*
Letter of Marie Hadad addressed to
the Secretary General of the United Nations twenty-five years before the
outbreak of civil war that ravaged Lebanon
Mr. Secretary General United Nations
Palais
de Chaillot – Paris
I
take heart in addressing this petition to you, emboldened by the appeal you
made public, an appeal which was echoed in the public press and wire services,
bidding the oppressed people—even particulars who have been victims of their
own governments or the high authorities in their countries—to address
themselves directly to you, so that justice may be rendered in their regard.
Since the United
Nations Organization is in lieu of the Supreme Court for all countries, and
even for individuals, as it has been so proclaimed to the whole world, I Marie Hadad, a Lebanese Citizen, born in Beirut, come here
on behalf of all the Daheshists persecuted in Lebanon, to disclose the
following:
A
Lebanese citizen, who is innocent of all the charges and offenses brought
against him,
is being persecuted by the Lebanese Authorities, spearheaded by the President of the Republic himself, Mr. Bechara
El-Khoury. The said President has
acted illegally and in a tyrannical fashion, and this for personal reasons.
He is the husband of my sister, and this nefarious kinship was the cause of the
following events.
Six years ago or
so, my husband and I made the acquaintance of Doctor Dahesh. His life, principles, and
accomplishments have thrilled and fired our admiration right from the start.
My husband and I were certainly not the first among his many adepts;
nevertheless, our conviction, which was based on the cognizance of his
personality and the experience of a long frequentation, was unshakable. Doctor
Dahesh is the figurehead of a Religious Doctrine, based
on the Holy Scripture which preaches the Essential Unity of Religions.
His main goal is to establish a universal
fraternity. His task is to bring about truth and justice. His ken—which is an evangelical rebirth—is at par with the divine faculty and spirit of the prophets. He takes to
task all those who made a profession out of religion just for the sake of personal
gains. He denounces all abuses, hypocrisies, and mendacities. Furthermore, he
is a writer who does the greatest of nations proud. Around him have gathered followers of all religions and
nationalities, forming thus an intellectual elite
that works in unison for the welfare of Humanity: physicians, writers,
lawyers, businessmen, and what have you of professionals that are the backbone
of a sound society.
Our mere
espousing Doctor Dahesh’s doctrine irked vehemently the Catholic Clergy, which we had been part of so far, its aim
being to keep fueling religious
fanaticism in Lebanon in that to
safeguard its control on its people and ensure its own profits. It also
irked our family, who has been attached to this clergy since the night of time.
Moreover, Doctor Dahesh is a firm believer in Democracy and its values; but
that didn’t count in the eyes of the
President of the Lebanese Republic, Bechara
El-Khoury, and his wife Laure (my sister), and Michel Chiha (my brother), of
the “Le Jour” newspaper in Beirut; for they deemed it a lese majesty to their
stupid snobbism and ersatz aristocracy, should we adhere to Daheshism. Not only
did they feel belittled by such adherence, but they also were afraid of the
negative repercussions of the public opinion that might result from our union
with such an influential man who preaches Unity of
Religions in a country which is in desperate need of it, not to mention the
necessity to fight fanaticism and all those negative forces upon which our
confessional political system rests. They must have said to themselves:
“Let us get rid of this man; for he might thwart our plans, being that his
strength and arguments are extraordinary.”
That being the
case, and on the instigation of my brother Michel Chiha—this
conceited smug, imbued with Jesuitism (and to think
that he was one of the framers of our Constitution, which was elaborated under
the acquiescent auspices of Henry de Jouvenel), a
scheme was concocted by the President of the Republic, Bechara El-Khoury, in
cahoots with his Minister of Justice, Habib Abi-Chahla. At their behest,
the General Security went on a prowl after Doctor Dahesh, in an effort to
unearth any breach in his life that could help them bring charges against him.
