the 16th century until the end of World War I in the 20th century. This occupation was marked by the oppression of the Christian populations of the area, and in the late 1800s, Arab Christians began their emigration from the Middle East.

In fact, many thousands of Christians emigrated to the Americas and to West Africa and Australia in order to escape the persecution and oppression. The hard economic conditions imposed on the region before and during World War I prompted even more Christians to emigrate, mostly from Lebanon, Syria and Palestine. Although most of the populations of the Middle East suffered under the Ottoman rule, the Christians were the subject of specific religious persecution and for this reason, the majority of emigrants from Syria, Lebanon and Palestine in this period were Christian. The new conditions of life encountered by the emigrants encouraged more Lebanese to emigrate to the new world, and it is estimated that almost one third of the Christian population of Lebanon left in the first half of the 20th century. Christian Arabs from Lebanon, Syria and Palestine now constitute an integral component of the populations of Latin America, the United States, Canada and Australia. They were joined lately by more emigrants from all religions due to difficult economic conditions in the Middle East and also because of the wars with Israel and the political instability throughout the region. This explains the fact that the current Middle Eastern residents of the different countries receiving immigrants represent a variety of religious affiliations whereas the first generations are mostly Christian.

The civil war that occurred in Lebanon between 1975 and 1990 caused a new flow of Lebanese emigration which included people from all religious affiliations. The Arab Gulf and Saudi Arabia in particular were the favorite destination for tens of thousands of Lebanese emigrants. Thanks to their remittances, the Lebanese economy is able to overcome a lot of its hardships. I would like to express the deep gratitude of the Lebanese people to Saudi Arabia for treating all Lebanese residents, including the Christians, with great generosity and warm hospitality.

I will conclude this presentation by speaking briefly about the challenges that Christian Arabs in the Middle East are facing today.

Christian Arabs have lived in peace and harmony with their Moslem brethren over the centuries and the only periods where conflicts arose were during the times of foreign occupation or foreign intervention. Christian Arabs have always been and still are an integral part of the Arab society. When the Crusaders invaded the region in the 11th and 12th centuries, although some Christian Arabs allied themselves with the Crusaders, most of the Christian Arabs fought alongside the Moslem Arabs against the invaders because they were all Arabs fighting foreign forces. It is a reality, however, that the number of Christians in the Arab world and especially in Lebanon continues to decline. So what will be the future of the Christians in the Middle East and what are the main challenges that lie ahead?

The three kinds of challenges are economic, political and religious.
– Economic challenges: The difficult economic situation in the Middle East in general and particularly in Lebanon is encouraging many people, including Christians, to emigrate. High unemployment, inflation and the ongoing economic crisis make emigration a viable alternative particularly for the youth in search of a better future.
– Political challenges: Tied to the economic challenges are the political challenges. This includes the continuing Israeli-Arab conflict, political instability in Lebanon and Palestine for instance and the war in Iraq, to name a few. Threats of more conflicts in the region and in Lebanon prompt Christians to find a future for them and for their children in more stable countries.
– Religious challenges: The growing fundamentalism among Moslems as well as Jews and Christians is a source of grave concern for the Christians. The Christians are already a small minority in a mostly Islamic majority in the Middle East. The Islamic fundamentalists, for political reasons, consider the Arab Christians as allies of the West, and the Christian fundamentalists of the West consider them allies of the Arabs. And as Arabs themselves, the Christian Arabs consider Israel as their natural enemy. So we can see how the Christian Arabs are facing very difficult religious challenges.

Is emigration the only way out of this difficult situation? I definitely do not think so. I strongly believe that the Christian Arabs and particularly the Christian Lebanese, thanks to their traditional links with the western world, constitute a viable and useful bridge for the relations between East and West. At a time when the Ottoman Empire was trying to suppress the Arabic language completely, the monks of Lebanon preserved this language by introducing the first Arabic language printer in 1610. By the same token, Christian Arabs of today, particularly those of the Diaspora, can play a significant role in bridging the gap between the Moslem Arab world and the Christian West. For example, Mr. Nick Rahall, a prominent Christian Lebanese-American U.S. Congressman participated in Ms. Nancy Pelosi’s Congressional Delegation when it met with President Bashar Assad of Syria earlier this month. Subsequently, another Lebanese-American member of Congress Mr. Daryl Issa met with President Bashar Assad on a later visit. These are only very recent examples of what actions Arab Christians are taking in order to bring the Christian West closer to the Moslem East.

These challenges are not insurmountable and I am confident that the Christian Arabs will remain an integral part of the Arab society, working with their Arab Moslem brothers for world peace. Fundamentalism in any religion is only a temporary stage, and all religions if their teachings are not misused, preach peace and understanding. So let us hope for the best, in the Middle East and throughout the world.

I want to conclude this presentation by thanking the President of this prestigious “Collegium Civitas” Professor Edmund Wnuk-Lipinski and Professor Boguslaw Zagorski for giving me the opportunity to participate in this thought-provoking panel.

I also want to thank you all for your kind attention.

