How will History Remember Amin Gemayel
Dr. Joseph Hitti
August 01, 2007
(This opinion was published originally in Arabic by Laila Nicolas Al-Rahbani on www.tayyar.org. It has been translated with some modifications by Joseph Hitti)
There’s an ambiguity as to who really nudged Former Lebanese President Amin Gemayel to run for the Parliament seat in the Matn by-elections. According to his wife, Joyce, it was his son Sami who nominated him. According to Samir Geagea, Amin Gemayel did not want to run but they imposed it on him. And according to his own statement, he chose to run.
Why all these justifications? Is there something that the Bristol Gathering is trying to hide, since it asked Gemayel to run? Why do they want to keep the real reason a secret? Is there something Gemayel is ashamed of?
It is strange that Gemayel can be ashamed of anything. His history is replete with shameful “accomplishments” for which every Lebanese citizen who cares more about the country than about money is embarrassed about.
History is indeed merciless:
How can we forget that it was the Phalange Party with Karim Pakradoni and the Gemayels who engineered the fatal rapprochement with the Assad regime and brought Syria officially and formally into Lebanon in 1976?
How can we forget what Amin Gemayel did during his presidential term, starting with his obstructing of the State and its institutions? How can we forget his roving presidential decrees by which he converted the State and its institutions into a Limited Liability Corporation managed by roving decrees?
How can we forget that when Amin Gemayel acceded to power in 1982, the dollar was worth 2.35 Lebanese Pounds, and when Amin Gemayel left power in 1988, the dollar had become worth 2,000 Lebanese Pounds.
How can we forget that the Christians were forced out of Mount Lebanon under his term and at the hands of his allies whose weapons displaced the Christian population of every place in Lebanon where they went? From North to South, from Tony Frangieh and his family to Dany Chamoun and his family, and the saga continues.
How can we forget that it was Gemayel who went to America and, having heard a few words of support, felt as big as America, just like Siniora today. He made his famous fiery speech in which he said, “Every shell that falls on Beirut, we will return it by the hundreds on Damascus”, only to invite a deluge of fire and rockets on Beirut, and nothing from the Americans but sweet words. Then as soon as he returned to Beirut, Gemayel asked for an appointment with the Syrians who ignored him until he went begging them on all four.
How can we forget how Amin and his Army Chief Ibrahim Tannous engaged in narrow sectarianism, and after breaking up the Army, building it on sectarian fanaticism and trying to buy good consciences with blank checks, they are now engaging in revisionist history?
We were fortunate then that an exceptional and altogether different leader took the reins of the Army and tried his best to bring cohesion back to the Army and rebuild a national patriotic ideology that does not distinguish one military from another based on region or sect.
How can we forget that Gemayel met with Syrian President Hafez Assad 14 times to try and convince him to extend Gemayel’s term, and when Assad refused, only then did Gemayel turn inimical towards Syria?
Amin Gemayel’s history and his exploitation of the blood of the country’s heroes in order to come to power are well known. Lebanon’s collective memory, particularly the Christian, still shudders at the devastating record left behind by Gemayel.
Gemayel’s opportunistic reach for power, in testament to his personal incompetence and ineptitude is typified by the fact that the three times he reached for power, he did it following a death in the family:
In 1970, Sheikh Maurice Gemayel died and his nephew Amin inherited his seat in Parliament.
In 1982, President Bashir Gemayel was killed, so his brother Amin inherited the presidency from him.
And now in 2006-2007, his son Pierre Gemayel was killed, and here is Amin unable to change his habit, hurrying to inherit the seat of his dead son.
This is a man who never earned power because of his acumen, diplomacy, intelligence or record. He wants to impose on the people of the Matn the medieval practice of political inheritance for eternity, instead of political competence for the simple reason that he has an absolute lack of the latter.
The people of the Matn won’t let this insult pass. Atavistic and instinctive tribal emotions will not replace reason as a guide to our future and the future of our children. Reason will be the order of the day and we will choose reason and competence. The fate of the country depends on it. The fate of all countries in this day and age cannot be determined by primal emotions, but rather by rational individuals and minds who stand to undo the centuries of corruption by political, financial and religious feudalism.