Corrupted witnesses were even bought into bringing false accusations against
him, touching on “morale matters.” But nothing doing: they
failed to reinforce their allegations by any sound proof. Aware that
they could do nothing against Doctor Dahesh through the arm of the law, they
hatched up a plot to bring about his demise through the arms of thugs.
Thus, on August 28, 1944, at eight
o’clock in the morning, a gang of
Lebanese Phalagists, all of them paid mercenaries, assaulted Doctor Dahesh
at the entrance gate of his house, and this under the benevolent eyes of the police itself, who had surrounded
the house since the morning. But Divine Providence bade it otherwise; for
Doctor Dahesh was saved from a sure death.
The aggressors weren’t worried in the least about their criminal
act, and the proof: it was Doctor Dahesh who was arrested! Now that Doctor
Dahesh was in his trammels, the
President of the Lebanese Republic Becahra El-Khoury, aided and abated by
the law of excessive force (violating the
Constitution as no one has done so far … for what more heinous crime is there than to deprive a citizen of his
nationality!) stripped him of his Lebanese nationality by a
simple dictatorial order, an order that was never
sanctioned by law nor voted by the Members of Parliament. With this
heinous act, Mr Bechara El-Khoury has clearly violated the Lebanese
Constitution, and he did it as no one before him has done up to this date! I ask you: what’s more abominable than to
destitute a citizen from his citizenship? Thereon Doctor Dahesh was
imprisoned without any due process or passing judgment on his case: he was even
refused any contact with his lawyer. After being ignominiously beaten (as can be seen in the documents I have joined to my
letter this), he was thrown
without any trial at the Turkish borders, with no identification papers on him
and without a cent in his pocket—and this at a time when the Second World War
was in full gear!
At that time, Mr. Riad Bey El-Solh, the current head
of the Lebanese Delegation to the UN, was also head of the Lebanese Government.
He, obligingly, submitted himself to the President’s will by rallying to his
decree, and giving it his stamp of approval. What I find most astonishing, on
the part of Riad Bey El-Solh,
though—who, by the way, was once persecuted, exiled and sentenced to death [in absentia in the 1920s*] for his ideas on Liberty, ideas he still claims
to champion up to this day—is that he sunk so deep in this injustice, an
injustice which assails the very foundations of Civil Liberty, and does nothing
to make it right. [*Read on Riad
bey El-Solh or El-Sulh: Sulh studied law at the University of Istanbul…]
And so it was
that, without any trial, and in a despotic and arbitrary manner that goes
against all existing laws and ethics, a
Lebanese citizen has been stripped of his nationality and thrown out of his
country; and this without any due process other than the will of the Head of
State. And He was thrown out, in a
time of war, at the borders of a foreign country, without affording him the
possibility of finding refuge in any other country under the sky. It is a
well-known fact that, in times of war, a foreign country has the right if not
obligation to consider any foreign individual infiltrated through its border as
a spy, and treat him accordingly. Such an individual is constantly exposed to
being shot … or at least imprisoned and jolted about from one border to
another. He is heartlessly thrust in a
no-win and no-way-out situation, whereby he must wander aimlessly about, all the while being exposed to all kinds of
dangers, and subjecting himself to the whims of fortuity as sole means of
protection. Indeed, he is expected to
stray endlessly about … unless a time should come when his own country, and
this through the good-will of a new government, finds it in its heart to
restore his citizenship.
Four years have
already folded on this crime, during which time Doctor Dahesh has been drifting about stateless, from one frontier to
another, with no right to return to his homeland.
Since then, we,
the Daheshists, never stopped raising our indignations and protestations against
the most shrieking injustice in memory.
My conscience bade me to speak in his defense and prevailed upon me to act as Émile Zola did in the Dreyfus Affair.
Alas, words were to no purpose in a country that has lost its soul! So I
published a great number of “Black Books,” which were distributed all over the
countries—in Lebanon, Europe, and America—as well as in the diplomatic Corps in
Beirut, so that the world may be aware of this one-of-a-kind
crime committed in Lebanon, and this in the Twentieth Century.