A l’occasion de la semaine de la Francophonie en Pologne, l’Ambassadeur du Liban M. Massoud Maalouf a organisé un dîner dans sa résidence à Wilanów en l’honneur de Son Excellence le Maréchal du Sejm Monsieur Marek Jurek.

Parmi les nombreux invités, on comptait les Ambassadeurs des pays francophones à Varsovie, ainsi que le Directeur des Affaires Internationales du Sejm S.E.M. Rafal Karpinski, le Directeur du Protocole Diplomatique S.E. l’Ambassadeur Tomasz Orlowski, le Directeur du Département Afrique et Moyen-Orient M. Michal Murkocinski et le Vice-Directeur du Département Europe au Ministère des Affaires Etrangères de Pologne M. Tomasz Kozlowski. On remarquait aussi la présence du Président du Club de la Presse le célèbre Zygmunt Broniarek, ainsi que M. Boguslaw Chrabota de Polsat.

Au cours du dîner, l’Ambassadeur Maalouf récita un poème qu’il avait spécialement composé pour cette occasion. L’Ambassadeur de Roumanie, dont le pays est le président en fonction de la Francophonie, et l’Ambassadeur de France firent de brefs discours en l’occasion. La soirée fut couronnée par les éloquentes paroles du Maréchal du Sejm M. Marek Jurek, qui parla de l’importance historique de la France pour la Pologne et des relations de son pays avec le Liban. Les invités ne manquèrent pas d’exprimer leurs remerciements pour cette initiative de l’Ambassadeur du Liban.

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video 1 (5min0s 5,00Mb) video 2 (2min33s, 2,5Mb)

Poème composé et récité lors du dîner
par l’ambassadeur Massoud Maalouf
en l’honneur
du  Maréchal du Sejm Monsieur Marek Jurek
à l’occasion de la semaine de la francophonie
Résidence du Liban, 15 Mars 2007

Chers Collègues et Amis de la Francophonie,
D’être venus ce soir, je vous en remercie.

La Suisse se chargeait de cet événement.
Cette année, c’est le tour de la Suisse d’Orient.

Bienvenue ; je le dis vraiment de tout mon cœur,
Pour les Chargés d’Affaires et les Ambassadeurs.

Un salut chaleureux j’adresse à la France,
Car la Francophonie lui doit son existence.

Et je salue aussi, bien sûr, la Roumanie,
Président en fonction de la Francophonie.

Je me sens très heureux et honoré aussi,
De recevoir Monsieur Rafal Karpinski,

Et Monsieur Kozlowski, en charge des Affaires
Du continent Europe au sein du Ministère.

Et notre grand ami, Michal Murkocinski,
Expert en langue Arabe aussi bien qu’en Polski,

Et notre Directeur du Protocole unique,
Cher Tomasz Orlowski, brillant et sympathique.

Mais le plus grand honneur pour nous c’est d’être avec
Le Maréchal du Sejm Monsieur Marek Jurek.

*** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***

Monsieur le Maréchal, soyez le bienvenu.
Votre gentillesse nous est déjà connue.

Vous avez en effet la personnalité,
Qui se fait distinguer par son honnêteté.

Vous êtes admiré pour votre intégrité
Et car vous possédez tant d’autres qualités.

Vous maîtrisez si bien la langue de Molière,
Que la Francophonie se sent de vous très fière.

Vous avez accepté cette invitation
Malgré vos très nombreuses préoccupations,

Que ce soit au sujet de la Constitution,
Ou de l’avortement, ou de la conception.

Quant à moi je vais dire un mot des relations
Si bonnes, grâce a vous, entre nos deux nations.

Lorsque le Liban fut l’objet d’une agression,
Et en Juillet dernier est montée la tension,

Je suis venu vous voir a cette occasion.
Vous m’avez écouté avec grand’ attention,

Massoud Maalouf

A Group of young Lebanese students in Don Bosco School visited Poland on the invitation of the Salesian Mission Center in Warsaw from 29 December 2006 to 10 January 2007.
During their stay, they visited several cities and sang Christmas Carols in Churches and in Lebanese restaurants in Warsaw. They were invited by Mr. Szadi el Masry for a dinner at his restaurant “Samira” on Friday the 5th of January and held a concert in Le Cedre restaurant on the 8th of January. On this same day, they were received by the Apostolic Nuncio H.E. Monseigneur Josef Kowalczyk at the Nunciature .
At the end of their visit, the youngsters went back to Lebanon.

A Lebanese Official Delegation from the Internal Security Forces visited Poland on the invitation of Polish Authorities from the 2nd of December to the 9th of Dec 2006 to explore the possibilities of bilateral cooperation in security issues. The Delegation included General Robert Jabbour , General Muhammad Kassem and Major Ghassan Maalouf.

The Director General of the ISF , General Achraf Rifi, who was supposed to head the delegation, canceled his visit due to developments in Lebanon. The Delegation held meetings with Officials from the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Their program also included a visit to Gdansk.

On the occasion of this important visit, the Ambassador of Lebanon Mr. Massoud Maalouf hosted a dinner in his residence on the 6th of December which was attended by officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Interior. At the end of their mission, the members of the Delegation left for Prague on a similar mission.