This is the battle of emancipation that follows the battle of liberation. It begins with you, people of the Matn. Carpe Diem and onward to change!
There’s an ambiguity as to who really nudged Former Lebanese President Amin Gemayel to run for the Parliament seat in the Matn by-elections. According to his wife, Joyce, it was his son Sami who nominated him. According to Samir Geagea, Amin Gemayel did not want to run but they imposed it on him. And according to his own statement, he chose to run.
Why all these justifications? Is there something that the Bristol Gathering is trying to hide, since it asked Gemayel to run? Why do they want to keep the real reason a secret? Is there something Gemayel is ashamed of?
It is strange that Gemayel can be ashamed of anything. His history is replete with shameful “accomplishments” for which every Lebanese citizen who cares more about the country than about money is embarrassed about.
History is indeed merciless:
How can we forget that it was the Phalange Party with Karim Pakradoni and the Gemayels who engineered the fatal rapprochement with the Assad regime and brought Syria officially and formally into Lebanon in 1976?
How can we forget what Amin Gemayel did during his presidential term, starting with his obstructing of the State and its institutions? How can we forget his roving presidential decrees by which he converted the State and its institutions into a Limited Liability Corporation managed by roving decrees?
How can we forget that when Amin Gemayel acceded to power in 1982, the dollar was worth 2.35 Lebanese Pounds, and when Amin Gemayel left power in 1988, the dollar had become worth 2,000 Lebanese Pounds.
How can we forget that the Christians were forced out of Mount Lebanon under his term and at the hands of his allies whose weapons displaced the Christian population of every place in Lebanon where they went? From North to South, from Tony Frangieh and his family to Dany Chamoun and his family, and the saga continues.
How can we forget that it was Gemayel who went to America and, having heard a few words of support, felt as big as America, just like Siniora today. He made his famous fiery speech in which he said, “Every shell that falls on Beirut, we will return it by the hundreds on Damascus”, only to invite a deluge of fire and rockets on Beirut, and nothing from the Americans but sweet words. Then as soon as he returned to Beirut, Gemayel asked for an appointment with the Syrians who ignored him until he went begging them on all four.
How can we forget how Amin and his Army Chief Ibrahim Tannous engaged in narrow sectarianism, and after breaking up the Army, building it on sectarian fanaticism and trying to buy good consciences with blank checks, they are now engaging in revisionist history?
We were fortunate then that an exceptional and altogether different leader took the reins of the Army and tried his best to bring cohesion back to the Army and rebuild a national patriotic ideology that does not distinguish one military from another based on region or sect.
How can we forget that Gemayel met with Syrian President Hafez Assad 14 times to try and convince him to extend Gemayel’s term, and when Assad refused, only then did Gemayel turn inimical towards Syria?
Amin Gemayel’s history and his exploitation of the blood of the country’s heroes in order to come to power are well known. Lebanon’s collective memory, particularly the Christian, still shudders at the devastating record left behind by Gemayel.
Gemayel’s opportunistic reach for power, in testament to his personal incompetence and ineptitude is typified by the fact that the three times he reached for power, he did it following a death in the family:
In 1970, Sheikh Maurice Gemayel died and his nephew Amin inherited his seat in Parliament.
In 1982, President Bashir Gemayel was killed, so his brother Amin inherited the presidency from him.
And now in 2006-2007, his son Pierre Gemayel was killed, and here is Amin unable to change his habit, hurrying to inherit the seat of his dead son.
This is a man who never earned power because of his acumen, diplomacy, intelligence or record. He wants to impose on the people of the Matn the medieval practice of political inheritance for eternity, instead of political competence for the simple reason that he has an absolute lack of the latter.
The people of the Matn won’t let this insult pass. Atavistic and instinctive tribal emotions will not replace reason as a guide to our future and the future of our children. Reason will be the order of the day and we will choose reason and competence. The fate of the country depends on it. The fate of all countries in this day and age cannot be determined by primal emotions, but rather by rational individuals and minds who stand to undo the centuries of corruption by political, financial and religious feudalism.
This is the battle of emancipation that follows the battle of liberation. It begins with you, people of the Matn. Carpe Diem and onward to change!