The publication of these Black Books embarrassed and
disconcerted those very ones who had a bloody hand in the crime. In order to
mitigate its effect on the general public, thus inveigle it, they had me committed to an asylum for the insane, on the
pretence that I had lost all sense of reality. But the scandal was on
them; for, to their utter confoundedness, a medical report was soon to expose
their ill-intent, forcing them thus to set me free. If anything, this shameful act will bear grave consequences
on its perpetrators in the future.
I was in fact
imprisoned twice, as were many of Doctor Dahesh’s partisans, upon the orders of
the President of the Republic, the husband of my sister [Laure El-Khoury], and this for my doggedness in defending a
just and innocent man. A woman of my
standing and in my situation, imprisoned in this country by her own family, for
the sake of an ideal she upholds, and because she insists on defending the
cause of an innocent man against a most flagrant act of despotism … is a scene never witnessed before in our
part of the world; that’s why it drew a universal indignation. Albeit, I
kept my poise and tried to remain serene despite it all; however, I never
stopped writing and protesting! Great Spiritual Movements had always had to
wade through such ugly phases of persecution and imprisonment, and they all
came out of them victorious … so shall
we!
The Head of State, Bechara El-Khoury, of this tiny little country that has newly acquired its independence,
and which prides itself for being part of the United Nations … has acted as a dictator. The state
servants and magistrates obey blindly
his least desires for fear of being discharged of their functions. Such a
crime in any other country more developed than ours would have brought about
the downfall of the Government and its Head of State, not to mention that its
perpetrator would have been brought to justice!
Never, and whatever regime it was subjected
to, has Lebanon been faced with such
internal anarchy; so much so that, should any newspaper bring the scandals
of this regime to the attention of the public, it is automatically suspended!
In Lebanon, consciences are bought cheap by the authorities, and are disabled
by force.
Such people as ours that have allowed their Head of
Government, Riad Bey El-Solh, and their Head of State, Bechara El-Khoury, to temper with the elections of May 25, 1947, do not
deserve to be part of those who champion International Freedom. It is mystery
to no one, and as the press has already proven, that these elections have been cynically tempered with, to secure a majority
in the Parliament submissive to the President of the Republic, in order to
assure his reelection in time. The most flagrant part is that they renewed his mandate one year before the expiration of
his current mandate. This is to say that, one year from now, the
President of the Republic would be automatically confirmed in his functions for
a new period. Notwithstanding these underhanded practices, this election is illegal, because the majority of the
Lebanese consider this Chamber of Deputies fraudulent.
The
head of a religious doctrine, in the person of Doctor Dahesh, has been
ignominiously persecuted. His closest adepts are victims of dubious
individuals who assail individual liberty in its most sacred foundation … and
this in a country that the Great Powers
have granted independence, believing that it has attained a level of
civilization worthy of such responsibility. As long as Lebanon, who boasts
one million citizens in its ranks, citizens that appertain to twenty different Religions and Communities,
is governed on a Confessional basis that keeps fueling
a sharp religious fanaticism … it cannot lay claim to a civilization
comparable to other nations. As things stand today, Lebanon has secured nothing
of Civilization but a façade!
The Lebanese
Delegates have well talked about freedom and sang it high in their speeches at
the UN or other similar places; this won’t do. All they need to do is respect
this freedom and the sacred “Human rights” it entails. I am totally
flabbergasted by the stand of Mr.
Charles Malek, the president of the Economical and Social Council at the
UN; for he has the nerve, be it in
Geneva or the UN, to talk, write, and reflect about “Human Rights” and Liberty
… when he is fully aware that Lebanon is subservient to all servitudes you can
imagine … and that Lebanon, or that “farm,” as the press endearingly refers to
it in its columns … is shamefully exploited and solely for the sake of
enriching only one family (brothers, brother-in-laws, allies, and partisans
of president Bechara El-Khoury) to the detriment of the poor population. And to
think that the outrageous scandals of this exploitation (hording, hashish
smuggling, rare currencies, cement, furniture, enterprises, flour … you name
it, they have a hand and foot in it …) have been reported in all the newspapers
and everybody in the country knows about it.