On the 3rd of December 2006, the Ambassador of Lebanon Mr. Massoud Maalouf, at the invitation of Mr. Maciej Bohusewicz, gave a conference on the Armenian community in Lebanon.

After an introduction about Lebanon, its geography and recent history, Ambassador Maalouf spoke about the arrival of the Armenians in Lebanon. Then he underlined the importance of the contribution of the Armenian community in the development of the country in the fields of science, arts, culture and especially in the economic field.

The ambassador also spoke about the Armenian participation in the political life in Lebanon and he gave some examples of prominent Armenian personalities in Lebanon.

In concluding his presentation, Ambassador Maalouf encouraged the Polish Armenian community to establish contacts with the Lebanese Armenian community and he offered the services of the Lebanese Embassy in Warsaw to help in these contacts.

The conference was followed by a questions and answers sessions.

THE ARMENIAN COMMUNITY IN LEBANON

Conference delivered by
Ambassador Massoud Maalouf
Warsaw, 3 December 2006

It is a pleasure and an honor for me to be with you today in this beautiful museum, to speak about Lebanon, its civilization and its culture, and about the Armenian community, its importance and its contribution to the development of Lebanon. Your presence today reflects an interest in Lebanon of which I am greatly appreciative. Thank you all for coming. My special thanks go to Mr. Maciej Bohusewicz who organized this event.

The recent events that have taken place in Lebanon unfortunately create a rather negative image of the country which is definitely in a period of transition after a 1975-1990 prolonged civil war which brings to the memory images of explosions and destruction that are still alive in the minds of many people. The period of transition continues today. The current political events overshadow a naturally beautiful, hospitable and historic country whose small size is not at all related to the enormity of the accomplishments it has achieved over time.

In my presentation today, I will try first to uncover to you the true reality of Lebanon with an introduction about the history and geography of the country and then I will speak about the importance of the Armenian presence in that country.

Overview of the History and Geography of Lebanon:

Lebanon is a small country on the Eastern Mediterranean sea. Its area is 10.452 square kilometers, which is more or less equivalent to two thirds of the area of Malo-Polska. Lebanon is in fact located at the juncture of three continents, Asia, Europe and Africa. For centuries, it has been at the crossroads of numerous civilizations. Although small in area, Lebanon is known for the diversity of its geography, landscape, culture and history. The contrasts between the high snow-capped mountains and the arid hills, the cool and dry climate of the interior and the humid heat of the coast, signify the richness of the country. The population of Lebanon is about 3.750.000 inhabitants, with about 12.000.000 of Lebanese origin living abroad.

Lebanon is an ancient country with 7,000 years of recorded history. It has been known as the biblical “land of milk and honey” and its beauty and abundant resources have attracted conquerors and occupiers from earliest times, each leaving behind traces of their enriching civilizations. The numerous archaeological sites throughout the country are witness to this rich and diverse history.

The cedars of Lebanon are famous all over the world. These stately trees are mentioned frequently in the Bible, and throughout the centuries, have been used to build ships and temples, not only for the peoples who lived in ancient Lebanon, but also for the neighboring civilizations. The cedars are now the symbol of Lebanon and the current Lebanese flag features a cedar in its center. It is worth noting that Lebanon’s name is mentioned 76 times in the Bible.

The Phoenicians, who ruled over the Mediterranean Sea with their superior vessels and navigational skills, were early settlers of Lebanon as of the third millenary BC. But the country has also attracted many other civilizations in successive waves. In ancient times, Lebanon was occupied by the Assyrians, and the Hittites coming from the East and was invaded by other armies like the Persians, the Seleucids and the Hyksos and many others over the centuries. It interacted commercially and culturally with the Pharaohs of Egypt. The Greeks then occupied it. The Romans defeated the Greeks and ruled Lebanon for a few centuries. The seventh century witnessed the occupation of Lebanon by the Arabs and since that time, Lebanon has been an integral part of the Arab world. The Ottomans invaded Lebanon from the early 16th century until the end of World War I when Lebanon came under a French mandate. Our Independence from France was achieved on 22 November 1943.

Lebanon is a founding member of the United Nations Organization and the League of Arab States. One of Lebanon’s prominent personalities, Dr. Charles Malek, was one of the main contributors in drafting the Chart of Human Rights of the UN.

Since 1943, Lebanon has experienced periods of stability and prosperity as well as periods of conflict and civil war. And since we cannot fully comprehend today’s Lebanon without taking into consideration developments since 1943, I will speak now very briefly about our recent history.

Since independence in 1943, Lebanon has been the victim of the situation in Palestine on its southern border. In fact, the state of Israel was established in 1948 after expelling hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, many of whom took refuge in Lebanon. The Arab states bordering Israel (Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon) signed armistice agreements with the Jewish state in 1949 and since that time, we have been trying, so far without success, to find a just solution to the problem of the Palestinian refugees. Although Lebanon did not participate in the three wars that took place between Arab bordering states and Israel in 1956, 1967 and 1973, Israel did not stop attacking Lebanon during all these years, under the pretext of retaliating against Palestinian refugees in Lebanon who were trying to reclaim their lost properties in Israel. The internal situation in Lebanon combined with the regional circumstances and the East-West competition at the time led to a devastating civil war that started in 1975 and ended in 1990. This difficult situation was aggravated by Israel’s occupation of South Lebanon in 1978, followed by the invasion of half of the country and the siege of Beirut in 1982.

Under international pressure, Israel was forced to withdraw from parts of Lebanon in 1985 but it maintained its occupation of the southern Lebanon which equaled about 10% of the country. Then the military resistance to this Israeli occupation forced Israel to withdraw from most of Lebanon in May 2000. The more than estimated 400,000 Palestinian refugees who reside in Lebanon continue to have a significant political, economic and demographic impact on Lebanon. Lebanon continues to support the need for a Palestinian state to which the Palestinians can return to live.

Before the civil war began in 1975, Lebanon was known as the Switzerland of the Middle East, a magnet for tourists and commerce. It also was the financial center for the Middle-East. But as you know, a country at war can attract neither tourists nor investments and therefore our economy suffered the consequences. This situation was aggravated by the Israeli occupation of the South. With the civil war ending in October 1989 by an agreement signed by all the factions, Lebanon has started rebuilding its infrastructure and reconstituting its institutions. With amazing speed, Lebanon was able to regain its role in the area and most of the reconstruction projects were finalized in record time. Tourism was also prospering and record numbers of tourists with most of the hotels reserved at full capacity were anticipated this last summer.

However, on the 12th of July, Israeli military aircraft started their 33 barrage of barbaric attacks on the Lebanese infrastructure, destroying bridges, highways and power plants and killing around 1200 citizens, most of them civilians and around 400 of them being children below the age of 12. Beirut International Airport and the ports were heavily damaged, as well as schools and hospitals. Israel’s attacks on Lebanon were reputed to be in response to a border military incident involving the capture of two Israeli soldiers. However, the magnitude of Israeli destruction in Lebanon caused an international outcry highlighting the disproportionality of the Israeli military response in relation to the border incident. In addition, Israel’s use of banned weapons and the thousands of cluster bombs that Israel scattered throughout southern Lebanon result to this day in daily deaths of individuals trying to pursue their agricultural livelihood.

Since the 14 February 2005 assassination of Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, Lebanon has experienced considerable political unrest in part due to the continuing assassinations of selected prominent political figures, the latest being the assassination of the 34 year old Minister of Industry Pierre Gemayel. But as it has overcome previous difficulties and tragedies during its long history, Lebanon will once again overcome this difficult period and move toward a bright and promising future.

It is important to know that Lebanon is a parliamentary republic. Our parliament is elected by citizens who are at least 21 years. Women have had the right to vote in Lebanon since 1952. The 128 members of the Parliament are elected for a period of 4 years and the parliament elects a President of the Republic whose mandate is 6 years non renewable. A total of 18 Moslem and Christian religious sects are officially recognized by the constitution. Therefore, there is a delicate balance of power whereby seats at the Parliament and the Cabinet as well as high level posts of the administration are equally divided between Christians and Moslems. According to a National Pact adopted in 1943 on the eve of our independence, the President of the Republic is a Christian Maronite, the Speaker of the Parliament is a Shiite Moslem and the Prime Minister is a Sunni Moslem. This confessional equilibrium prevails only in the public sector while the private sector is completely free of any religious power sharing.

The Lebanese Economy

Lebanon is and has always been a free market economy. The per capita income is about 5,000 US dollars. Private property has always been respected and protected. Lebanon does not have huge natural resources and our economy is not based on heavy industry. Let us see how the three sectors, Agriculture, Industry and Services contribute to our GDP which totals around 20 billion US dollars.

1: Agriculture

Agriculture constitutes around 12% of our GDP. Lebanon being a country of high mountains and deep valleys, the arable land does not exceed 20% of our territory. The most important agricultural products of Lebanon are: citrus fruits, grapes, tomatoes, apples, a variety of vegetables, potatoes and olives. Lebanon also produces tobacco. Herds of sheep and goats are also raised in Lebanon. Lebanese wine has received many international awards and is known in many countries, including the United States and France.

2: Industry

The contribution of Industry to the Lebanese GDP reaches around 21%. As I mentioned earlier, Lebanon does not rely on heavy industry but only on light industry. Our main industrial products are: cement, jewelry, textiles, chemical products, furniture products and oil refining. Lebanon is also a producer of a variety of agro-industrial products like canned food, olive oil, chocolate etc… I would like to mention here that Patchi, a Lebanese chocolate, is sold in Poland. The company that imports it has already two outlets in Warsaw and is considering expansion opportunities in Poland.

3: Services

Services are the major sector in the Lebanese economy. This sector constitutes around 67% of our GDP. Lebanon is known for the quality of the services that it provides to the consumers, the main services being banking, international trade, and tourism.