Mr. Charles Malek, in a speech at the UN on October
8, 1948, brought to the floor a firm motion that a protocol concerning
narcotics be adopted by the UN Assembly, and so too by the Non-Member States of
this Assembly, and that such protocol should be enforced in Germany and Japan
too. How shameful of Mr. Malek; for he pertinently knows
that Lebanon has the monopoly over drug trafficking—Hashish in particular,
which is grown in land-properties owned by the Lebanese Deputies themselves!
… That Lebanon is the reputed and accredited provider of the Arab countries,
Egypt in particular … That this big-scale smuggling operation is placed under
the protection of the highest Lebanese authorities … That many scandals have
broken out in Egypt in regard to this smuggling affair, in which the very son
of Bechara El-Khoury (Kalil El-Khoury) was implicated.
Mr. Malek knows very well that the utmost was done to nip those scandals in the
bud in Egypt, not only once, but many times, so as not to smear some well-known
Lebanese high personalities in public, and this for political reasons connected
with the existing shaky rapport between the Arab Nations. Instead of making
speeches on the subject of narcotics and the ill-effect this scourge has on the
public, Charles Malek should rather work
on reforming and weeding out his own country in regard to this touchy issue.
The diplomats of
all countries in Lebanon have been documented on all that has been said so far.
Furthermore, the Daheshist Affair has been a widely
discussed topic in the Press, both local and foreign, for the past five years. It kept amplifying
every day till drawing international interest. Great responsibilities weigh,
and heavily at that, on the Lebanese authorities, mostly on the Head of State
Bechara El-Khoury, who has transgressed the laws of the land and violated the
Constitution which he vowed to uphold when sworn into Office.
Every thing has
an end … and justice will be fulfilled!
The Daheshists are determined to defend what is
Right with the help of God and to the far extent of what is humanly possible. They would
recoil before no fear, before no threat ...
and so will they prove it!
They firmly demand the restitution of
Doctor Dahesh’s nationality. Duty obliges that they have recourse to
your Supreme Court, and so do they abide
by this due process, asking this Court to examine thoroughly this affair,
which the Lebanese institutions has taken beyond the realm of decency. By
conforming to the very rules it is heralding, your Court would be doing a great good to society and a humane deed to
Justice. It will also prevent this conflict from expanding any further. Mark my words, Mr. Secretary: “This conflict is liable to bloody all of Lebanon later on,
in the very manner Palestine has been bloodied, if no follow up is carried on
your part concerning my accusatory petition.”
All things
considered, it is utterly vain to count
on earthly justice!
The world around
me has proved to me that it is utterly futile to expect that Justice be carried
in due and proper form; my hopes are high that you will prove me wrong, when it comes to earthly justice, of which you are the
protector and guarantor!
But the United Nation Organization is called upon to defend
the Rights of the Nations, and the individuals too … It is the Guardian of the Atlantic Charter, which is based on Individual
Freedom (Freedom of thought, Freedom of belief and all the Freedoms that Doctor
Dahesh himself upholds as a sacred right from God to Man ...) of every single
man, him included!
Therefore, I call upon its high competence, since it is the
highest world authority which represents all powers as Supreme Justices who
represent the Justice of God on earth.
Will it pronounce a sentence of Justice?
Should it fail to do so, then we must renounce every Justice
down here.
Marie Hadad
***
P.S.
To the attention of Mr. Charles Malek, Lebanon’s Delegate at the UN and
Chairman of the Social, Humanitarian, and Cultural Commission:
I read in the newspapers that the Commission headed by Mr.