The banking system in Lebanon is known to be one of the best in the world. It is strong, reliable, well developed, efficient and customer friendly. There are around 85 banks in this small country, each one having numerous branches throughout Lebanon. Since Lebanon has no currency restrictions, customers can open accounts in the bank and currency of their choice. The only limitations on international transactions are those imposed by international organizations in order to control money laundering and drug money. Other than that, you can transfer in and out of Lebanon any amount in any currency to and from any country in the world, no questions asked.

Another reason Lebanon can attract funds to its banking system is the bank secrecy which was established by law since 1956. In compliance with this law, banks are not allowed to disclose information about the accounts of their customers to any person or any entity, including the government itself. Nobody can know whether a person has an account in this bank or that one or how much funds somebody has in his accounts. The only exception to this rule is when there is a judgment by a tribunal in a criminal case. Otherwise, no information can be given on any account. This law relating to bank secrecy, together with a very low tax rate on interest gained from deposits in Lebanese banks has attracted a big amount of funds to be deposited in our banks. That is why banking is an important item in our services sector.

The other important item in the services sector of our economy is international trade. Since ancient times, Lebanese have been known to be traders. The Phoenicians, with their navigation skills, roamed the Mediterranean area and opened commercial centers on the shores of North Africa and Southern Europe selling their goods and buying the products of the local population. Until now, trade is one of the national characters and traits of our people. One aspect of trade that is well known in Lebanon is the “triangular trade”. This means that a businessman in Lebanon via fax or the internet buys a product in one country and sells it to another country without having to bring the merchandise to Lebanon. He tries to find out what a certain importer needs in one country and he gets it for him from an exporter in another country and he takes a commission on this transaction.

Another important item in the services sector is Tourism. Since the end of the civil war in Lebanon in 1990, our government and the private sector have been very active in reconstructing the tourist infrastructure, including hotels, restaurants, summer resorts etc… that were damaged during the war. Tourism has long been a major source of income for our economy. In Lebanon, tourism takes the form of not only sightseeing, but sports, religious, archeological, business and medical tourism:

– Sightseeing tourism: Lebanon is a beautiful country with high mountains covered with snow most of the year. Our highest peak reaches 3088 meters. We also have deep and gorgeous valleys with rivers that flow from the mountains down to the Mediterranean Sea. Lebanon also enjoys a nice and moderate climate with 4 seasons of the year. Summers are hot and humid on the coast but dry and cool in the mountains. Visitors who come to Lebanon are always taken by the splendor of the landscape.

– Sports Tourism: In Lebanon, different kinds of sport are practiced all year round. Modern ski stations attract ski lovers in winter and the blue sea on the coast receives hundreds of thousands of swimmers in the summer period. All kinds of international sport competitions take place in Lebanon. In February and March, people can ski in the morning and swim in the Mediterranean in the afternoon of the same day.

– Religious Tourism: In Lebanon, there are many pilgrimage destinations for Christians as well as for Muslims. Many of you might not know that Jesus Christ made many miracles between the two cities of Tyre and Sidon in South Lebanon, the first of them being the transformation of water into wine in the city of Kana. Monasteries and churches attract every year a great number of tourists from many parts of the world.

– Archeological Tourism: Archeological sites in Lebanon constitute an important attraction for thousands of tourists. Cities like Byblos, considered the oldest city with continuous recorded history in the world, or Baalbeck known as Heliopolis during the time of the Romans, or Tyre and Sidon are destinations for many people who study history and archeology. These historic sites offer a display of traces of past civilizations that have ruled Lebanon in ancient times.

– Business Tourism: Lebanon is also a destination for thousands of international businessmen who fill our five stars hotels. Business opportunities are vast and are facilitated by the business climate that prevails in Lebanon.

– Medical Tourism: Thanks to a network of modern hospitals and a high level of medical expertise, Lebanon is becoming a destination for treating patients from different countries of the Middle-East .

These were in brief the most important features of our economy. I would like to add that Lebanon is an open and free country and Lebanese businessmen can establish trade and economic relations with their counterparts anywhere in the world. The role of the government is limited to concluding economic agreements with other countries in order to provide for the Lebanese nationals a framework for their commercial activities. It is in this framework that the Association Agreement between Lebanon and the European Union was signed in June 2002. In accordance with this agreement, products can flow freely between Lebanon and the countries of the European Union. Thus Poland is in an advantageous position to increase its international trade prospects given this Association Agreement since Poland became a member of the EU in May 2004. Some 45% of Lebanese imports come from EU countries while 27% of Lebanese exports go to EU countries.

The Civilization and Cultural Life of Lebanon

In this section I will address the contribution of our people to civilization during ancient times and mention some of the more recent achievements of people of Lebanese origin in different fields.

1: In ancient history, the Phoenicians were instrumental in developing navigational skills that allowed them at the time to reach areas far away from their bases. They spread throughout the Mediterranean region a business mentality based on exchanges of ideas and products, thus forging understandings among different peoples and civilizations. But the Phoenicians will mostly be remembered as the people who developed the alphabet and taught it to the peoples of the Mediterranean. History has it that the Phoenician teacher Kadmus came from the shores of Phoenicia to Greece where he taught the new alphabet which was then spread to most areas of the Mediterranean, and was the precursor for the current alphabet we use today.

The Phoenicians are also known for having discovered the scarlet color derived from a sea shell known as the “murex”.

The Phoenicians also invented transparent glass.

These new products, textiles dyed in scarlet color and transparent glass, were in great demand in the old world and allowed the Phoenicians to achieve remarkable prosperity.

Also in the ancient times, and during the Roman period, Beirut was home to the first school of law in the region. Eminent rulers and scholars studied in this prominent school. Unfortunately, a strong earthquake that hit Lebanon in the year 555 destroyed this famous school which was never rebuilt.

2: In modern times, Lebanon’s contribution to culture, medicine, arts and literature has also been remarkable. Except during the period of the civil war, life in modern Lebanon was always marked by intense cultural activities, making Beirut a cultural centre of the Middle-East.

Time does not allow us now to review all the contributions of Lebanese personalities but I will briefly mention Gibran Khalil Gibran, a Lebanese writer, poet, philosopher and artist who lived in Lebanon and the United States in the early twentieth century. Of the many books that he published, The Prophet is the most known. It has been translated into more than 30 languages, including Polish. In 1991, a square was inaugurated in Washington, D.C. by President George Bush, father of the current president in memory of Gibran. Gibran’s biography will be published in Polish some time next year.

Amin Maalouf is also a world known writer who lives in France since 1976 and writes in French. His books have been translated into many languages including Polish and he has received the highest French award in literature.

2: In Medicine

– Dr. Michael Debakey, who comes originally from South Lebanon and who lives now in the United States, is internationally recognized as the most famous heart surgeon in the world. He is known for his innovations in open-heart surgery and for his pioneering work in the field of telemedicine. In the early 90s, when the Russian President Boris Yeltsin had a heart problem, Dr. Debakey was called to perform a surgical intervention on the Russian President.

– Dr. Ma Haide who died in 1988 was the private physician of Chairman Mao Tse Tung. He is known for his contribution in research on occupational medicine and leprosy. His original name was George Hatem. Dr. Ma Haide joined the Chinese revolution in 1939 and participated with Mao in the Great Walk that led to establishing the communist regime in China in the year 1949.

3: In Politics:

Out of the millions of people of Lebanese origin who live on the five continents, thousands of them have occupied high level political posts. In Brazil for instance, where we have 8 million people of Lebanese origin, many have been elected governors or members of congress. The same holds true for similar institutions in the US, Canada, Australia and throughout Latin America. I will mention only a few of these prominent personalities:

– Julio Cesar Turbay, was President of Colombia from the year 1978 until 1982. He died in 2005.

– Ralph Nader is the most prominent consumer advocate in the United States and two times a presidential candidate. His last candidature was in November 2004.

There are many other famous Lebanese citizens in the fields of music, arts, politics, literature, etc… but time does not allow us to mention them all in this conference.

After this overview of the history and geography of Lebanon, I will now speak about the Armenians in Lebanon and their contribution to the development of our country.

The Armenian presence in Lebanon

The mere fact that we are meeting today to talk and discuss about the Armenians in Lebanon shows the importance of that community in the Lebanese society. Why do so many Armenians live in Lebanon and what brought them to our country?? What is the role that they play now in the political, economic, cultural and social life of Lebanon??

Let us first explore why and how the Armenians came to Lebanon and then we will speak about their importance in the Lebanese society.

The contacts between Armenians and Lebanon have started centuries ago. Tigran the Great conquered Lebanon from the Seleucids for a very short period of time and included it in the short lived Armenian Empire. Later on, many Armenians who were part of the Roman troops after the Roman occupation of Armenia were sent to Lebanon. And throughout history, Armenians transited Lebanon on their visits to the Holy Land and quite a number of them had then decided to settle in that country.

But the arrival of Armenians in Lebanon in great numbers began with the tragedy of 1915. Since that date, we notice that Armenians came to Lebanon in 4 major periods:

First wave: This first wave started after 1915 with thousands of Armenians fleeing attacks of the Turkish army. It is mostly in 1918-1921, when France agreed to put the area of Cilicia under Turkish control that Armenians in great numbers escaped from that area fearing further attacks and killings by the Turks.

Second wave: In 1939, the “Sandjack of Alexandretta” which was part of the Syrian territory was given to Turkey. Remembering their past experience with the Turks, great numbers of the Armenians residing in Alexandretta fled to Lebanon and settled in the city of Anjar, near the Lebanese-Syrian border. That city became, later on, a purely Armenian city.

Third wave: The third wave of Armenians arriving in Lebanon took place in the year 1948, when the state of Israel was created and thousands of Palestinians, including Armenians living in Palestine, were forced to flee to Lebanon.

Fourth wave:The fourth time Armenians came to Lebanon in great numbers was in the early 1960s, moving from Syria to Lebanon when Syria united with Egypt, adopted a socialist regime and nationalized private property.