Charles Malek, has adopted the wording of the first article of the Declaration
of Human Rights’ bill, which goes as follows:
“All human beings are born free
and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed
with reason and conscience, and they should act toward one another in a spirit
of brotherhood.”
Mr. Malek, while chairing this committee, which defends man’s sacred
rights, knows very well that in his country
freedoms are not respected ... that
the Lebanese Head of State, whom he represents [Bechara
El - Khoury], has conspired against these very freedoms, and violated the
Constitution when his personal interests were at stake, as was the case
concerning Doctor Dahesh! By delivering an address on Human Rights
(freedom of belief, thought, fraternity, etc.), Mr. Malek acts
contrary to what he professes. Were he to be a man of his word, he would have refused to chair such a
commission, which in reality should belong to the delegate of a wholly
civilized country, wherein these Human Rights are duly respected.
To be true to himself and to others, he ought to have, all
the while refusing this chairmanship, owned that his conscience would not be at
ease, should he remain Lebanon’s delegate; that his conscience does not permit
him to be part of this Commission, on account the Head of the Lebanese
State—whom he represents—has committed
a constitutional crime that most backward and barbaric countries dare not
commit today: he stripped an innocent Lebanese citizen of his nationality
without any trial, and then threw him, in a time of war, on a foreign border
without a passport. He did it for reasons of religious fanaticism, because his
relatives had become followers of this Lebanese citizen!
Mr. Malek also knows that his protector Michel Chiha, my brother, and brother-in-law of the
President of the Lebanese Republic, Bechara El-Khoury, was the primary instigator of this crime;
and that it was thanks to this Michel Chiha that he was appointed Minister to
Washington, despite the opposition of a majority of the Lebanese people who are
aware of the dregs of their country's politics.
Had Mr. Malik spoken the truth on
this matter, he would then have deserved to be part of this Commission that
deals with “Human Rights,” and even to chair it.
To have us believe in his good faith and the purity of his conscience, we need
more than a simple photograph of him holding the gavel of the presidency in his
hand, a photograph which he made sure to publish in the front page of the
newspaper. This brings to mind the fable of “Monkey the Judge and the Two Cats,
in which two cats, after stealing some cheese, come to share it with the
monkey.” Mr. Malek is in a false position that equity disavows. Nor is he more
just than the monkey who failed to do justly by the two cats. Thus Mr. Malek is the reason why his
protector is justly maligned and confounded.
Mr. Malek is fully aware of what is happening in Lebanon, which he represents in the UN. He should not be proud of it. He certainly reads the Lebanese newspapers; so,
here are some excerpts from two major Lebanese dailies (in French language)
issued in Beirut, which will refresh his memory and prove to everybody that
Lebanon is backward and that its leaders commit crimes against the liberties
and “Man’s Rights.” A blatant
case in point: Doctor Dahesh’s case!
***
Excerpt of the Lebanese Press:
1 (Bechara El-Khoury’s Lebanon is badly governed)
Journal “Le
Jour,” dated August 20, 1948
To all intents and purposes, Lebanon
is badly governed and poorly represented: It is badly represented because it is
badly governed … They try to have us believe that the Government respects
parliamentary rules and manages the public affairs in the spirit of the
Constitution! They would also have us believe that a disorderly and diverse
coalition is qualified to redress the situation!
When they see us go over the top, as
we often do, against a certain way of governing, it is for the love of a Just
Freedom, and a Democracy that respects itself. We are loath to find, as so many
Lebanese do, that power in our neck of the woods often dons a regressive
Ottoman garb, unconsciously inspired, or so it seems, from a long-gone yet not
forgotten past.
For us, the ideal is, and shall
remain, to instill as far as possible in the Lebanese citizen, despite the
disparity in the national elements, a modicum of dignity and self-respect. We
are well aware that years shall pass before we reach that level of maturity in
our civic and political life. Of all the schools we are still in want, it is
the one of character that we would like to see come to the fore and take the first
seat.
***
(To be followed soon ...)
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