These waves of Armenian emigration to Lebanon brought the numbers of Armenians to around 250,000 at the eve of the Lebanese civil war which started in 1975, out of a total population of less than 4 million.

Although many Armenians settled in Syria and other places, why did so many Armenians choose to settle in Lebanon.

One explanation lies in the fact that Lebanon has historically been a country open to refugees from other parts of the world. The atmosphere of religious freedom and the fact that more than half of the Lebanese population was Christian at that time encouraged many Armenians to come to our country. Another reason is the proximity of Lebanon to Armenia. Many of the first refugees were hoping to return to their country once the troubles ended and they did not want to settle in places far away from the homeland.

Thanks to the Treaty of Lausanne which put an end to the hostilities between the Allies and Turkey, Armenians were allowed to get the citizenship of the countries in which they had taken refuge. So in 1924, thousands of Armenians became Lebanese citizens, although they always hoped to return to their country of origin. The census of 1932 showed that after the first wave of arrivals, there were around 30,000 Armenians in Lebanon holding the Lebanese citizenship.

After speaking about the reasons of the massive Armenian presence in Lebanon, I will now speak about the importance of the Armenians in the Lebanese society.

Let me first say that the golden age of the Armenians in Lebanon, in numbers and in importance, was during the period from 1955 until 1975. Armenians living in Lebanon were quickly integrated in the Lebanese society while preserving and developing their traditions and their language. In other words, the Lebanese-Armenians are Lebanese citizens enjoying all the rights of their fellow citizens while at the same time distinguishing themselves by their religion, their language and their traditions…and their identity. It is worth noting that the Lebanese political system helped the Armenians participate in the political life of the country without having to fight for their rights, since the constitution of our country, as I mentioned in the first part of this presentation, provides for a power sharing among all the religious communities that compose the Lebanese society. So the Armenians were able to share in the power, like any other community, in proportion to their number.

It is important to know that the Armenians, while keeping their identity, are an integral part of the Lebanese society in all its political, religious, economic, cultural and social aspects.

In the political field, the Armenians have 3 major political parties: Dashnak, Hunchak and Ramkavar. Smaller political groups also exist. The Dashnak is the party that represents almost 3 quarters of the Armenians in Lebanon.

The Armenians are also represented in the Lebanese Parliament with 6 members out of a total of 128. Since the Apostolics are the majority of the Lebanese Armenians and since the representation of each community is proportional to its number, 5 out of these 6 parliamentary seats are occupied by that community while the sixth goes to a Catholic.

There are also at least one or two Armenians in the Cabinet, depending on the number of Ministers in each cabinet. So it is well known that the Armenians participate fully in the political life of Lebanon.

In the religious field, it is worth noting that the Armenian Catholic Patriarchate was founded in 1741 in the village of Bzummar, at a time when the size of the Armenian community was very limited, and the majority of them were Catholics.This Patriarchate played an important role during the rule of Emir Bechir II, one of the most famous leaders of Lebanon under the Ottoman Empire.

In 1930, the Armenian Catholicossate was established in Antelias and it quickly became a symbol for all the Armenians of Lebanon and the Diaspora. Antelias is now the place where the most important decisions concerning the Armenians of the Diaspora are made. Antelias could be called the Capital of the Armenian Diaspora.

It is a fact that the majority of the Armenians in Lebanon belong to the Apostolic faith while the Catholics are much less numerous. The Armenian Evangelicals do not have their own church but they worship together with other Lebanese Evangelicals.

In the economic field: It is impressive to see that the Armenian refugees who came to Lebanon completely dispossessed and arriving in a foreign land the language of which they did not even understand, quickly integrated in the society and with their hard work and their dedication, were able in a short period of time to overcome the poverty and to become an important player in the economic life of the country. The Lebanese-Armenians are known to be industrious, hardworking and educated people. They have won the respect of all the Lebanese and they have actively participated in the development and the construction of the country. Lebanon is proud to have such a prominent and respectable component of its society.

In the educational and cultural fields: The Armenian community in Lebanon has enormously enriched the cultural life in Lebanon. The Armenian schools, teaching the Armenian language and preserving the Armenian traditions are very active in every city where there is an Armenian presence. It is very rare to meet a Lebanese-Armenian who does not speak Armenian. At home, the spoken language is traditionally Armenian, and although the Armenian schools follow the Lebanese Government curriculum, the teaching of Armenian is almost compulsory.

The Armenian schools in Lebanon belong to the various Armenian organizations, and mostly to the Apostolic, Catholic or Evangelical churches. But a most important educational Armenian institution in Lebanon is the Haigazian University, known for its educational level and for the academic journals it publishes. I am not aware of any other country outside the Republic of Armenia that has a purely Armenian university.

To support the teachings of the schools and to keep the community aware of all the political developments, newspapers and periodicals are published in Armenian. The most important of those periodicals are: “Azdak” published by the Dashnak party since 1927, the “Zartonk” belonging to the Ramkavar since 1937 and “Ararat” which started as a daily and now has become a weekly published by the Hunchak party since 1937.

Most Lebanese radio and TV stations broadcast programs in Armenian addressing the most important issues of interest to the community.

It is also very important to mention the instrumental contribution of the Armenian community to the cultural life of Lebanon through the creative and famous productions in the world of theatre, painting, sculpture and music.

Let me now say a few words about the most famous Armenians in Lebanon:

After a civil war that took place in Lebanon in 1860 and the massacre of many Christians by the Druze, the European powers imposed on the Ottoman Empire to let Lebanon enjoy a certain autonomy and to name a governor for the country, known as a Mutassarrif, who should be a non Lebanese Catholic, but an Ottoman subject. It is interesting to note that the first and the last governors who ruled Lebanon under this compromise were both Armenian. The first Mutassarrif was Garabed Artin Daoud Pacha (1861-1868). The last one was Ohannes Kouyoumdjian Pacha (1912-1915). Let me say between brackets here that one of those Mutassarrifs was a Polish named Alexander Czajkowski who was appointed in 1902 and took the name of Muzaffar Pacha.

Armenian personalities in the current times include a prominent former minister and member of the Lebanese Parliament the late Khatchig Babikian, a pianist composer Mr. Guy Manoukian, a comedian, Mr. Pierre Shammassian, a politician, Mr. Karim Pakradouni, a very famous painter, Hrair, and a talk show host, Mr. Zaven Kouyoumdjian, and tens of others in different walks of life. General Emile Lahoud, the current President of the Republic of Lebanon, has an Armenian mother, an Armenian wife and he speaks Armenian fluently.

It should be interesting for you to know that the Lebanese Parliament has recognized the Armenian Genocide twice, first on 3 April 1997, and again on 11 May 2000. And thanks to the excellent relations that Lebanon maintains with Turkey, the Turkish reaction to this recognition of the Genocide was very mild, and now Turkey is participating in the United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon, despite the protests of the Armenian community in Lebanon.

I would like to conclude this presentation with a question: what is the future of the Armenian community in Lebanon?

I said earlier that the golden age of the community was in the period from 1955 to 1975. In fact, the civil war that started in 1975 and lasted until 1989 has forced hundreds of Lebanese citizens, Lebanese-Armenians included, to emigrate to North America or to Australia and to some European countries. Now, a vibrant Armenian community lives in California and it got quickly integrated in the American society. The political and economic problems that came after the civil war forced many others to find a new life in other countries, and the Armenian community in Lebanon is now estimated at around 120,000. The mixed marriages between Armenians and Lebanese, and the increasing integration of the community in the Lebanese society are all elements that justify this question. Does this mean that the Armenian community will one day melt in the Lebanese society and disappear? I definitely do not think so. The Armenians are known to be a community that distinguishes itself by preserving its traditions and its language. Although the schools have diminished in numbers due to the loss of almost half of the community through emigration since 1975, they will continue to teach the Armenian language. The churches will always celebrate the Armenian holidays.Some important days, like San Wartan, have become official Lebanese holidays. Lebanon also celebrates officially the Armenian Christmas on the 6th of January which has become an official holiday in Lebanon, just as the 25th of December is an official holiday.

So we can say in conclusion, and in full confidence, that the Armenian community in Lebanon is a well respected and admired community. In spite of the emigration and in spite of the integration within the Lebanese society, it will always be a distinguished community, working in harmony with other communities for the well being of Lebanon, and keeping strong ties with the Republic of Armenia, thus forming a bridge between the two countries. I hope that the Armenians of Poland can build strong relations with the Armenians of Lebanon and promote excellent relations between Poland and Lebanon. I am ready, through our Embassy in Warsaw, to do whatever I can in this respect and I am proud to say that I have many Lebanese and Polish friends of Armenian origin.

Thank you.

On the 25th of October 2006, the Ambassador of Lebanon Mr. Massoud Maalouf hosted a cultural evening followed by a reception in his residence at Wilanow to inaugurate the book “Kalila i Dimna” which was translated to Polish by Dr. Janusz Krzyżowski and published through a contribution of the Embassy of Lebanon.

The Lebanese Embassy was honored by the presence of Senator Piotr Andrzejewski as well as the Chairman of the Polish-Lebanese Parliamentary Group Deputy Janusz Kołodziej and the Vice-Chairman of the Group, Deputy Marian Piłka at this reception.

Guests included Arab Ambassadors accredited to Poland, dignitaries representing the Polish political, cultural, intellectual and academic fields, as well as members of the Lebanese community.

On the program of the evening were speeches delivered by the Ambassador and by Dr.Surender Bhutani in addition to readings of some Fables from the book by the Actor Robert Tondera accompanied by Arab-Andalusian music.

Tribute was made to H.E.Ambassador Massoud Maalouf for contributing in the publishing of the book and to the translator of the book Dr. Krzyżowski for his initiative. “Kalila i Dimna” was originally written by the philosopher Ibn al Moukafaa in Arabic and is now made available for Polish readers.

The Ambassador assured the Attendees that despite all the circumstances Lebanon went through throughout its history and during the last period, its contribution to civilization was never hampered by events or by difficulties and will never be.